No Easy Answers For Why Wild Are On Verge Of Elimination

Idk, kinda feels like an easy answer to me with most of these signs pointing right back to one dude.

I'd say the biggest things I've seen are selfish players taking penalties they need to not be taking and dump 'n chase.

Foligno's hit was dirty. It may not have met the textbook definition of kneeing, but he knew exactly what he was doing. Obviously the Wild are frustrated with Dallas' players taking dives all over the place and roughing Kaprizov up without Dallas getting called for the penalties they should be called for, but guys have to play smarter than Foligno. It's been clear the message from Evason has been the Wild need to stay out of the box, but they haven't been following that.

Watching the 3rd period against Dallas it felt like every single time the Wild reached the blue line, they'd just dump it down into the Dallas zone. The Wild do not have the stifling defense Lemaire's teams did and dump 'n chase wasn't enough for the Lemaire teams to get to the cup, either.

I think the Wild are probably better than Dallas in a fair game when both teams are playing well, but the Stars are handling the game like seasoned veterans. The Wild are handling it like talented, but immature guys.

The Stars have more talent, particularly healthy talent. Pavelski is a good player, but losing him is more equivalent to the wild losing Zuccarello.

Eriksson-Ek is the forward the Wild could least afford to be without, particularly when their top scorer is playing through injury. Hartman is also playing through something. The Wild had pretty good health much of the year prior to KK97 going out, and the Stars still won more games because they have a more talented roster.

Going into the series with Eriksson-Ek out, it would have been foolish to bet on the Wild. Without their 2 top forwards at full strength, anyone should expect the Wild to struggle against one of the best teams in the West.

Certainly reasonable to think they should kill penalties better, but they already accomplished more than most people would/should have expected around the middle of February(when they only had a couple more wins than losses).

The fact the Wild made a run to be in position to finish near the best record in the West says a lot about the coaching, particularly when you factor in the huge talent hole any team should be in compared to most playoff teams, given that more than 15% of their cap space is unavailable--including a significant portion being directly used against them in this playoff series.

Evason takes a team with average talent to the brink of winning the conference, then people think he should be fired for not beating a more talented team who has an excellent coach?

I imagine Evason's job is safe for at least another year. Which top coach would want to come in right now when the Wild are so up against the cap that they cannot afford to keep all their current talent, let alone improve upon it?

It would be a masterful job to get the Wild to win this series, which I'd love to see, but I don't think firing Evason is a simple path to improvement for next season, regardless of how they finish this series.

Reaves Gaudreau Kaprizov

Boldy Hartman Johannsson

Nyquist Steel Duhaime

Zuccarello Dewar Sundvquisst

Don't take any penalties. Take away the goalies eyes and get shots from high in the zone with traffic. On the rush, look for a trailer to shoot while minimum one guy is going to the net. Obviously, on great chances you have to bury it.

The way a series works is that it gets away from you quickly. That goes both ways. BB used to shuffle all the time and had no new play he could go to. No ace in the hole. DE making adjustments now for game six is more desperation than strategic. I think losing his composure or feeding the frustration about the refs doesn't improve the situation. That makes things worse. The Wild really haven't fixed their issues with special teams, faceoffs, or penalties. These were known and yet not fixed for going on a few years. Not really a personnel thing in my opinion. Seems the best coaches could get the best from their group. That's why the playoff choke-fest is so confusing. What's so different that the Wild can't win two in a row in the postseason?

14 hours ago, Protec said:

Reaves Gaudreau Kaprizov

Boldy Hartman Johannsson

Nyquist Steel Duhaime

Zuccarello Dewar Sundvquisst

 

Don't take any penalties. Take away the goalies eyes and get shots from high in the zone with traffic. On the rush, look for a trailer to shoot while minimum one guy is going to the net. Obviously, on great chances you have to bury it.

The way a series works is that it gets away from you quickly. That goes both ways. BB used to shuffle all the time and had no new play he could go to. No ace in the hole. DE making adjustments now for game six is more desperation than strategic. I think losing his composure or feeding the frustration about the refs doesn't improve the situation. That makes things worse. The Wild really haven't fixed their issues with special teams, faceoffs, or penalties. These were known and yet not fixed for going on a few years. Not really a personnel thing in my opinion. Seems the best coaches could get the best from their group. That's why the playoff choke-fest is so confusing. What's so different that the Wild can't win two in a row in the postseason?

