Joel Eriksson Ek's Injury Creates Opportunity For Others

Here's another one, in line with the "Off the trail" section.

XGM Chuck Fletcher is the worst. Philly is half as screwed as MN after his departure, but interesting nonetheless. Based on doofbag-math, after two more attempts at GMing perhaps he can break even? I really liked this article because it relates to Johansen being sent to the AHL and Fletcher stupidity confirmation. Two things that really give ya warm and fuzzy feelings deep inside.

Ryan Johansen Injury Is Bad News for Flyers (msn.com)

Very much looking forward to K-Nut's arrival and seeing him with my own eyes.  He's #2 in the Guerin/Brackett prospect cavalry (Rossi #1, not counting Faber).  Rossi should get lot's of TOI rest of way which should help his development

#russianmachineneverbreak

Bjugstad looks like a pretty good player still. WTF Bill!

He hurts your 1C finishing a check, totally what you would want from your guys. Looks to me like Ek probably got a major charlie-horse on his left leg.

I would rather have Bjugstad over NoJo all day long. Big-body, can skate, can shoot, and looking pretty good in a top role for Arizona. Can you imagine NoJo finishing a check on Ek?

26 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

not counting Faber

Why aren't you counting Faber? While Guerin/Brackett didn't draft him, they did acquire him, specifically, before he ever played a game in the N. I would say we do have to give them credit for this acquisition!

Since Hunt has already debuted, I'd consider him #3 and Dino #4. 

9 minutes ago, Protec said:

He hurts your 1C finishing a check, totally what you would want from your guys. Looks to me like Ek probably got a major charlie-horse on his left leg.

The thing is, I don't think Bjugstad finished the check, I think he tried to sort of avoid him. Looked to me like Ek simply got caught in an awkward position and Bjugstad has size. I've always liked the player, I'd rather have had him than Johansson. He'd also have helped us in the dot and is an RHS which we don't have many of.

6 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

The thing is, I don't think Bjugstad finished the check, I think he tried to sort of avoid him. Looked to me like Ek simply got caught in an awkward position and Bjugstad has size. I've always liked the player, I'd rather have had him than Johansson. He'd also have helped us in the dot and is an RHS which we don't have many of.

100%. Bjugstad didn't try to obliterate Ek, true. The part I see, is he's lining up the body and committed to laying a hit before Ek reverses all the way. That's what NoJo would never do. It would be a stick-swing and curl without a doubt. Pure Elite Swede.

Brodin can play that way and defend just fine. He'll position his stick and body not to need a big hit. Johansson is pure-pansy. That's the PG version of what I think of him. If he chipped in enough offense regularly, we could overlook the reaching stick-swing every time. At this point Guerin should admit signing #90 was wrong and get creative over the Summer to rid the wild of NoJo the passenger.

2 minutes ago, Protec said:

It would be a stick-swing and curl without a doubt. Pure Elite Swede.

You forgot bending at the waist and probably losing his stick in the process! For a guy his size, he is definitely soft. And what makes matters worse is the camera seeing him sitting on the bench looking bewildered after minor contact. He has the balance of a rookie on a unicycle. 

26 minutes ago, Protec said:

Bjugstad looks like a pretty good player still. WTF Bill!

He hurts your 1C finishing a check, totally what you would want from your guys. Looks to me like Ek probably got a major charlie-horse on his left leg.

I would rather have Bjugstad over NoJo all day long. Big-body, can skate, can shoot, and looking pretty good in a top role for Arizona. Can you imagine NoJo finishing a check on Ek?

I was done watching Bjugzy when he was here.  He's not the one that got away imo.  I was done watching Coylzy when he was here.  Now he's a stalwart 3C on a very good NHL team.  He might have gotten away.

20 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

Why aren't you counting Faber?

I don't make the rules.  I'm only counting draft picks because that's the purest/cleanest/least subjective way to judge an org's ability to assess and acquire talent.  

Pewter what if/yah but/yada yada.....flipping an 85+ pt player who was acquired by Fenton for Fabzy makes for an endless ad nauseum assessment of the Guerin+Brackett duo.  Where does the credit to Fenton end and the credit to Guerin begin?  You knock yourself out with that and I'll enjoy reading it, but I'm only looking at draft picks right now.

11 minutes ago, Protec said:

It would be a stick-swing and curl without a doubt.

good lord this is a perfect recap of nojo's style.  It's gratifying to know i'm not the only one who's seeing this from nojo.  the stick swing is nojo's effort to look like he's engaged in the game while he's out there doing his skating drills

#waterskibackcheck

13 minutes ago, Protec said:

rid the wild of NoJo the passenger.

If Foligno/Maroon types are the cure for locker room toxicity, nojo is the disease.

42 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Where does the credit to Fenton end and the credit to Guerin begin? 

This is a very good question. I'd have to say that the Guerin credit starts with the Zucker trade, really, his 1st move. Out of the Zucker trade we get a cap compliance piece, Addison and Lambos. At this point, Lambos has to become a top 4 defender for this deal to be worthwhile. 

At the time of the hire, I remember commenting that Guerin shouldn't do anything mostly, he should take the year to assess where everything was at. His big accomplishment that 1st year was hiring Judd Brackett to work the draft. 

