The Wild Must Prioritize Danila Yurov After He Signed A KHL Extension

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If he extends with the KHL, the Wild will be lucky that Yurov only plans to sign a one-year deal.

If he extends in the KHL, it should be just a 1 year deal. The Wild definitely will want him on their roster for 25-26. Seems like he's good enough to play for them right now, and I imagine another KHL year would only make him stronger.

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The Wild must approach the trade deadline to add draft picks and improve depth in Iowa. Guerin needs to take that approach to improve call-up depth and continue to leverage Judd Brackett’s expertise to build throughout the system. Yurov will soon see how much he's valued and will come to North America. He’s a superstar in the making for the Wild. And if the Xcel Energy Center starts regular “We Want Yurov” chants, that can't hurt in convincing him to come over, either!

The 1st sentence in this paragraph I completely disagree with. The prospects that we will move forward with are already here. The 1st and 2nd round pick this year is what we will be stashing in the cupboards. We don't need another bunch of prospects at this time. If we trade for picks, I would suggest gaining them a couple of years down the road.

The last sentence in the paragraph, though, is gold. Who's a season ticket holder who can regularly start this chant? This is something that he will hear either via social media or in case he watches Kaprizov's games knowing he will one day play with him. 

Maybe we start a YUROV chant to YMCA, in that style. It seems easy to make the letters with your body! What if a whole section did that? Or, how about starting the "Let's Play Hockey" with a "We Want Yurov" chant. Somehow, we need to get him the message that he is very much wanted here.

Now, as for the extra year, Danila Yurov is only 20. I'm pretty certain that the Wild have eyes on him both in video and in person. What if the Wild scouting doesn't think his body has matured enough for the NHL? I do think we need to consider this as a possibility. $330k is not much, but might be a lot in the Russian market and their cost of living. We don't know this, as our perspective is more just towards USA and maybe Canada when it comes to cost of living. I would also say it is much easier for him to transfer that kind of money to his family and one may have to worry about getting them out of Russia too. 

There is also something to be said with a community he knows, home cooked meals, and being a national hero. With Kaprizov, the Olympics were a draw for him to stay, this is not an issue this time around for NHLers. But it is an issue as to whether or not Russia can even compete. 

But, Kalisha is right about getting him over here. I would project him being ready to go in St. Paul when he's 22. I have to wonder if Yurov got assurances that if he signs another year he'll get good TOI? I am certain that if they do to him what SKA did to Dino, he's as good as gone the following year regardless of if it's NHL or AHL. I'd want Yurov coming over with the same impact that Kaprizov had, and having Kaprizov talk with him, even during the season will be an important role for the A that Kaprizov wears. This needs to be a directive from the FO to the player.

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Yurov should get ice time with Kaprizov, Boldy, Eriksson Ek, and Rossi to maximize his production and firepower up front. If anything, it's time to make a scoring top-nine, not a skilled top-six and grinder bottom-six.

I've advocated for building a team this way for a long time. If you've got 3 scoring lines, it takes a lot of pressure off each line, and a useful shutdown 4th line is great to have. You can roll all 4 lines, and when crunch time comes in the 3rd period, you simply go with the 2 scoring lines who look like they're going that night. Our pairings on defense look to have a lot of puck moving defenders too, so rolling through them will be easy too. 

I like where this team is going and what Guerin has potentially built. Patience has been the worst part of it, but at least we're not writhing in pain over the lost seasons while this has been going on. 

Per Russo on the Athletic today. Khusnutdinov season ends Sunday and the Wild intend on bringing him over soon after and start his ELC.

Then Guerin was quoted "Hopefully we can get both guys over here as soon as possible. I believe they are both ready." He was referring to Khusnutdinov and Yurov.

So maybe Yurov is waiting to sign to see if Johansson or Freddy is traded so he has a spot. He won't play in Iowa when he can make over $300k in Russia. 

Guerins ill advised contract extensions are starting to haunt him already. I find it interesting that Kaprizov  is not going out of his way to encourage Yurov to come over considering they both at one time were eagerly and openly talking about playing together. Maybe this is an early signal Kaprizov does not plan on staying here himself. Yurov should wait to see where Kaprizov lands and perhaps that's exactly what he's doing. 

3 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Guerins ill advised contract extensions are starting to haunt him already. I find it interesting that Kaprizov  is not going out of his way to encourage Yurov to come over considering they both at one time were eagerly and openly talking about playing together. Maybe this is an early signal Kaprizov does not plan on staying here himself. Yurov should wait to see where Kaprizov lands and perhaps that's exactly what he's doing. 

 

I wouldn't read to much into that quote from Yurov. Remember he is under contract and still in Russia. I'm sure he's been advised to say he's had no communication w any Wild player's or management. It's gotten so bad there, even Kaprizov didn't go back last summer to train. He met his family in Italy.

The Wild have had to settle for veteran depth because they don't have the boost yet from prospects. It's getting there but not enough yet. Yurov is already pretty good. Another year in KHL is not bad. The Wild will be in the last year of penalties next season. Just gotta hang in there. 

