The Wild Can't Operate As A Bubble Team Again This Year

Just don't go on 2-3 major slumps early, and then the ground won't be so hard to make up.  The early road schedule is going to be hard.  Still, letting other teams gobble up points early would be a death knell.

The three teams listed hope to do what the Wild are looking for this year. Win now and develop their best young players. Those goals at times appear in conflict, becoming somewhat of a balancing act. The NHL has been successful at creating an environment that allows competition to make the playoffs. For most teams win now is the #1 priority with the realistic goal being making the playoffs. 

Just found something on Yurov I didn't hear about previously.

He often played center last season because of his puck skills and excellent vision on the ice, but he will need further seasoning before can play up the middle in the more demanding North American leagues—he had a 41% success rate on faceoffs.

He just had his first game back from injury this season. No points in that one(a 1-0 OT win for his team), but nice to see that he's getting back on the ice. Also noticed that they were having a game as I was writing this. No points in that one either, but his team won 5-3 with a late empty net goal.

Also just saw that he'd won 7 of 8 faceoffs in his game today(assuming Flashscore is correct), so perhaps he's well on his way to improving there.

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The Wild Can't Operate As A Bubble Team Again This Year

This was the headline of the article, but the bulk of it was spent on Calgary, Seattle and St. Louis. So, how do the Wild not be in this category? It's a pretty easy answer but very tough to accomplish, don't get injured. 

The real reason why we didn't make the playoffs last year wasn't with a crappy PK, or sub goaltending. It had to do with injuries, especially bulked at times. With the last year of the cap heavy lifting penalties, the key to a successful season is health, mainly because we do not have the ability to stash depth other than our prospects. 

This team has solidly made the playoffs in 3/4 years. The key to that has been better than average team health. Now, there are problems with this: 1) it is pretty much out of team control unless off the ice, stay safe. 2) with an aging roster it is harder for those guys to stay healthy. 3) there must be a willingness by the FO to use LTIR. All the GMs have been slow to use this method of getting in players for injured guys. Shooter's got to be on the ball and use this method aggressively this season. 

Now that our prospects are closer to being ready, that may take some heat off of the replacements. But, even to use them, Guerin has spent close to the cap ceiling again and we have very little money to use on replacement players. If we decide to go 23 and carry 3 'tenders, it gets pretty dicey cap wise. Hopefully our new capologist will be able to pull rabbits out of hats and make 0 mistakes. 

If this happens, our stats will be better in all areas, and we should be comfortably in a playoff spot with 10 to play.

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

This was the headline of the article, but the bulk of it was spent on Calgary, Seattle and St. Louis. So, how do the Wild not be in this category? It's a pretty easy answer but very tough to accomplish, don't get injured. 

Pretty much.  Every team in the NHL is operating as a bubble team right now for the 24-25 NHL season, no matter which players they currently have under contract. Injuries to a couple top tier players on any roster can drastically alter the season.

More than half the league is in the bubble conversation at the trade deadline. Easier to be out of it by being bad than by being elite, so I envision the Wild being in the bubble conversation most of the upcoming season.

That was an odd title given the content.

Russo says Boldy out week to week.  However, he is presumed good by Opening Day.

Way to scare me just like the Darnold knee thing yesterday.

Accidental double post...stupid work wifi.

the wild really have no choice but operate as a wild team (at best)

they are not jumping ahead of 

Avs, Stars, Jets, Preds, Knights, Oilers, Nucks, and likely Kings. 

So how are we getting out of the mush? we are not.

but good news ahead! (a) we have Ohgren who compares himself to matthews and landeskog (yeap that one big ego - maybe start comparison a bit lower?) (b) we have the return of MJ, Freddy, Harty and Zuccy (back on 1st line!!), Foligno, Super rookie Marat K, and super free agent signee Yasha. 