Guerin, of course, is definitely responsible for the buyouts, for the expansion draft, for the draft picks 2020 to present, and for the trades. He inherited some nice pieces and to his credit has given them contract extensions. So, that means he's on the hook for Spurgeon's deal. 

What he isn't on the hook for was a depleted farm system (so the slow roll of prospects coming in isn't really on him). Next season, he will be responsible for getting those draft picks here (and the 1st year guys are starting to roll in). 

So, since Guerin is responsible for the buyouts, this also means he's responsible for getting the Wild under the cap and thus responsible for acquiring Faber and Ohgren while giving up Fiala. And, this would not be complete without my speculation that Fiala had indicated to Guerin that he had no intentions of signing here long term, and Guerin got what he could out of the destination where Fiala wanted to go to. 

A last point, Guerin is responsible for the extensions of Kaprizov (and getting him here), Ek, Boldy, Brodin, Spurgeon, Middleton, Gustavsson, Fleury, Bogosian, Merrill, Goligoski (who must be retired now, do we need to send out a search party?), Dino, Shaw, Rossi, and all the recent extensions we've gone over. This is his team. These are his guys. 

We now have 3 playing from the 2020 draft class. Hunt will make 4. Now we need to hit good on 2021. If we do, this franchise in on schedule to be a contender. Sure, it's a few seasons away, but they're still on schedule.

55 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

If Foligno/Maroon types are the cure for locker room toxicity, nojo is the disease.

What do they do, just hang him on the coat rack like a kicker?

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

the stick swing is nojo's effort to look like he's engaged in the game while he's out there doing his skating drills

Yeah, that one made me laugh!

30 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

His big accomplishment that 1st year was hiring Judd Brackett to work the draft. 

Guerin hired Brackett after Brackett was fired by Vancouver.  Not exactly a coup by Guerin. We're now just entering the time period where we can begin to assess Brackett's job performance (and indirectly Guerin's job performance) as Brackett's picks begin to arrive.  Rossi get's a passing grade this season for a 9th overall pick.  Next up, K-Nut.  If all Brackett's Defensemen pick continue to go sideway's, those grades will begin to come in for Brackett..

#Bracketthottake

31 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

What do they do, just hang him on the coat rack like a kicker?

Their alpha energy keeps the beta's (nojo, fred) honest and in their corner where they cannot bring the others down. 

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

If Foligno/Maroon types are the cure for locker room toxicity, nojo is the disease.

Truth!!!   Sure wish they would sit Nojo.

How many Elite Swedes have lost their luster in Minnesota twice? NoJo is elite alienating fans, I'll give him that...

2 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

I was done watching Bjugzy when he was here.  He's not the one that got away imo.  I was done watching Coylzy when he was here.  Now he's a stalwart 3C on a very good NHL team.  He might have gotten away.

You're pretty much right because Bjugstad was a 4th liner in MN, although it was like a record season for the Wild. For the price, I think he gave the Wild something they lacked with Dewar, or Nojo considering the position Blaine's Mr. Hockey plays.(C/W) The sticking point for me is the size and speed for the low-cost is equal to or greater than NoJo. I wonder if Bjugstad would be better in a greater role like he's had in ARI? Not really looking at it from a "got away" view but more of a rather than NoJo perspective. Bjugstad has been scoring goals against MN since he was a Panther so that's kinda weird. He wasn't bad here, but it wasn't like we cried to lose him. Of MN-born players, he's gotta be in the top three for goals against the Wild at Xcel...

Coyle(C/W) was a more of a loss considering he wasn't being paid a ton and the return was a measly R.Donato. Being the last piece remaining from the Burns-deal, it made the end of that connection look pretty lousy considering Donato brought back a 3rd rounder that MN traded. That and Neiderrietter for Rask was enough for me to know Fenton was a dipshit. His Granlund trade came last if I recall and that worked out okay. The other two were duds.  

3 hours ago, Protec said:

Bjugstad looks like a pretty good player still. WTF Bill!

I would rather have Bjugstad over NoJo all day long. Big-body, can skate, can shoot, and looking pretty good in a top role for Arizona. Can you imagine NoJo finishing a check on Ek?

I'll take "Things Nobody Said in 2021" for $1000, Alex

22 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Guerin hired Brackett after Brackett was fired by Vancouver.  Not exactly a coup by Guerin.

Yes and no. Guerin didn't hire a draft guru until Brackett became available. My logic on this was that there was nobody in house to do it properly and Guerin patiently waited until a good one became available. 

Brackett's got some theories, and he likes guys who can skate really well and have skill. Size is not really a thing with him and neither is handedness. He likes to draft value where guys have fallen. 

Note: One reason Brackett does not draft for size is because usually the guys who have size have just gotten it and don't skate smoothly yet. 

So, while Brackett did sort of fall into Guerin's lap, it was a late hire and just in time for draft preparation. I cannot believe that Brackett was allowed to keep his computer from the Canucks, I do believe he had his notes backed up somewhere in the cloud or in notebooks (old school) in his personal belongings. 

I also believe that either Guerin told him last season we were going to start drafting for size, or Guerin made the 1st 2 picks himself, that Brackett is going to have to adjust his criteria to match the division. One way to do this is to choose guys who were terrific skaters at 15-16 years old and then hit their growth spurt. In a couple of years, they'll figure it out, but in the 16-17 year old seasons, they will look a bit clumsy.