Aron Kiviharju Is Out To Prove the Doubters Wrong

I mean, if Guerin is looking for people with "FU" in their game, it sounds like he has that, if nothing else.  Main things is if his injury isn't serious, his size isn't too much a burden, and he's willing to be coachable.

“The Wild have big guys and players who can defend.”

 I don’t think we have enough big guys. Especially on defense where it’s most important in my opinion. We have a lot of D prospects that are 6ft and only a few that are above that. Besides Buium and maybe Hunt as a 3rd pair I don’t see a lot of our D prospects working out honestly. Maybe Lambos if he breaks out but I don’t see it right now. We will see over time but this team needs to realize that having big defenders makes them much harder to play against. In this modern nhl you don’t see playoff teams with a lot of undersized D. It just doesn’t work out in the playoffs.

23 minutes ago, Mateo3xm said:

“The Wild have big guys and players who can defend.”

 I don’t think we have enough big guys. Especially on defense where it’s most important in my opinion. We have a lot of D prospects that are 6ft and only a few that are above that. Besides Buium and maybe Hunt as a 3rd pair I don’t see a lot of our D prospects working out honestly. Maybe Lambos if he breaks out but I don’t see it right now. We will see over time but this team needs to realize that having big defenders makes them much harder to play against. In this modern nhl you don’t see playoff teams with a lot of undersized D. It just doesn’t work out in the playoffs.

MnFan is that you?

5 minutes ago, Up North Guy said:

MnFan is that you?

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Kiviharju grew up as a Wild fan as his dad was friends with Mikko Koivu’s brother, and now he’ll get a chance to make an impact for them as early as 2026.

I'd pump the brakes a bit on that 2026 suggestion. Spurgeon played some at age 21, but I don't think a lot of undersized defensemen who were drafted outside of the top 50 are making NHL ice within 2 years of their draft.

The Wild have Faber, Spurgeon, Brodin, and Middleton already signed through 26-27, and Buium will join that group soon.

Hunt and Lambos likely aren't far from NHL ice. Spacek and Masters are already 21 years old on ELCs, so could be ahead of him for likelihood of joining the Wild in 2026. I like him as a prospect, but I'd anticipate Kiviharju developing in Finland until at least 2027.

The Wild apparently have been really bad at drafting D since 2012(Dumba). They had mostly ignored the position(aside from wasting a 1st on Filip Johansson, who is headed back to the Swedish Hockey League after toiling in the AHL for the Canucks last year) since 2012, until Guerin took over. Carson Soucy(2013 5th round) is the last defenseman drafted by the Wild who has played in 75+ NHL games for an entire career.

Lambos(2021) could get 75+ NHL games as a defenseman drafted by the Wild, but I'd expect Buium to be the next to accomplish that for the Wild.

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The Wild have big guys and players who can defend. However, their system lacked elite puck-moving and high-end offensive ability. 

Come on Luke, you're a better writer than this. Obviously there is better way to say this. How about we list the puck moving defenders vs. the big monsters in the organization, or how about we just list the big monster defenders in the organization? Those would be guys 6'3" or higher projected to be 220+. Soini and Leskovar are the only 2 players in the organization who match such a description and Soini needs to grow an inch.

I think we need to recall some guys in quality control because this is obviously not a true statement. I'm calling on a Boar's head recall for that statement. Apologies need to be made, and if we have a woodshed, Luke needs to make an appointment to be taken there. 

Now, let's get down to true statements, the only guys that Judd likes to draft on defense are undersized, puck moving defenders and we are packed with the same type of player. That wouldn't be bad if the goal was to just keep producing them and trading them for what we need, but there seems to be little interest in the A for actually doing this. Yes, this is broken, and let's face it, we need to Pump, Pump, Pump them up!

Word is out that Laine squashed a deal to come to MN. Apparently Guerin had tried. 

Some guessing Guerin is the problem. Laine will not return to become a 40-goal scorer IMO. His baggage is enogh that I'm glad he didn't waive a no-trade list spot in MN. If you asked me, he doesn't wanna play in the Central cause it's tough. I think he's a classic Euro primadonna. 

If AK proves to be a utility Finn who never breaks down while firing 30-caliber, steel-case ammo, MN will have got a nice result for way lower cost. 

12 hours ago, Protec said:

Word is out that Laine squashed a deal to come to MN. Apparently Guerin had tried. 

The way I read it they approached Laine after coming to terms on a deal.  Wonder what that package looked like considering what MTL received after taking entire AAV.  
we must have offered a whole bunch of our spare parts (gudreau, nojo, Gus) + Rossi to be able to take on $8M.   Laine saved Guerin from himself.  
#GDS

2 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

The way I read it they approached Laine after coming to terms on a deal.  Wonder what that package looked like considering what MTL received after taking entire AAV.  
we must have offered a whole bunch of our spare parts (gudreau, nojo, Gus) + Rossi to be able to take on $8M.   Laine saved Guerin from himself.  
#GDS

Where was this reported?

Based upon the return that CBJ got for Laine, I would say only Gaudreau and Johansson were NHLers in the deal. Columbus would retain money, but, Columbus would also get the draft pick, not give it up. Goose and Rossi would have been safe.

But, let's also face it, Gaudreau and Johansson would have been barely useful pieces for Evason who could help him install his system. But for us, they would merely be salary dumps. I'm thinking Peart + Bankier may have been the prospects, as reported, 2nd tier prospects of the club, and we probably have better 2nd tier prospects than most. 

I really don't think that Guerin was the problem here, but I do think that Guerin was going to demand a little more from Laine, perhaps more than Laine was willing to give. My thinking is that Guerin should have brought Koivu with him to the meeting regardless of if Koivu is employed by the organization. He's still alumni, and I believe has an informal place within the organization. I also believe he should have a formal place.

Let me expound on this idea a little more. Koivu should have been an annual Selke candidate. He exemplifies the 200' complete game and is well known in Finland for that specific style along with his brother Saku. They played a very useful style, but it is time for a knowledge transfer. A Koivu/Modano look at the forward position is organizationally a huge win for the Wild. It's different, yet, it has the same voice. 

Here's the main point: The primary goal of Des Moines is to feed St. Paul with competent young players ready to stay in St. Paul. I do not believe they are doing this. Regardless of if they are in St. Paul or not, at the very least they can be used as trade bait for what we need. Any team out there can use 200' forwards with scoring potential. Any team out there can use puck moving defenders. But we do not do this. We weed them out instead. What if we created pipelines where we could fill in other players that we do not have using our efforts here as currency? 

My stance is simple, until we address this part of the organization, it will be extremely difficult for this organization to become contenders, and stay that way. Sure, you might get an annual run, but contenders stick around for years. Now what this entails is a complete revamping of the player development department into something that really has never been done before. However, fortune favors the bold.

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Where was this reported?

Yardbarker

mn wild news page

Who needs Kap?? We got this guy! (Sarcasm)

19 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Yardbarker

mn wild news page

Are they even reliable?