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  • Are the Wild Going To Do Anything Before the Trade Deadline?

    Image courtesy of © Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
    Thomas Williams

    By Thomas Williams -

    That's Wild

    The Minnesota Wild made one trade in the weeks leading up to tomorrow's NHL trade deadline, acquiring winger Gustav Nyquist from the Nashville Predators, but will they be doing anything else?

    Obviously, this team could use some more help and most likely someone upfront to provide some more depth scoring than this team currently has, and hopefully they play center. But the main (and gigantic) hurdle is the fact that once Kirill Kaprizov comes off of Long-Term Injured Reserve, the Wild virtually have zero cap space available to them. Dollar in, dollar out, would be the only course of action.

    Now, GM Bill Guerin could certainly get creative and try to offload some depth forwards making some sizeable salaries, but it might prove to be very difficult to make some of those moves.

    We might just have to come to the reality that the Wild will stand pat and hope that Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek return to full health before the playoffs and maybe some young guys could contribute down the line.

    • And speaking of offloading, could Ryan Hartman be one of the casualties of the Wild's cap? The depth forward with his $4 million AAV is a little bit of a barrier to improving this team. [Hockey Wilderness]
    • A deeper explanation as to why the Wild might not do anything at the trade deadline. [Daily Faceoff]

    Off the trail...

    • The New Jersey Devils just got terrible news. Jack Hughes has been ruled out for the rest of the season and now they are firmly nowhere near a Cup contender (or even a dark horse pick). [Sportsnet]
    • The Carolina Hurricanes have reportedly reached out to teams about trading Mikko Rantanen. [TheScore]
    By Thomas Williams  

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    Citizen Strife

    If the Wild could have found a suitable trade, they would have done it by now.  They have no money, probably can't send anyone to make said money, and if it takes two first rounders and a second just to get players like Gourde and Bjorkstrand, what the fuck would it take for others?

    Edited by Citizen Strife
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    RedLake
    24 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

    If the Wild could have found a suitable trade, they would have done it by now.  They have no money, probably can't send anyone to make said money, and if it takes two first rounders and a second just to get players like Gourde and Bjorkstrand, what the fuck would it take for others?

    Rossi, NoJo, and a second for Tuch

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    Dango

    But if you compare Gretzkys last 6 seasons  he scored 91 goals  VS  246 for Ovi  and if you compare their final 10 seasons  OVI 431 and counting  VS gretzky  217  .  plus you had covid shortened seasons

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    Up North Guy
    1 hour ago, Dango said:

    But if you compare Gretzkys last 6 seasons  he scored 91 goals  VS  246 for Ovi  and if you compare their final 10 seasons  OVI 431 and counting  VS gretzky  217  .  plus you had covid shortened seasons

    No doubt Ovi is an outstanding player. I just keep thinking about the Great Ones late years. They were the years that neutral zone trap became popular and scoring nose dived all over the league.

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    OldDutchChip
    9 hours ago, MacGyver said:

    The Wild have been very reluctant to trade long time faces of the franchise particularly captains. We hung onto Koivu like grim death. I just don't see Spurgeon being moved. Besides I think doing something like moving the team captain and from what I can tell a pretty beloved player in the locker room would be disruptive enough it could set this team back. Moving a Hartman, Merill, Trenin and perhaps even Rossi would not be throwing a grenade in the locker room like moving Spurgeon would be. 

    i think you look to move on from Spurge during the off season. but for sure need to transfer that C to Kap in the summer. preferably BEFORE july signing date. 🤔

    i am really hoping that we don't rush into anything, especially with - 

    • Nelson - do not trade for him and do not sign him next year PLEASE
    • Nyquist - do not extend him for ANY period of time

    But i am hoping we at least entertain - 

    • Optimizing our exciting and top-ranked prospect queue - you are ranked second!! - but that doesn't mean they will ALL be studs. Evaluate and try to maybe entice someone big (that high of a ranking can only go down...and only few, if that, will play anytime soon - and you need top level production to pair with Kap - so act!).
    • Yurov and Zeev are untouchable, but i think we need to dangle the others, just to see who bites. Sometimes we sit to long on these prospects highs and then they get to finish their development and become a bit less than what we thought....

    sorry i used your post Mac 🙂

     

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    MacGyver

    ^^ I agree with your points ODC. Moving Spurgeon in the off season would be far less disruptive than shipping him out now. Albeit I still would be surprised if they did. Nelson does not move the needle much for me and I think it would take too much to get him. Depending who went the other way it could be a latteral or even negative move.  