I don't really care Guerin or Kaprizov aren't sending buddy-texts or trying to woo Yurov. Nothingburger...

It’s hard waiting for the top prospects to get suited up to play for the Wild. It kinda feels like this team is developing in slow motion. I guess part of that is having such incredibly strong ,young players breaking out in other leagues. The future looks bright I just wish it was already here. 

What a crazy game! Keep pouring it on!

5 hours ago, MacGyver said:

Guerins ill advised contract extensions are starting to haunt him already. I find it interesting that Kaprizov  is not going out of his way to encourage Yurov to come over considering they both at one time were eagerly and openly talking about playing together. Maybe this is an early signal Kaprizov does not plan on staying here himself. Yurov should wait to see where Kaprizov lands and perhaps that's exactly what he's doing. 

 

Why? Because we have to wait an extra season for Yurov? I don't think its a huge deal. What's to stop him from potentially joining us mid-year next year the exact same way that Khusnutdinov will be this season? 

Maybe Kaprizov is salty that his KHL record got broken by this guy. 

I think we should all definitely prepare ourselves for the very real possibility that Kaprizov will not be signing another contract with us. We won't really know until that final season. 

2 hours ago, Burnt Toast said:

It’s hard waiting for the top prospects to get suited up to play for the Wild. It kinda feels like this team is developing in slow motion. I guess part of that is having such incredibly strong ,young players breaking out in other leagues. The future looks bright I just wish it was already here. 

I think the hardest part is that we've got a pretty average team and we see guys like Faber and Boldy (eventually Rossi as well) come in and play well quickly and it gives a false impression that maybe those other guys just need a chance too! 

I think there's a reason why Geurin has set an average baseline for the team though. You've gotta be above that to get a sniff of the lineup regularly and, unfortunately, none of our prospects outside of those 3 (and they are a good 3 to have, no question) have really shown that's them.

In the AHL or during any call-ups. 

We'll see how Khusnutdinov and Yurov do when they get over here, and if they are as-advertised they'll be huge additions, but aside from those 2, and Wallstedt, I'm not sure how much help is over the hill right now.

1. Right now the Metalurg (team Yurov is playing for) threats him as a young star. 
2. The contact offered by Metalurg is much better than what ELC nhl contracts. And it does not sounds like Wild is offering anything extra, nor promises place on the team (BG u need to earn this stuff).
3. Yurov is actually 21, next year he wil be 22 by the end of the season. Bellow is what I see about ELC nhl contracts (and please correct me if I am reading this wrong).

with that there is absolutely no needs for him to come next year and actually if no effort from Wild he can wait even one more year. Than he can sigh 1 year, play where Wild place him and then if he is good but Wild see this differently, he will inform Wild that he will not sign with them after third year and BG (if he is still there by that time) will have no choice but trade him to get something in return.

Players aged 18-21 sign three-year contracts, while those aged 22-23 sign two-year deals.Players who are 24 years old sign one-year contracts

1 hour ago, Lovehockey said:

1. Right now the Metalurg (team Yurov is playing for) threats him as a young star. 
2. The contact offered by Metalurg is much better than what ELC nhl contracts. And it does not sounds like Wild is offering anything extra, nor promises place on the team (BG u need to earn this stuff).
3. Yurov is actually 21, next year he wil be 22 by the end of the season. Bellow is what I see about ELC nhl contracts (and please correct me if I am reading this wrong).

with that there is absolutely no needs for him to come next year and actually if no effort from Wild he can wait even one more year. Than he can sigh 1 year, play where Wild place him and then if he is good but Wild see this differently, he will inform Wild that he will not sign with them after third year and BG (if he is still there by that time) will have no choice but trade him to get something in return.

Players aged 18-21 sign three-year contracts, while those aged 22-23 sign two-year deals.Players who are 24 years old sign one-year contracts

 

Not quite. It has been rumored his KHL deal is 1 yr around $330k. Meanwhile,  a max ELC in the NHL is $950K. Plus, you can 10% to that as performance bonuses. The hang up is the ELC is a 2 way contract. So if he spends time in Iowa, he makes less than $100K. 

Thus, if he waits a year when Johansson is off the books. He's pretty much guaranteed a roster spot and over $900K.

Send Freddie and Mojo to Russia...problem(s) solved.

1 hour ago, Paul Bunyan is Real said:

Not quite. It has been rumored his KHL deal is 1 yr around $330k. Meanwhile,  a max ELC in the NHL is $950K. Plus, you can 10% to that as performance bonuses. The hang up is the ELC is a 2 way contract. So if he spends time in Iowa, he makes less than $100K. 

Thus, if he waits a year when Johansson is off the books. He's pretty much guaranteed a roster spot and over $900K.