I think not having a net front presence this series has really hurt us! Remember the first goal of the series? Spurgeon point shot right into a Kaprizov deflection when he is parked right in front of Oettinger? We need more of that. We need more guys screening Oettinger. We need more guys getting into the paint and slamming the puck through Oettinger. Particularly on the power play. Dallas is good at disrupting zone entries, but bad at clearing the crease. Make that work against them.

I’m not advocating for firing Evanson,  but our special teams coach needs to go. Our special teams have been awful for years, and I don’t think it’s a personal thing.

Good luck tonight Wild.  Would love to see a game 7.  No excuses.  Just win.  

Agreed. Not saying fire Dean or anything, I think he’s done a good job. 
 

I really think the greatest accountability needs to be on the players. They blew game two, nearly got the job done game 4 despite the refs. Blew game 5. It’s the players on the ice, so ultimately those guys are the biggest element. Gus has not been bad. Fleury had a rough one, but there’s a whole team of other players. Boldy yet to show he can step up for the playoffs. Zuccarello looks pretty okay if he’s given wide-open breakaways. Foligno looks like a goon who can only fly around trying to hit people. I don’t know why the Wild come into the playoffs and abandon what makes them successful or just don’t execute like they can. I think other teams figure the Wild out and the Wild aren’t smart enough to stop it.

Take a page from Kirby Puckett's book- Note to Kirill Kaprizov, prior to game 6 in the World Series, a struggling Kirby Puckett told the press "you can count on me getting it done tonight." Or something like that. Puckett went out to have one of the most complete domination games in a World Series.  

This is what superstar players do. When needed, they come through. They don't care about injuries, they muster up something deep from within and get it done. While the game is on TBS again and I'll be watching in the morning, I'm expecting this to be Kaprizov's stamp on the series.  

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That would be the third year in a row where Evason appears out-matched by the opposing bench boss. It's been a recurring theme for him at the playoffs at every level. Evason's record in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is 7-11 (8-14 if you count the Qualifying Round in 2019's playoff bubble). In the AHL, Evason went a staggering 1-12 in four playoff trips with the Milwaukee Admirals. He also went 10-24 in the playoffs while coaching in the Western Hockey League.

I'm sure glad someone else is mentioning this, I felt like a broken record.  We are not, as an organization, ready for a Championship coach. We've still got too many placeholders and a lot more transition that needs to take place.  The above records are troublesome.

Here's how this seems to work out.  For the last 3 seasons, the Wild have been really good at taking care of business.  This is the best I can remember them being against the bottom 3rd of the league. Against the middle 3rd, they have a solid record.  But, against the top 3rd, they many times look overmatched, especially if that team has scoring depth.  If it's a 1 line team, they typically can shut that down.  

They compete hard in the regular season, but this collection of guys who have overachieved each of the last 3 seasons, just doesn't have that extra higher gear needed for playoff success (collectively).  I think it's a combination of that and there is something about Evason that just doesn't do well in playoff hockey.  0-professional coaching playoff record is a hard stat to overlook.  One would think that he'd eventually get lucky, but even that hasn't happened....yet.

1 hour ago, jgodwin17 said:

I’m not advocating for firing Evanson,  but our special teams coach needs to go. Our special teams have been awful for years, and I don’t think it’s a personal thing.

I find it kinda funny that so many are calling for Dean to be fired. Beginning of the year not many if any thought this team would even make the playoffs, then they were competing (ish) for the number 1 overall seed. Doesn't that lend some credence to Dean being a coach who gets the most of what he is given? Losing arguably one of the best 2 way centers in the game is tough for any team to over come. Not to mention the handicap of the dead cap competing against teams with full cap space. Special teams need a change, hasn't been working for years. But a coach who can bring a team to this point with the deck a bit stacked against him? I don't think worthy of a firing.... yet.

16 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

The Stars have more talent, particularly healthy talent. Pavelski is a good player, but losing him is more equivalent to the wild losing Zuccarello.

Eriksson-Ek is the forward the Wild could least afford to be without, particularly when their top scorer is playing through injury. Hartman is also playing through something. The Wild had pretty good health much of the year prior to KK97 going out, and the Stars still won more games because they have a more talented roster.

Going into the series with Eriksson-Ek out, it would have been foolish to bet on the Wild. Without their 2 top forwards at full strength, anyone should expect the Wild to struggle against one of the best teams in the West.

Certainly reasonable to think they should kill penalties better, but they already accomplished more than most people would/should have expected around the middle of February(when they only had a couple more wins than losses).