    Do not sign Nyquist he should be strictly a rental for this year but Billy has a penchant for the old vets and keeping them around. Totally agree about the prospects. What's worrisome is I don't think we have the people in Iowa to properly develop them and Billy likes to keep them down there until they "earn it". I believe Wallstedt has been completely mishandled. 

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    OldDutchChip
    27 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

    ^^ I agree with your points ODC. Moving Spurgeon in the off season would be far less disruptive than shipping him out now. Albeit I still would be surprised if they did. Nelson does not move the needle much for me and I think it would take too much to get him. Depending who went the other way it could be a latteral or even negative move.  

    Do not sign Nyquist he should be strictly a rental for this year but Billy has a penchant for the old vets and keeping them around. Totally agree about the prospects. What's worrisome is I don't think we have the people in Iowa to properly develop them and Billy likes to keep them down there until they "earn it". I believe Wallstedt has been completely mishandled. 

    fully agree with above! 🍻

    with kap, boldy, ek, yurov, rossi (let's add zuccy too) - why would you clutter up the top 6 with old players? really hoping Lou resigns Nelson w Isles and saves us from making the mistake. if we do end up with both Nyquist and Nelson next year - that'll mean about 10 MM combined - yikes!  (4YR NMC!) That would be something.....Billy can't be planning this?

     

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    Protec

    Brazeau seems like a player who is yet unknown but shoots right and has good size. Lauko was out quite a bit and Marat was never gonna be huge. He's a responsible guy but will he be an impact player this year in the playoffs? 

    Brazeau fits a need for now. He'll be able to play with any of the bottom six lines and when he's with Hartman, they could add some depth goals. Or perhaps he adds toughness and size to a Rossi line with Zuccy? 

    It clears up some money for MN too. $800K for Brazeau compared to around 2M for Knudi and Lauko. 

    If the Wild can somehow get Nelson, that's a nice shift towards having strength and sandpaper for a playoff run. The little Austrian and Norwegian Hobbit get balanced out by Foligno, Trenin, and Brazeau. He's on pace to score 25pts. If you consider all the freebie assists NoJo has, Brazeau could be outscoring him and be harder to play against. 

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    mnfaninnc
    16 hours ago, Enforceror said:

    The Panthers appear to be following your posts MNfan. 🤣

    Speaking of this, Big Kahk is heading to Charlotte! Panthers acquired him from the Jets and he'll likely be goalie insurance for the Panthers after they dealt Knight to the Blackhawks. 

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    M_Nels
    12 hours ago, MacGyver said:

    ^^ I agree with your points ODC. Moving Spurgeon in the off season would be far less disruptive than shipping him out now. Albeit I still would be surprised if they did. Nelson does not move the needle much for me and I think it would take too much to get him. Depending who went the other way it could be a latteral or even negative move.  

    Do not sign Nyquist he should be strictly a rental for this year but Billy has a penchant for the old vets and keeping them around. Totally agree about the prospects. What's worrisome is I don't think we have the people in Iowa to properly develop them and Billy likes to keep them down there until they "earn it". I believe Wallstedt has been completely mishandled. 

    I honestly don't think Spurge is going anywhere.

    You were spot on about Nelson, he was never really appealing to me and Colorado just majorly overpaid for him.

    Also spot on about Wally. Absolutely love the Flower but his reunion tour really messed up Wally's plan/development. The injuries, constant callups and cap prevented the 3 goalie rotation he was promised too.

