Wild Acquire Vladimir Tarasenko For Free

11 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Selected in 2nd round.  Clearly that one clanged off the upright

Yes.  Will see if he catches on with another team.  Of all second rounders ever drafted, only 68%  play in at least one NHL game and only 40% play in at least 100.

He’s scored more than 70 points one time since 2017-2018.  That’s almost a decade ago.  A lot of the years in between were abysmal.  His defense is horrendous.  He can’t skate.  He doesn’t have the shot he used to.  He’s a road cone at this point.  He may rack up some assist numbers if he’s thrown in a top line, but so would my 10 year old Squirt if they gave him top 6 minutes with Kaprisov or Boldy.

I get what Guerin is doing.  He crapped the bed this off-season.  He knows it, and he knows he has to do something with some name recognition or he’s going to be lambasted, maybe even out his job in jeopardy.  This gets the Wild name out there before free agency and gives the impression of doing something meaningful.  It also provides some mentorship to the Russians and a guy who’s won something on a short-term deal.  I think all of that is hogwash.

This also likely defers a big move for a real live hockey player to next year.  Or, he’s setting up a fairly significant trade with forward prospects like Ohgren, etc.  He can’t trade Rossi anymore because there’s nobody to replace him.  It feels very forced and desperate.  

I would’ve rather he trade them a prospect for Detroit to retain some salary.  I’d be fine with it if he were at $2M or less.  Mojo is probably a better hockey player right now and he makes less than $1M.  That $5M could’ve been used to much better than this.

If there’s a massive trade coming, I’ll reassess.  But, if they go into the season like this, maybe add a bottom 6 guy, I absolutely hate it.

2 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Sounds like Sturm Nation is very good in the faceoff circle 55+%.  This team has lacked that

Sturmicidal Lube was good here before. He wasn't involved much for FL this year but that's a damn good team with Barkov, Bennett, Rienhart, Lundell, Loostereyenin, etc. Lotta depth down the middle and Sturm was the deadline acquisition so, not discouraged he wasn't in the lineup too much during the Cup run. 

1 hour ago, Beast said:

 Mojo is probably a better hockey player right now and he makes less than $1M.

Disqualifying statement. Gonna have to reject your other opinions entirely until you can admit NoJo sucks and is the biggest blowbag who get's L2 minutes the Wild have ever had. Nothing good should be said about #90, neckbeard, Nojo. Nothing, never, nada...  

2 hours ago, Beast said:

Mojo is probably a better hockey player right now and he makes less than $1M.  That $5M could’ve been used to much better than this.

Last season, MoJo did out-point him by 1 in roughly equal minutes, but the prior season, Johansson had 30 points while Tarasenko had 55 points in 76 games.

His low point seasons were due to injuries, but prior to last year with Detroit, he's still put up a 50+ point pace per 80 games in every season he played 40+ games. There's no question he isn't the player he was before injuries derailed his age 28 and age 29 seasons, but at 33 years old, it's possible he has a bounce back 50 point season in him. At $4.75M, that doesn't seem like a terrible roll of the dice.

If not, it's a short contract and roughly $12M in cap space opens up as Tarasenko, Zuccarello, Bogosian, and Johansson contracts all expire. I was certainly hoping for more this offseason, but seems like most players simply re-signed with their current teams, many of them for less than they might have been offered in free agency.

3 hours ago, SkolWild73 said:

I believe O’Rourke was ranked as our 22nd best prospect.  

And if memory serves me correctly, the Wild passed on drafting Faber, took O'Rourke instead and Brock slid down to the Kings.

Funny how things work out sometimes.