HAHAHA but wait i have better news - 

(c) due to Wild being just ahead of sharks at new year point and kaprizov tension and unhappiness building up, Wild's brass (just Billy) decide to do the most appropriate thing and trade Kap to Hawks for their first round pick in the next year "loaded" draft (yeap mid point pick i'd guess cause Hawks make the playoffs),  Nick Foligno (oh shit Wild will then have 2 Folignos, which we all know means > one Kaprizov!) and Joey "one of us" Anderson

So recap - if Wild are miraculously still a bubble team - that gives us Kaprizov for ONE MORE YEAR. if Wild are bottom 1-3 teams, that gets us to trading Kaprizov this very trade deadline. a smart GM may perhaps get some value out of it, but we have Billy - reminder - "took first fair offer". 

Surprisingly i am still excited for the season! and rooting for my Wild but you have to be honest and real about the outlook.....

1 hour ago, OldDutchChip said:

Avs, Stars, Jets, Preds, Knights, Oilers, Nucks, and likely Kings. 

We just need to hop one of these teams. After extensive research I’ve found any combination of the following get us in the dance… Preds get taken out by “I’m baaaaack”. Oilers get bumped out by the EV movement. Kings get dethroned in another revolution. Stars leaving Dallas. Jets get distracted by a Paul McCartney tribute. Aves boycotted by angry skiers. Nucks forgotten by entire league. Let’s Go!!!

18 hours ago, Burnt Toast said:

The three teams listed hope to do what the Wild are looking for this year. Win now and develop their best young players. Those goals at times appear in conflict, becoming somewhat of a balancing act. The NHL has been successful at creating an environment that allows competition to make the playoffs. For most teams win now is the #1 priority with the realistic goal being making the playoffs. 

Agree. It seems the Wilds entire existence has been to develop and moderately compete. 

14 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

(c) due to Wild being just ahead of sharks at new year point and kaprizov tension and unhappiness building up,

I'm tired of this narrative being pushed. It's pure speculation and rumor at this point.

4 hours ago, Fezig said:

It seems the Wilds entire existence has been to develop and moderately compete. 

The newest Wild Management team has put a lot of effort into keeping and acquiring draft picks. That pushes the pendulum towards development. About 2 years ago I could see the Wild were building towards 2027. I still hold to that. If at that time the current “plan” is promoting a bubble team I’m going to be asking for a regime change. I think 3 more years is reasonable and a decade in total for BG more than fair. 

5 minutes ago, Burnt Toast said:

a decade in total for BG more than fair.

I’m not quite yet in the fire Guerin now camp (but I am having hats made), but who TF gets a ten year run way to show positive results in pro sports

 the move to choose cap hell was pure genius from a job security stand point. Buys you a four year free pass.  Times up Guerin I know we’ve got one more year but I’m impatient.  Your job depends on maRat, ogz and resigning 97.  
 

no more wait til next year

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

no more wait til next year

I'd say one more "wait until next year".  Any GM was going to have to deal with those bad assets and struggle to contend for a title with Suter and Parise on the books(whether on the team or not). I'm not incredibly patient all the time, but this was a bad situation to walk into for a GM, other than having Kaprizov under team control in the KHL, but he did still need to get him signed and on the Wild.

The Wild have built up a solid prospect pool and were competing near the top of the conference the prior 2 seasons when they didn't have massive cap constraints from the buy-outs. 25-26 is the year that any GM would have been building towards to compete and Guerin has the Wild in a decent position to do that based upon the young players that are starting to come in.

Guerin has locked up key players(JEE, Boldy, Faber) on very good contracts and set a path that could lead towards contention since he's taken over. I want to see his vision come to fruition once the constraints are removed.

He does need to get an extension for Kaprizov, but assuming he can, adding Yurov and Buium for next year could make this team quite a bit more exciting and closer to contention, along with Wallstedt advancing in his development.

4 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I'd say one more "wait until next year".  Any GM was going to have to deal with those bad assets and struggle to contend for a title with Suter and Parise on the books(whether on the team or not). I'm not incredibly patient all the time, but this was a bad situation to walk into for a GM, other than having Kaprizov under team control in the KHL, but he did still need to get him signed and on the Wild.

