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  • Could Marcus Johansson Make Sweden's Olympic Roster?


    Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
    Thomas Williams

    That's Wild

    • Marcus Johansson is suddenly exploding offensively and is not looking out of place on the Minnesota Wild's second line right now. So, is he suddenly in the running for a potential wing spot on Team Sweden? His position on the team wasn't guaranteed but with the Olympic announcement incoming, could the Tre Kroner take some recent performances into the decision? [StarTribune]
    • Could we see GM Bill Guerin put together a string of contract extensions before the season ends for the Wild? A whole lot of veteran players like Mats Zuccarello and Zach Bogosian are pending free agents. [The Athletic]
    • The Wild are targeting Ryan O'Reilly to fill the hole left by Marco Rossi's exit at the center position. But, they face two massive hurdles in any potential trade for the veteran two-way forward. [Hockey Wilderness]

    Off the trail...

    • Somehow, without Auston Matthews and William Nylander for the first time in forever, the Toronto Maple Leafs earned a 4-0 shutout win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. [NHL.com]
    • A look inside Jakob Chychrun's breakout season after his first breakout season. How the defenseman has found a perfect role with the Capitals and is now exploding offensively. [ESPN]
    • On the latest 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, they dive into who they think are locks for the Olympic rosters and which players might be on the outside looking in. [Sportsnet]

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    I hope he doesn't.  He is playing great hockey right now and seems to understand his role extremely well with Ek and Boldy.  Anything that has potential to turn him back into CardioJo / Mr. Hyde I would avoid.

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    Somehow, without Auston Matthews and William Nylander for the first time in forever, the Toronto Maple Leafs earned a 4-0 shutout win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.

    This was must viewing for the elder Hughes, just to let him know how his brothers were doing. Perhaps he'll realize he's got it much better here!

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    Sure looks like San Jose has our number this season. This Celebrini kid is going to be a problem for the Wild for years to come. I did like The Wall/Askarov matchup, looking forward to a nice rivalry between these 2 'tenders! Both are entertaining!

    55 points in 41 games is pretty good. I'm happy with the 1st half of the season. Believe it or not, the Preds are in 4th place in the Central 15 pts. back with a couple of games in hand. Also, Winnipeg, last year's President's trophy winner, is in last place in the league! Yikes! The condensed schedule, I think, has hurt Winnipeg. 

    I thought our centers were a little exposed yesterday, as San Jose kept Celebrini away from Ek. That left Yurov to have to handle Celebrini, and I think he's got some work to do still. I also thought our beefy line with Foligno-Sturm-Trenin was not fast enough to catch San Jose's players to make that big of an impact. It was nice to see Foligno get off the 0 goals, maybe he's saving his dozen for the 2nd half?

    I am hoping that Hynes has a bunch of PP1 practices. Now is the time to redesign this PP to match the skill level we now have. What I'd like to see is much more movement and breaking down the schemes of the opponent's PK. I'm not so sure we need to use the rimming method to get set up, in fact, we should probably have several different set ups, trying to make the opponent look like they're in a fire drill. I'd also like to see a higher shot volume. These guys can move very fast now, we don't need a methodical scheme. 

    The thing to watch going forward on this trip is do our centers match up? The Ducks will be another fine test for this. I still believe we are an RHS sniper away, but it might also include a 2nd line center too. No team is perfect right now, and only 3 teams seem to be pulling away....all in the Central. The way the Avs are playing, they may have clinched a playoff birth by the Olympics. 

    From a mental standpoint, I wonder how it feels to know in January that the likely candidate to face in the post season is Dallas? And, Dallas is strong down the middle.

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