The fact the Wild made a run to be in position to finish near the best record in the West says a lot about the coaching, particularly when you factor in the huge talent hole any team should be in compared to most playoff teams, given that more than 15% of their cap space is unavailable--including a significant portion being directly used against them in this playoff series.

Evason takes a team with average talent to the brink of winning the conference, then people think he should be fired for not beating a more talented team who has an excellent coach?

I imagine Evason's job is safe for at least another year. Which top coach would want to come in right now when the Wild are so up against the cap that they cannot afford to keep all their current talent, let alone improve upon it?

It would be a masterful job to get the Wild to win this series, which I'd love to see, but I don't think firing Evason is a simple path to improvement for next season, regardless of how they finish this series.

Disagree.  Pavelski is so much better than Zucc, it’s not even close.  Pavelski has 126 points in 169 playoff games.  Mats has 55 in 95.  Pavelski as 14 game winning playoff goals.  Mats has 3.  Pavelski is a big body better suited for playoff hockey.  Mats is tiny and I’m not sure I’ve seen him inside the circles more than once or twice all series.  Pavelski has 1,000 career points, Mats had about half that.  Mats was a -3 this year.  Pavelski was a +42, playing similar roles.  It’s ridiculous that they still run Mats out on our top line when we have Boldy, Nyquist, Johansson, etc.  Pavelski is still a legit top line player.

But, Pavelski being better than Mats doesn’t mean they’re a better team.

Kaprisov is better than anybody they have on their team in terms of pure hockey talent.

Our forward group is better defensively.  Max Domi, Marchment, Dellandrea, Dadonov, Fafska, Glendenning, are not better than our bottom 6.  Not even close.  They have more scoring depth in the top 6, but they also allow more goals.

Our defenseman are better from top to bottom.  Heiskanen is better than anything we have.  But, we are much deeper.  They don’t have anyone that can actually play defense at the level of Spurgeon and Brodin.  Dumba might be playing the best hockey if his career.  Surer had played well for them, but is not a better player at this point in his career than anyone in our top 4.  They’re starting a kid who played 6 games this year.  Lindell is a -2 in the series.

Goalies are pretty close to equal.  I’d take Oettinger over Gustavsson, but I wouldn’t say they have a huge edge.

They are much better on special teams, clearly.  We are a better team 5 on 5 clearly.  That’s reflected in the numbers of the series.

You can argue we have the better team.  I think we do.  But, its very close.  They have more scoring depth, outside of that you could argue we have the edge everywhere else.

I don’t know how anyone can look at Evason’s career track record and say this guy deserves a decade long leash.  He’s failing.  His teams have curled into the fetal position in multiple playoff series now after getting series leads early.  He’s not getting unlucky here and there - he’s getting his ass kicked in the playoffs.

18 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Foligno's hit was dirty. It may not have met the textbook definition of kneeing, but he knew exactly what he was doing. Obviously the Wild are frustrated with Dallas' players taking dives all over the place and roughing Kaprizov up without Dallas getting called for the penalties they should be called for, but guys have to play smarter than Foligno.

Foligno's hit was not dirty. He was completely in his lane with a solid stance. The difference is, he didn't go down on the play. Sometimes this happens, you are minding your own business and suddenly someone is coming right at you. You don't know if he's going right or left.  It's almost like playing chicken. At the last moment someone moves and there's a collision. The guy with the more solid base always gets called for the penalty because he must have done something wrong.  

Watch the replay, Foligno does not change his line to hit Faksa. Faksa moves which embellishes the hit and really makes it closer to knee on knee.  Don't get me wrong, it was a strong collision, and Faksa probably lost feeling in his leg until he could walk it off, but he made it look worse than it really was.

Had Foligno tried to mow him down at that point, I believe Faksa is out for the series.  5 was completely uncalled for. It was not a kneeing penalty because it was a solid leg, not a bent knee nor sticking the knee out.  It wasn't charging because Foligno doesn't stride up a head of steam.  It's not tripping, Faksa's movement causes him to go down. Foligno is the larger body so he will win a collision if Faksa doesn't move, and if I'm Faksa, I'm moving too.  It's pretty much incidental contact that is made to look like something was wrong. Essentially, if Foligno goes down too looking like he's also trying to avoid contact probably nothing gets called, but because he's bigger and had the stable base, he gets to receive the penalty which doesn't really fall into any true category.  You could say he really got 5 for calling officials arrogant 2 days prior.