This is exactly correct. With couple of caveats:

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if he is hood next year the Metalurg (or other KHL club) can and probably will offer him more as well. Till we are talking ELC contracts he can make more money there 

2. which leads to my point - Wild needs to show him that they want him, they see the future in him. And sounds like right now Wild is not doing this. Otherwise Yurov will be here next year 

Again, when it comes to Russia and Russians nothing is ever a certainty. Far from it. In regards to the new arena it was apparently built by the Russian oligarch who owns the KHL team that Yurov plays for.  Do you think he might be interested in keeping his star player on his team there to put asses in those new seats?  Players talk to other players all the time to try to influence them to come to their team to play. No rules against it that I know of. I remember Foligno nearly begging brother Nick to come here before he signed with Boston.

I wouldn't be moving existing players around on our roster to make room for Yurov just yet. 

19 hours ago, MacGyver said:

Guerins ill advised contract extensions are starting to haunt him already. I find it interesting that Kaprizov  is not going out of his way to encourage Yurov to come over considering they both at one time were eagerly and openly talking about playing together. Maybe this is an early signal Kaprizov does not plan on staying here himself. Yurov should wait to see where Kaprizov lands and perhaps that's exactly what he's doing. 

 

Dolla Bill ain’t goin nowhere. He’s a small village farm kid. He loves it here. Billy G will  lock him up. Not worried. I do agree that Kirko should be calling Yurov every other night. Assuring him how much he is wanted and how great it is here.

Wheeler's prospect rankings have us at #11 after we graduated Boldy and Rossi. Yurov is considered our 2nd best prospect behind Wallstedt. Here's the juiciest bit Scott had to say about him: 

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For years, he was a rare winger who was capable of driving play, chances and results at both ends without necessarily looking like he was dominating out there. This year, a move to center helped him really lean into that identity and he has looked like a natural down the middle outside of needing some expected work in the faceoff (he’s only winning about 44-45 percent in the KHL). 

With Ek driving play on the top-line with Kaprizov.. could Yurov come in and play C2? I think Rossi would be a better fit on the outside than in the middle a la Mikael Granlund. 

17 minutes ago, B1GKappa97 said:

Wheeler's prospect rankings have us at #11 after we graduated Boldy and Rossi. Yurov is considered our 2nd best prospect behind Wallstedt. Here's the juiciest bit Scott had to say about him: 

With Ek driving play on the top-line with Kaprizov.. could Yurov come in and play C2? I think Rossi would be a better fit on the outside than in the middle a la Mikael Granlund. 

Yeah, I saw Wheelers rankings. Personally I'd like to see Yurov over here next year. He's 6'1" 180lbs and has been playing against men the last 2 yrs. Then you'd have Kaprizov, Ek, Boldy and Yurov(2C) as a big 4 in the top 6. You mix and match the off  wingers and have 2 legit scoring lines. 

Problem w this team right now is there is only 1 line consistently providing offense.

23 hours ago, MacGyver said:

Guerins ill advised contract extensions are starting to haunt him already. I find it interesting that Kaprizov  is not going out of his way to encourage Yurov to come over considering they both at one time were eagerly and openly talking about playing together. Maybe this is an early signal Kaprizov does not plan on staying here himself. Yurov should wait to see where Kaprizov lands and perhaps that's exactly what he's doing. 

 

I thought the exact same thing.

I personally don’t see kaprizov staying but obviously I hope he does.

if he doesn’t I hope we get an absolute haul for him in a trade.

Doesn't matter where Kap goes, Yurov ain’t going anywhere because he’s under contract.

4 hours ago, BillieGismylover said:

Dolla Bill ain’t goin nowhere. He’s a small village farm kid. He loves it here. Billy G will  lock him up. Not worried

You have absolutely no idea what’s going on in his head.

none whatsoever.

he played for the biggest and best khl team and won a cup and an mvp with them.

i bet he absolutely loved that because he was from a small town.

lets just be honest we both have no idea what he’s thinking and he’s not going to be completely transparent with us at this stage of his contract.

4 hours ago, Paul Bunyan is Real said:

Yeah, I saw Wheelers rankings. Personally I'd like to see Yurov over here next year. He's 6'1" 180lbs and has been playing against men the last 2 yrs. Then you'd have Kaprizov, Ek, Boldy and Yurov(2C) as a big 4 in the top 6. You mix and match the off  wingers and have 2 legit scoring lines. 

Problem w this team right now is there is only 1 line consistently providing offense.

I mean if we're bringing over Khusnutdinov mid-season this year, I don't see why we couldn't do the same with Yurov next season. Even if it just ends up being a short regular season audition before the playoffs, a la Brock Faber last year, because his KHL team goes on a post-season run.

The only question would be what happens to Marcus Johansson at that point because he doesn't strike me as enough of a grinder for a 3rd/4th line role, but its possible they just scratch him at that point too. 

6 hours ago, BillieGismylover said:

He’s a small village farm kid.

The city he is from has about 600,000 residents. Must be a really big farm.

17 minutes ago, Up North Guy said:

The city he is from has about 600,000 residents. Must be a really big farm.

And he walks to school uphill both ways...in the snow.  

I understand that. I had to do that through the mountainous region here in NW Minnesota. It was tough, but we persevered.