Catch Up With Hockey Wilderness' 2024 Top-10 Prospects Series

What a tease! Welcome back Tony.

So, been on Reddit today talking about Kaprizov's ceiling.  A comment came in about "Well, let's see what he does with a real 1C."    So, of course we had to drudge up this stupid argument again.  After stating Ek was Top 25 in goal scoring centers, and a little other back and forth, another person said, "He's not, have higher standards."

So, I went ahead and looked at last year's stats yet AGAIN just to be sure.

30th was Eichel at 68 points.  A lot of other people are at 67 points.  Ek was at 64 points.  3-4 points hardly makes me clamor for some weird ass label or affront to Ek's success.

So, whether it's on Reddit or here, I'd like to put to rest the "The Wild need a 1C" argument that's been around for years for good in favor of something else.  The top 10 centers start with Petterson at 89-90 pts.  So, I think going forward, anyone should be judged as "hey, they are a top 10 player at their position."  I can totally buy that as a dream goal for someone like Rossi, Yurov, or Heidt to achieve.  If that doesn't happen, that shouldn't condemn them as some bad player.

Sorry if I'm complaining.  I just think the Ek hate boner and the a prospect should be a true 1C player thing just annoyed me to no end.

1 hour ago, Citizen Strife said:

the Ek hate boner

Better not bring this anywhere near Vaj

Thanks for checking in Tony. I was worried you'd left the site since you hadn't posted anything for 2+ weeks. Everyone deserves a vacation and I guess even for writers, it's nice to get away during the dead season of late summer.

You're the volume writer on the site, so it would be a great loss to lose you. Your articles make someone think, even if they disagree with the conclusions or the position. I'm glad you're still here!

21 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

After stating Ek was Top 25 in goal scoring centers, and a little other back and forth, another person said, "He's not, have higher standards."

If you want to make their heads explode, tell them if they don't think Ek is a 1C then neither was patrice bergeron. They are the same player.

On 9/18/2024 at 3:43 PM, Citizen Strife said:

So, been on Reddit today

well...that's your problem right there

On 9/18/2024 at 3:43 PM, Citizen Strife said:

So, been on Reddit today talking about Kaprizov's ceiling.  A comment came in about "Well, let's see what he does with a real 1C."    So, of course we had to drudge up this stupid argument again.  After stating Ek was Top 25 in goal scoring centers, and a little other back and forth, another person said, "He's not, have higher standards."

So, I went ahead and looked at last year's stats yet AGAIN just to be sure.

30th was Eichel at 68 points.  A lot of other people are at 67 points.  Ek was at 64 points.  3-4 points hardly makes me clamor for some weird ass label or affront to Ek's success.

So, whether it's on Reddit or here, I'd like to put to rest the "The Wild need a 1C" argument that's been around for years for good in favor of something else.  The top 10 centers start with Petterson at 89-90 pts.  So, I think going forward, anyone should be judged as "hey, they are a top 10 player at their position."  I can totally buy that as a dream goal for someone like Rossi, Yurov, or Heidt to achieve.  If that doesn't happen, that shouldn't condemn them as some bad player.

Sorry if I'm complaining.  I just think the Ek hate boner and the a prospect should be a true 1C player thing just annoyed me to no end.

“30th was Eichel at 68 points. A lot of other people are at 67 points. Ek was at 64 points. 3-4 points hardly makes me-clamor for some weird ass label or affront to Ek's success.

👇 Some context that I think is important.

Jack Eichel played 63 games and had 68pts. He was hurt for a big chunk of the year.

JEE had 64pts in 77 games.

You have to tell the whole story. Eichel has scored 82pts in a season but has been derailed by injuries his entire career. If he was healthy there’s no doubt in my mind he’d score 90-100 in a season.

“So, whether it's on Reddit or here, I'd like to put to rest the "The Wild need a 1C" argument that's been around for years for good in favor of something else.”

So here’s the thing. On a Stanley Cup winning team JEE is not a 1st line center. Don’t get me wrong he’s a fantastic player and severely underrated. The advanced stats on the JEE, Kap, Boldy line were at the top of the league for the amount of time they played together. JEE is definitely a player you NEED on your team to win a cup but not as their 1st line center UNLESS you are absolutely stacked with multiple top ten wingers and unfathomable depth throughout the lines. He’s just not your prototypical 1st line Stanley Cup winning center. He’s not quite there in points/assists and he needs at least a Selke Trophy. Closest players to him that have won a cup that had somewhat similar production were Bergeron and Toews but I still think they are a cut above JEE even though he’s fantastic.