And, to make matters worse for our team, nobody cares. Nobody cares about the Wild, or how referees treat them. Everyone knows they won't put up a fuss, the fans will react in a passive-aggressive manner.  Sure, there will be some complaining, but in the end, we'll rinse and repeat because they will not make a spectacle of themselves, they will not show up referees, and they will not embarrass the league.  They can make this call against this team because there will be absolutely no repercussions.  You won't get line brawls, you won't get players losing their collective minds.  You'll get guys sitting on the bench, for which you can give them 10s for just being there or lipping off a little.  And, until this changes, we will continue to receive this exact same treatment.  

3 minutes ago, Beast said:

You can argue we have the better team.  I think we do.  But, its very close.  They have more scoring depth, outside of that you could argue we have the edge everywhere else.

It isn't really an argument of who's better between Pavelski and Ek. The argument is who's better, Seguin (Pavelski's replacement) or Steel (Ek's replacement).  This is where we're getting our asses kicked.  

Shooter has put together a very good roster for what he had to work with financially.  However, for it to work in our favor, we need all hands on deck since we cannot afford to have the scoring depth other teams have.  Our bottom 6 is better, yes, but their top 6, as well as just about all the 1st & 2nd place teams has more depth specifically down the middle.  

Losing Ek, a top 2nd line C in the league, and our only decent center at this point was more of a hit than losing Pavelski in this series.  They may miss him more against other teams with better C depth, but we simply don't have those pieces.  Shooter was betting on Rossi being ready, he was not. For Shooter to really win these next few years, he has to pretty much run the table on his bets.  

Honestly, I think we could make a case for elevating Dewar up to top line C for game 6, and maybe even sliding Duhaime into a bottom 6 C role, and bringing Sundqvist back into the series, although he may not be healthy either.

17 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Eriksson-Ek is the forward the Wild could least afford to be without, particularly when their top scorer is playing through injury. Hartman is also playing through something. The Wild had pretty good health much of the year prior to KK97 going out, and the Stars still won more games because they have a more talented roster.

Going into the series with Eriksson-Ek out, it would have been foolish to bet on the Wild. Without their 2 top forwards at full strength, anyone should expect the Wild to struggle against one of the best teams in the West.

This is a bigger deal than most realize. He's a heart and soul player and he is the only one who plays in all situations. The importance of this loss is catastrophic for the team.  Kaprizov is a superstar, but there's a good argument that Ek is the team's MVP.

17 hours ago, Protec said:

The Wild really haven't fixed their issues with special teams, faceoffs, or penalties. These were known and yet not fixed for going on a few years. Not really a personnel thing in my opinion. Seems the best coaches could get the best from their group. That's why the playoff choke-fest is so confusing. What's so different that the Wild can't win two in a row in the postseason?

It may indeed have something to do with personnel. We simply don't have the guys who can win in the dots when it is absolutely necessary.  As much as Ek does, he is not that guy either. Hartman worked on this skill all last offseason, and I'd argue he should have worked on some other stuff too.  

I do think what we're seeing is a roster which just doesn't have 5th gear. And we've also got a coach who is increasingly frustrated because he doesn't have an answer.  I've got to believe that never winning a series in the post season as a professional coach has got to be wearing on him too.  It's like that scene in Miracle when the Russian coach doesn't pull his goalie at the end.  The line from Brooks is "he doesn't know what to do" as the Russian coach is pulling his eyebrows.  

While we're not at the point where we need the new coach yet, I find it hard to see how Evason is re-signed after his contract is up.  I'd think that is when you go after the Championship coach.  Our regular season might not be as good, but he'll have us ready for playoff hockey, and we should be talented enough to get an invitation to the playoffs.  

Since we're on this topic a bit, who would be a better playoff center for us, not in 20/20 hindsight, but in real time: Rossi or Lundell?  I would argue that Lundell would have been the better choice, specifically due to the style we play.  Now, that being said, I wouldn't be opposed to complete line reconfigurations which have Rossi playing with Kaprizov in game 6.  

I'd be looking at:

Boldy-Rossi-Kaprizov

Zuccarello-Gaudreau-Nyquist

Foligno-Dewar-Johansson

Sundqvist-Duhaime-Reaves

As mentioned earlier, Evason hasn't really blended the lines....or has he? Losing Ek in game 3 early and Foligno in game 5 early caused some unintended line blending. He hasn't really found the right combinations yet, but I think he's found plenty that didn't work.