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    mnfaninnc

    I like the addition of Brazeau (Breezers anyone?) We got some needed size and it appears some goal scoring ability. I didn't particularly like giving up MaRat, though. I suppose his demotion was more than just a cap move. 

    🧺 I looked for a wastebasket, but this was the best I could find. This is me tossing any thought out plan by Shooter into the basket. I thought he'd focus on a team core from '20-22, MaRat is gone from that class. I thought he'd keep the prospects from being sold, again, not the case. I wonder what it was that he didn't like about MaRat's game? Perhaps it was the lack of willingness/ability to drive the net with his speed? I don't remember much of Guerin's playing days, but I think he didn't even have the button hook move in his bag.

    So, now, what can Breezers bring us? Supposedly, he's one of the slowest skaters on the ice. But, at 6'6", you really only need 3 strides to get across the width of the rink. His TOI suggests that he is a 4th liner. Could this be a preview of Trenin being shipped out? One thing this signals is that the 4th line will not be built on speed. Breezer's also likes to hit, he's got 89 this year. Does he drop the mitts? I do happen to like guys in the lineup that wear linebacker numbers. 

    Note to Judd- Quit drafting undersized players who get bumped around too much. Smooth skating is not the best tool. Start drafting guys who also have size. Grade out some of their skating before their growth spurt, eventually, the legs and feet will catch up. We need all body types in our system. We have no monsters that you've drafted and we need a few (I'm still convinced Stramel and Kumpulainen were Guerin picks). In essence, you need to re-prioritize the things you are looking for.

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    Will D. Ness
    6 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

    Note to Judd- Quit drafting undersized players who get bumped around too much. Smooth skating is not the best tool. Start drafting guys who also have size. Grade out some of their skating before their growth spurt, eventually, the legs and feet will catch up. We need all body types in our system. We have no monsters that you've drafted and we need a few (I'm still convinced Stramel and Kumpulainen were Guerin picks). In essence, you need to re-prioritize the things you are looking for.

    Note to BG:

    When moving these undersize players that Judd picked, do it where you get value back and not some impulsive move after drinking a few beers. 

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    Citizen Strife

    I'll be curious to see if Guerin and Brackett's philosophies on trades and drafting are impacted by the lack of money, or if these are the types they go for regardless.

    Brackett seems to draft for skill and puck movement, while Guerin values a very different style of player.  I mean, that can balance out eventually, but who knows.

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    Pewterschmidt
    28 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

    Breezer's also likes to hit, he's got 89 this year.

    This is best news I've heard all day.  Brazzer's better be physical with that size.  Don't try to be Trenin or Greenway.

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    Pewterschmidt
    17 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

    Note to BG:

    When moving these undersize players that Judd picked, do it where you get value back and not some impulsive move after drinking a few beers. 

    This is seriously the best explanation.  Seriously.

    What's the plan Guerin?

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    mnfaninnc
    17 minutes ago, RedLake said:

    Cozens to Ottawa.

    Honestly, I'm not sure how this helps Ottawa. You're swapping pretty much equally producing centers where Cozens is probably worse defensively. Is this just to switch things up a bit? To let fans know you're making moves? 

    I think Buffalo made out pretty well here.

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    mnfaninnc
    29 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

    I'll be curious to see if Guerin and Brackett's philosophies on trades and drafting are impacted by the lack of money, or if these are the types they go for regardless.

    Personally, I think Judd has got to re-prioritize the types of players he is looking for. Especially his knack for drafting the undersized puck-moving defender that is all over this organization. He values highly the smooth skating ability and larger players just don't have that yet, they're still in their clumsy stage. 

    For me, I think it's starting the evaluation process before the growth spurt and seeing what they can become. If you look at Judd's drafts, he max's out size at 6'2" and doesn't really consider taller players than that. Soini was an exception pick. We may not have a lot of mid round picks going forward, but that's where you start taking a shot at some US/Canada large bodied players who can help you once developed. 

     

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