So I understand your opinion and I understand others who say he’s not.

On 9/19/2024 at 12:47 PM, Kato AK said:

If you want to make their heads explode, tell them if they don't think Ek is a 1C then neither was patrice bergeron. They are the same player.

That’s an absolutely ridiculous statement. Bergeron has won the Selke 6 times which is more than any player in nhl history. Bergeron has multiple 60-70 pt seasons and his highest was 79pts. JEE is 27yrs old and his highest points total is 64pts and no selke trophies. Don’t get me wrong, JEE is an incredible player. If he had better players around him coming up, it’s probable that his production would be higher. JEE isn’t quite PB thou. You can get away with having a little lower points production as a number 1 center if you’re the best defensive forward arguably ever.

I understand that, but who is that better offensive option "right now?" Hartman WAS.  Rossi COULD be.  But Ek and Boldy are the best offensive players other than Kap.  They should be focusing on improving from the bottom up instead of hoping that taking better players down makes a more balanced team.

It's not Ek and Boldy's faults Rossi or Hartman weren't 60 pt players like they were. It is Rossi and Hartman who need to show better offensive consistency whether Kap is their winger or not.

50 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

They should be focusing on improving from the bottom up instead of hoping that taking better players down makes a more balanced team.

Right?  When you have it within your power to create possibly the BEST line in the NHL, one that for 1/3 of the game puts you up over a goal (if I read the stats right), how can you not take it? 

Secondary scoring is important but as the word implies... it is secondary.

If you can put together a good defensive shutdown line as well (Foligno/Hoos/Trenin?) then you are up a goal for at least half the game if not more.  

Who wouldn't take that?  

Also, KK97 deserves to score 50G/100A plus in this league and it might make him very happy to do so.

Is tonight’s game against WPG televised?

On 9/21/2024 at 2:51 PM, Will D. Ness said:

Also, KK97 deserves to score 50G/100A plus in this league and it might make him very happy to do so.

Deserves? Go out and do it then you deserve it. The first person not named Gretzky or Lemieux to score more than 150 in a season was Yzerman and he is 14th on the list with 155 and Connor Mcdavid right behind him at 153. Sorry but I don't put Kaprizov in with those names just yet. 

2 hours ago, MacGyver said:

Deserves? Go out and do it then you deserve it. The first person not named Gretzky or Lemieux to score more than 150 in a season was Yzerman and he is 14th on the list with 155 and Connor Mcdavid right behind him at 153. Sorry but I don't put Kaprizov in with those names just yet. 

Fair enough... what I meant to say is 50 goals or 100 assists although I do think we should put him in a position to score well over 100 pts with the right line. 

24 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

Fair enough... what I meant to say is 50 goals or 100 assists although I do think we should put him in a position to score well over 100 pts with the right line. 

I agree  that he should be a 100 point plus player in fact he had 108 in 21-22 season and 96 last year playing in only 75 games. The most games he's played is 81 and that was in the 21-22 season. The last two seasons he has played 67 and 75 games respectively. He misses games which is going to hurt his point totals obviously. Most players are going to miss some games due to injury but lets hope Kaprizov does not come down with a case of becoming injury prone. That's going to hurt the Wild as well as any return on trade value if it comes to that. 

I guess that's the other factor in being a superstar on a otherwise middling to poor team. You get all the attention as well as most of the beatings game in and game out.

6 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Is tonight’s game against WPG televised?

I don't think so. it looks like the whole preseason  games left may be televised on "other" platforms, but tonight is radio only. It is possible TSN will have it which may make the replay available on ESPN+.

You can watch the game on Wild.com 

18 hours ago, MacGyver said:

You can watch the game on Wild.com 

There was a good deal of talk about the Wild having a much fuller NHL squad versus the Jets but by my count the Wild only had nine regulars. Of course the starters the Wild put out looked pretty good.

Kiril is a 50G 50A guy right now.  It could go higher but what we see right now is a 50/50 player.  As long as he doesn't play in Winnipeg.  Seems that they have a tendency to injury him on dirty plays often in Winnipeg.  But anyway a 50 50 guy as you wing is a pretty good thing to have on your team.  Look at the league and you will see that is a pretty good thing.