40 minutes ago, IllicitFive said:

I find it kinda funny that so many are calling for Dean to be fired. Beginning of the year not many if any thought this team would even make the playoffs, then they were competing (ish) for the number 1 overall seed. Doesn't that lend some credence to Dean being a coach who gets the most of what he is given? Losing arguably one of the best 2 way centers in the game is tough for any team to over come. Not to mention the handicap of the dead cap competing against teams with full cap space. Special teams need a change, hasn't been working for years. But a coach who can bring a team to this point with the deck a bit stacked against him? I don't think worthy of a firing.... yet.

I have to agree with this take pretty much completely.  The last part, especially.  This is the wrong time to make the change, and I think that Deano will make it through the entirety of his contract.  

If the Wild can come back in this series and win it, perhaps a re-signing is in order when the time comes, however, the playoff defeats and Evason's playoff track record does not bode well for him in his next negotiation should the status quo remain.  

30 minutes ago, Beast said:

Pavelski is so much better than Zucc, it’s not even close.  Pavelski has 126 points in 169 playoff games.  Mats has 55 in 95.  Pavelski as 14 game winning playoff goals.  Mats has 3.  Pavelski is a big body better suited for playoff hockey.  Mats is tiny and I’m not sure I’ve seen him inside the circles more than once or twice all series.  Pavelski has 1,000 career points, Mats had about half that.  Mats was a -3 this year.  Pavelski was a +42, playing similar roles.  It’s ridiculous that they still run Mats out on our top line when we have Boldy, Nyquist, Johansson, etc.  Pavelski is still a legit top line player.

But, Pavelski being better than Mats doesn’t mean they’re a better team.

Kaprisov is better than anybody they have on their team in terms of pure hockey talent.

I'm not saying Zuccarello is equivalent to Pavelski in pure talent, but roughly in importance to his current team. The Stars have other players like Seguin and Benn who can step in for Pavelski's role without falling off a steep cliff. Pavelski is nearing age 39 and the Stars had 3 guys with more goals. He is talented, but not one of their 4 best players.

Losing Pavelski isn't close to as important for the Stars as losing Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov is to the Wild. Kaprizov might be playing, but Suter took away his scoring ability and the rest of his game might be nice, but it's his goal production that makes him a standout player.

JEE was 3rd in goals for the Wild, their top screener, and their top defensive forward. He makes the game more difficult for the opposition on both ends of the ice. His loss is already a bigger loss than Pavelski, but a diminished KK97 simply leaves the Wild in a talent deficit.

52 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Shooter was betting on Rossi being ready, he was not. For Shooter to really win these next few years, he has to pretty much run the table on his bets.  

Yes!   The Rossi whiff hurts badly.  Behind Rossi is ohgren (unimpressive stats), kuze (negligible stats), yurov (incomplete grade).  Brackett will be the fall guy in a year or two.   Evason next year if he’s one and done again.   BG will have the job as long as he wants it.  He’s a proven commodity. 
Evason’s timeline push out one year if Wild win this series.  Brackett’s goose is cooked in one year regardless 

#hottakefriday

51 minutes ago, Beast said:

You can argue we have the better team.  I think we do.  But, its very close.  They have more scoring depth, outside of that you could argue we have the edge everywhere else.

In the regular season, the Wild scored 39 fewer goals and allowed 7 more goals against, meaning the Stars had a goal differential advantage of 46 goals.

If the Wild were the better team, I would expect that to be MUCH closer, and the Wild did most of that with Joel Eriksson Ek, who was their top center for both the PK and the PP.

The Wild did get better after the trade deadline, but the overall results of the season did not seem to scream the Wild has the better team, and even if you argued they were at full strength, I don't think it's a winning argument when Joel Eriksson Ek is removed from the Wild, and KK97 is playing injured. Kaprizov has zero points since Suter injured him...

Hintz and Robertson are both near Kaprizov in terms of scoring ability. Benn and Seguin both have a history of point per game production in the not too distant past, and they are both excellent on faceoffs. Heiskanen is the most complete defensive player on either roster.

I'm not arguing the Wild should clearly lose when both teams are at full strength, but the Wild aren't near full strength.

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

Foligno's hit was not dirty. He was completely in his lane with a solid stance...

..Watch the replay, Foligno does not change his line to hit Faksa. Faksa moves which embellishes the hit and really makes it closer to knee on knee...

We are not going to agree on this. 