The Wild have built up a solid prospect pool and were competing near the top of the conference the prior 2 seasons when they didn't have massive cap constraints from the buy-outs. 25-26 is the year that any GM would have been building towards to compete and Guerin has the Wild in a decent position to do that based upon the young players that are starting to come in.

Guerin has locked up key players(JEE, Boldy, Faber) on very good contracts and set a path that could lead towards contention since he's taken over. I want to see his vision come to fruition once the constraints are removed.

He does need to get an extension for Kaprizov, but assuming he can, adding Yurov and Buium for next year could make this team quite a bit more exciting and closer to contention, along with Wallstedt advancing in his development.

That's fair.

What if: Guerin re-signs 97, but none or few of the draft picks are needle movers (that's what she said)?  2-3 years from now are you still saying, "Guerin just needs a couple more years"?

16 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

What if: Guerin re-signs 97, but none or few of the draft picks are needle movers (that's what she said)?  2-3 years from now are you still saying, "Guerin just needs a couple more years"?

If the Wild aren't decimated by injuries and aren't hosting a home playoff series in 26-27, I wouldn't be suggesting "just wait". That should be when they start contending for the top of the conference, so failure in those circumstance leading to a new direction would certainly seem warranted.

If the owner wanted to replace the coach and give him one more year, I'm not sure I'd be overly upset, but the patience will be running low at that point.

20 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

the wild really have no choice but operate as a wild team (at best)

they are not jumping ahead of 

Avs, Stars, Jets, Preds, Knights, Oilers, Nucks, and likely Kings. 

So how are we getting out of the mush? we are not.

but good news ahead! (a) we have Ohgren who compares himself to matthews and landeskog (yeap that one big ego - maybe start comparison a bit lower?) (b) we have the return of MJ, Freddy, Harty and Zuccy (back on 1st line!!), Foligno, Super rookie Marat K, and super free agent signee Yasha. 

HAHAHA but wait i have better news - 

(c) due to Wild being just ahead of sharks at new year point and kaprizov tension and unhappiness building up, Wild's brass (just Billy) decide to do the most appropriate thing and trade Kap to Hawks for their first round pick in the next year "loaded" draft (yeap mid point pick i'd guess cause Hawks make the playoffs),  Nick Foligno (oh shit Wild will then have 2 Folignos, which we all know means > one Kaprizov!) and Joey "one of us" Anderson

So recap - if Wild are miraculously still a bubble team - that gives us Kaprizov for ONE MORE YEAR. if Wild are bottom 1-3 teams, that gets us to trading Kaprizov this very trade deadline. a smart GM may perhaps get some value out of it, but we have Billy - reminder - "took first fair offer". 

Surprisingly i am still excited for the season! and rooting for my Wild but you have to be honest and real about the outlook.....

I actually think this is the most honest take out there haha. I’m not seeing us being a playoff team. There is a huge and very talented center in this years draft thou that I hope we have a chance at named Roger McQueen. 

3 minutes ago, Mateo3xm said:

Roger McQueen

Lightning's little brother

5 hours ago, M_Nels said:

I'm tired of this narrative being pushed. It's pure speculation and rumor at this point.

Whether you’re tired of it or not, it’s still a possibility that he could leave! Doesn’t matter if you don’t like it. Kap is either getting overpaid to stay on a team that doesn’t have a great chance of winning in the playoffs or he’s leaving to try and win a cup. There is absolutely the possibility he could go. We have an aging team and not enough players to fill the gaps without going through a few years of growing pains. This team doesn’t really have an identity, its players are 

Smaller in stature and there doesn’t seem to be an attainable goal, plan or objective.

I see a lot of positive movement for this year's Wild team with new, young talent, and depth between the draft capital and vets on affordable contracts.

There's potential breakout players and with the cap penalties heaviest burden falling off, MN has flexibility. Both Colorado and Dallas had some tough years prior to re-emerging as top teams in the Central. The Avs were a mess when Duchene was getting moved out and Dallas had a brutal year when Seguin & Benn didn't live up to their salaries. STL and MN had tough years last season, but to presume MN will continue to languish is a glass half-empty opinion.

