Why Did Bill Guerin's Expectations Suddenly Change?

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How about, We didn’t get better at the things we needed to this year. It was unacceptable, and our coaches and players know it. We will be better next season. That would have at least passed for being acceptable to your paying fans. But no. For the first time in his tenure, Guerin chose to accept losing as okay.

What happened to “it’s all about f&*king winning?”

This is a completely fair set of questions, what happened? Why wasn't this a failure? We've all heard the cliche "Rome wasn't built in a day." Special teams failed us again, that part is the failure, but as a whole was this season really a failure?

I think Guerin's statement was completely true. It looked like this team was going to fold in February when they went through what looks like a typical Minnesota swoon. But then they picked it up in March, once again forcing Guerin to buy instead of sell at the deadline, even though he had helped other teams out with the cap.

But, there were also successes. It looks like the Marcus Johansson trade was one that got Boldy a wingman. Boldy's season was an A at the end with 30+ goals. Kaprizov had a strong season going prior to having an elephant fall on him. And Brock Faber came out from nowhere to provide some real solid defense. Gaudreau's year built on last years bargain signing. And, we were a #3 seed going away looking more like division challengers than squeaking by for a WC invitation. And let's not overlook Gustavsson in goal who may be a longterm answer to our goaltending depth. Walker and Beckman showed improvement, while not quite ready.

But with it were some failures, like Rossi being able to make the leap, Addison refusing to acknowledge that the ice surface has 3 zones. Hartman playing through injuries was not the same player he was last year. WE STILL NEED CENTERS. Our special teams looked better in the regular season, especially with the threat of shorties, but in the playoffs they were dreadful. We were not as lucky with injuries either. 

You can't judge this season with the mentality of "If you're not first, your last." If you look at the successes, some of those have longterm implications. We were promised a team the last 2 seasons that would be "competitive." Competitive does not even remotely mean Champions. Competitive means you're playing meaningful games with 10 games left in the season. That this team once again accomplished that and made the playoffs gives them at least a C. That is not an F.

I know that you guys had the 694-494 loop built quite awhile ago. It was under construction when I lived there. It seemed to be under construction forever. Here, in Charlotte, we've been building our own loop which started in 1990 and was completed about 20 years later. Now, since they built it too small construction is once again tying things up as we go from 2 to 4 lanes. I knew they built it too small to begin with! While this is a little more drawn out than building a hockey team, it is similar. A draft pick under the Guerin/Brackett era has yet to play a full season in MN.

Our new guys, the guys Guerin will count on, are getting better. Some will gain roster spots next season, some the year after. Rossi, Lambos, Wallstedt, Ohgren, Yurov are the 1st rounders. But just like my roads, they are under construction. We wait and wait, and there are traffic delays every day, but eventually the construction will be finished. This is what the Wild are right now, a team with a bunch of cement barriers and orange cones all over the place including traffic pattern changes. 

So, why wasn't this season an F for failure? Because when the construction dust settles, we are closer to the goal than when we started the season. It is about winning, it's all about winning, but this season, and probably next will be evaluated differently than wins and losses. The blueprints look good, soon we will see if those blueprints actually produce a Championship Roster!

Also, is that Trump in the picture with his back turned? Ballsy picture for a non-political site!😉

Guerin is changing his message a little, because he doesn't want to answer the logical follow up question. If Guerin were to say the season was a failure, people would then demand an explanation for how he plans to fix things.

What does the owner think of Bill Guerin? Does Craig Leopold view this latest first round exit as acceptable?

Until the Guerin and Brackett draft picks reach the NHL, we won't know the full outcome of whatever Guerin has planned. 

Hopefully the Minnesota Wild make it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2024 and Hopefully the Minnesota Wild make a deep Stanley Cup Playoff run between 2025-2027

I agree with Mnfan, I think it's hard to view this season as a failure. Most people didn't expect us to make the playoffs, or to sneak in as a WC. We were playing without a significant portion of the cap, and entered the playoffs down our best center, on a team with no true #1 center and a lot of players who are player center, when it is not their normal position.

Bill Guerin bought out Parise and Suter, he knows the cap consequences. He also likely knew the team would not win a cup without 14 million in cap spaces. He is playing the long game, the whole being about "f*cking winning" is just publicity talk. What he is doing is building a positive culture for our new players and up-and-comers to develop in. Where players will actually give them advice and help them improve their game, rather than scorn them for being newbies. I think the (particularly Suter) Suter and Parise problem wouldn't have allowed this to happen.

His problem is he is a pretty straight forward guy and being seen in that light is important to him.  I expect he wants everyone to like him and he has a blindspot, thinking his story will be bought as it always has been.

But when you've been around awhile and have said enough,  people start nagging you on these inconsistencies.

Billy's job is to lie to people.  You wouldn't want it any other way.  You don't want a GM telling everything he knows.  Being honest doesn't come with the job.  Whatever his plan is, no one wants to hear, "We've got to get worse before we get better."

In the Summer of 2026, when Kaprizov's contract is over, we'll know if whatever the heck he's doing pays off with a Championship.  If so, they'll put a statue of him on 7th. If not, aloha Billy. 

GMBG will be judged when salary cap purgatory is over.  If he has developed 6 to 10 players from the feeder system into a solid playoff potential team.  He will have done his job.

Side note:  The first 6 weeks of the season were hard to watch.  The rest of the season was a fun ride.  The players poured everything they had into the year to get where they did.  I appreciate the effort of those players.  This isn't an easy game.  I am already looking forward to next season.

23 hours ago, jabuyer said:

In the Summer of 2026, when Kaprizov's contract is over, we'll know if whatever the heck he's doing pays off with a Championship.  If so, they'll put a statue of him on 7th. If not, aloha Billy. 

And there's the rub. I'm fairly convinced already BG hasn't got what it takes and the salary cap is going to keep him here and protect him for far to long. I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't think I am. And what gets me the most is they have a fantastic coach who most everyone wants to get rid of. It should be just the opposite in my opinion.

On 5/5/2023 at 10:55 PM, Jay Meginnes said:

Hopefully the Minnesota Wild make it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2024 and Hopefully the Minnesota Wild make a deep Stanley Cup Playoff run between 2025-2027

I’m not seeing how they are going to be much better in 2024..