2 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Yes!   The Rossi whiff hurts badly.  Behind Rossi is ohgren (unimpressive stats), kuze (negligible stats), yurov (incomplete grade).  Brackett will be the fall guy in a year or two.   Evason next year if he’s one and done again.   BG will have the job as long as he wants it.  He’s a proven commodity. 
Evason’s timeline push out one year if Wild win this series.  Brackett’s goose is cooked in one year regardless 

Have you been paying attention to Ohgren's playoffs? 15 games, 8 goals, 5 assists, +11.

Khus^&*() also had a good playoff run, going 3 series deep.

Yurov's incomplete grade is absolutely true, though he was only getting a cup of coffee in most of those games after January.  Maybe he gets more icetime next season, but he kept getting shuffled between the men's league and the jr. league.  

Brackett is also going to get credit for Faber, The Wall, Lambos, Peart, Bankier, Petrovsky, Spacek, Hunt, O'Rourke.  I know we didn't draft Faber, but I'm pretty sure he had a huge hand in that one being the ask.  

While I still don't believe that Rossi is a whiff, for this season he was and when Shooter set up the team, he expected Rossi in the top 6. Him not being there has left quite a void at the position, exacerbated by the Ek injury.  The eye test, however, has revealed that Rossi has taken a step in development, and that quick, agile skating has returned to the highlights.  See his goal and assist in the final baby Wild playoff game. That had been missing pretty much all season. The threat of that skating will counter to some degree the lack of physical play Rossi can produce.

But, to your point, in the playoffs, with that lack of physical play, how good can Rossi really be?

9 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

The Wall, Lambos, Peart, Bankier, Petrovsky, Spacek, Hunt, O'Rourke. 

Have we learned nothing from the Rossi Experience?

His ceiling IMO is a middle six contributor....ceiling!!  James Sheppard, Benoit Pouliott, and the list goes on and on.  The draft is more art than science.  That said a team needs to not whiff on top 10 picks.  Rossi is evidence that Brackett no longer get's the benefit of the doubt.  Just like it was laughable when fans were convinced Rossi was going to fill Fiala's spot AND replace his points, it's laughable to assume that Brackett's draft pipeline is 100% can't miss.

1 hour ago, Beast said:

I don’t know how anyone can look at Evason’s career track record and say this guy deserves a decade long leash.  He’s failing.  His teams have curled into the fetal position in multiple playoff series now after getting series leads early.  He’s not getting unlucky here and there - he’s getting his ass kicked in the playoffs.

Evason has been a coach for less than 3.2 seasons. When he took over, the team had finished under .500 the prior season and was struggling under .500 when he stepped in.

Since he took over, the Wild have a points percentage that has exceeded 62% of available points in each of his seasons, that's 4 straight years when including the 12 games of his first partial season. He's done that with a significant roster hindrance each season. This year, they traded away his 2nd best point producer for a defenseman who played in 3 regular season games, and the team didn't fall apart even when they lost their #1 point producer.

I've never seen anyone suggest that Evason should get extended for even 5 more years, but when his team is exceeding regular season expectations based upon roster talent, it's not surprising to see them lose against the best teams in the league once the playoffs begin.

We didn't like the outcome of the series against Vegas, but the Wild pushed one of the 2 best teams in the conference to 7 games that year, and have been hampered by injury the last two years. I'm not suggesting Evason is a top coach, but I would kind of like to see him coach a team that can field a healthy roster of equal talent and see how they fare in the playoffs--he hasn't had that yet, and he cannot have that the next 2 seasons either.

I'm not sure Evason will be allowed to continue coaching the Wild through the 25-26 season, but that's the soonest he's likely able to enter a playoff series with the more talented roster, again due to the salary cap constraints through the next 2 seasons.

Evason probably deserves to coach through that 25-26 season, but once the salary cap constraints are significantly reduced in the summer before that season, I could see Guerin pivoting to another veteran coach with more history of postseason success.

If that happens, Evason will likely be immediately hired by another team who has noticed his team winning regularly despite being hamstrung by a roster that is operating at 85% of the budget that many other teams are able to utilize.

Maybe no easy answer but several.  At its core, this team simply is not good enough.  It does not have enough players on it that have a track record of winning in the playoffs.  It gets flustered with a good forecheck. They play too cute. The D is not tough enough. The officiating lost them games 4 and 5.  Kaprizov can't score or is injured. No Ek, who is one of the more valuable. Special teams are failing. Both head coach and GM haven't held that position before and certainly haven't while winning in  the playoffs.  The team was built for the regular season, not the playoffs.

I suppose there are more...

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Have we learned nothing from the Rossi Experience?

Mercer looking good, goal last night against NYR in a win for the Devils.