If Faber & Boldy are better and Kaprizov has a quicker start, that's a boost. If the goalies & defense tighten-up as a group, there's some percentage of improvement. If Rossi & Ogie or Trenin & Lauko exceed expectations by a little bit each and the Wild correct some of their special-teams shortfalls, we're talking about a good team again.

It's probably not possible to be worse against Central foes than last season. That's probably more of a fluke related to last season's troubles and lack of depth more than a solid trend. I think there's truth to the Wild players believing they can be better. Can they make it actionable and go out each game, play 60mins, buy in to the little things, and get better results??? My opinion is they can and should. Dean said a couple years ago, the team was mentally fragile when they went through a bad stretch. They need a start and quick buildup of chemistry/confidence to avoid the bubble discussion. If it begins well and the Wild are in a good spot by the All-Star break, I'm pretty confident GMBG can make some in-season moves to improve the group further. I'm not saying I think they're Cup contenders for sure, but I think the Wild could surprise us in a good way more than bad.

1 hour ago, Mateo3xm said:

Whether you’re tired of it or not, it’s still a possibility that he could leave! Doesn’t matter if you don’t like it. Kap is either getting overpaid to stay on a team that doesn’t have a great chance of winning in the playoffs or he’s leaving to try and win a cup. There is absolutely the possibility he could go. We have an aging team and not enough players to fill the gaps without going through a few years of growing pains. This team doesn’t really have an identity, its players are 

Well no kidding it's a possibility, anything is a possibility. What I'm getting tired of is people acting like they know Kaprizov personally and somehow know he's frustrated, unhappy whatever and automatically assume he's jumping ship as soon as his contract is up. None of us are in the room with GMBG & Kap and hell he may be excited to be a cornerstone and excited with the moves being made, but then again that may just be a possibility... 

6 minutes ago, Protec said:

and the Wild correct some of their special-teams shortfalls, we're talking about a good team again.

Bingo!! We're even mid-pack on the PK and it's a different story. Being 30th on the PK is going to lose you a lot of games.

2 hours ago, M_Nels said:

Well no kidding it's a possibility, anything is a possibility. What I'm getting tired of is people acting like they know Kaprizov personally and somehow know he's frustrated, unhappy whatever and automatically assume he's jumping ship as soon as his contract is up. None of us are in the room with GMBG & Kap and hell he may be excited to be a cornerstone and excited with the moves being made, but then again that may just be a possibility... 

Exactly this.  It's not that it's not a possibility.  It's the certainty and fearmongering behind the way Kaprizov's feelings about the team are portrayed.  Yes, it's a concern, but the people who post such things push their own negativity as if Kaprizov would agree with them.

4 hours ago, M_Nels said:

Well no kidding it's a possibility, anything is a possibility. What I'm getting tired of is people acting like they know Kaprizov personally and somehow know he's frustrated, unhappy whatever and automatically assume he's jumping ship as soon as his contract is up. None of us are in the room with GMBG & Kap and hell he may be excited to be a cornerstone and excited with the moves being made, but then again that may just be a possibility... 

you do know that there are two possibilities to the kaprizov saga? he either leaves or stays. is that a taboo to talk scenario that may not be to your liking? that's the point of the forum - to discuss! you don't have to like it, but that's the reality - people have opinions and different views. i admit that mine is a bit more pessimistic than most - but what can you do? 🙂 

Remember Kap came over to a new country and HAD to play for us. he held firm to lower term demand and did not sign 8 years. that meant, and still means - he gets a chance to have a say at where he plays during his prime years. that's it - that was his intent. and wild new that. from that point they had to execute a near flawless execution of roster creation and future planning to have any chance at getting kap to resign. have they done that?

maybe they have and maybe he really does LOVE minny. maybe that 1 million extra is enough to entice him to spend the rest of his career here....maybe he really is  excited about having to play with trenin, freddy, harty, zuccy, ohgren, marat, mj, and foligno? maybe that was his dream all along! maybe you right..