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  • Wild Closing In On Another Prospect Signing

    Image courtesy of © Reid Glenn / USA TODAY NETWORK
    Thomas Williams

    By Thomas Williams -

    We have said it before (on Monday) but the Minnesota Wild are really shifting their focus from this season to the future and getting all the ducks in a row.

    They have their current roster set in stone, and next year should be interesting with many players only getting older and into the typical time to decline, but the Wild have lots of young players that will need somewhere to play. After signing Riley Heidt over the weekend, the Wild are now reportedly closing in on signing prospect defenseman and former Mr. Hockey, Jack Peart, to his entry-level deal.

     

    Peart was drafted in the second round of the 2021 NHL Draft and is about to turn 21 years old in a couple months. He just finished his junior year at St. Cloud State and instead of going into his senior year, he is most likely going to be turning pro with the Wild.

    The Grand Rapids, Minn. native has had a down year when it comes to production. Just last season he scored three goals and 24 points in 39 games from the blue line, but that rate dropped to just 14 points this season in one fewer game. Still, there is a very good, mobile defenseman who has said himself that he wants to emulate Jared Spurgeon as best as he can. And now he gets the opportunity to learn from the master himself at training camp this fall.

    Most likely, Peart will find himself on the Iowa blue line with other defenseman prospects like Carson Lambos, Ryan O'Rourke, and Daemon Hunt, as the Wild try to develop the next wave of solid blueliners so they don't have to ice any more slow veterans.

    That's Wild

    • Is everyone overlooking another Russian prospect the Wild have? Are we not thinking about Vladislav Firstov as a real good player enough? [Hockey Wilderness]
    • The Wild's playoff hopes might be the lowest they have been all season long, and there are just a handful of games left. It looks like the season is all but wrapped up. [Daily Faceoff]

    Off the trail...

    • The top NHL prospects that will be playing at the 2024 NCAA tournament. [ESPN]
    • The Philadelphia Flyers are most likely heading into the playoffs and have the NHL's worst power play. Has that ever happened before? And if so, what happened to those teams in the postseason? Let's take a look: [Broad Street Hockey]
    • This season, more than any other it seems, good players are getting healthy scratched due to some poor play or just the numbers game. So, introducing the All-Healthy Scratch Team for the 2023-24 season: [Sportsnet]
    By Thomas Williams  

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    mnfaninnc

    I like that Peart looks at Spurgeon as a model. But, recognizing that Spurgeon is the unicorn not the norm is important. Peart is similar in size to Heidt, and may have grown an inch or 2 in college. I think the same issue is there with him as in Heidt. He currently sits at 5'11" 185 lbs. I think adding 10 lbs. to that makes him a good size for the A, and looking to get to 200 at the NHL level would be good.

    Could anyone imagine a Spurgeon at 190 instead of 166? That's a lot of pounding that could be absorbed along the boards. The same holds true for Peart, add the strength/weight, take the pounding better. You can still model your game after Spurgeon's, you just have a little more tools to work with.

    Now, I believe that this is Peart's size when drafted. He may be there now for all we know.

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    Will D. Ness

    I'm not getting why all of our D prospects in Iowa are doing so bad.  Hunt is the exception and honestly... should have Merrill's spot... but Lambos and ORourke's stats are scary bad.

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    Protec

    Sounds like Peart signed. Ek & Brodin practicing. Not Foligno. Those silky mitts and high hockey-play IQ needed a maintenance day. 😃

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    Pewterschmidt
    29 minutes ago, Protec said:

    Those silky mitts and high hockey-play IQ needed a maintenance day.

    Only the end boards glass and Foligno's helmet are breathing a sigh of relief

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    Citizen Strife

    Hey now: just when you think the Moose is further away than he appears, he trucks people and then scores a goal out of nowhere.

    As for Peart, I'd be ok with another Spurgeon if that's what the Wild get.  Spurgeon's best feature was his well-rounded approach and mobility to work in all facets.  Spurgeon definitely excelled more in defense later in his career though.  I would love to have a younger big guy to balance things out though.

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    Pewterschmidt
    17 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

    just when you think the Moose is further away than he appears, he trucks people and then scores a goal out of nowhere.

    Doing this once every 20 games makes it the exception, not the rule.  This hot take applies to both trucking opponents and executing a hockey play.

    #blindsquirreltheory

    #unlikeTonyi'llpileonwhentheAAVandTOIdontmatchoniceperformance

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    Protec

    Foglino needs to be like a 20 goal, 20 assist guy. Otherwise, I don't think he's making enough of a positive offensive impact. Some positive is nice but you could ask Beckman to run around and fire off hits at the same rate and he'd get the same number of goals/assists or better. I'd like to see a smarter, more focused Flogino. It's not enough. How's he helping the team most right now? Answering the press about tough losses in the Central?

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    MrCheatachu
    18 hours ago, Protec said:

    Foglino needs to be like a 20 goal, 20 assist guy. Otherwise, I don't think he's making enough of a positive offensive impact. Some positive is nice but you could ask Beckman to run around and fire off hits at the same rate and he'd get the same number of goals/assists or better. I'd like to see a smarter, more focused Flogino. It's not enough. How's he helping the team most right now? Answering the press about tough losses in the Central?

    When Moose was on the GrEEF line, which caught lightning in a bottle in the '21-'22 season, we were able to run a shut-down, high checking, frustrating line that could bottle up top lines across the league.  Moose got his 23g/19a that season just absolutely smothering other teams, and wearing their top players down in their defensive zone.

    This season, we see him skating with (a clearly injured) FreddyG and rotating cast of Maroon/Ek/Rossi?  No offense to FreddyG, while he's a 'responsible' player, he isnt out-working you with his 'punchable dopey face' like JEEK is.  Rossi aint a banger either, and Foligno's game isn't designed around Rossi's game.

    I've also noticed that both Moose and Hartman appear to have been instructed to play it a few steps away from the line this season.  While I appreciate them not taking stupid penalties, some of there effectiveness was in being pests...which they have not done this season.

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    mnfaninnc
    19 hours ago, Protec said:

    Foglino needs to be like a 20 goal, 20 assist guy. Otherwise, I don't think he's making enough of a positive offensive impact.

    Is this the actual stat line, or would you settle for on pace scoring? I ask because it is likely that Foligno's injury history grows stronger not weaker. If he's at 60 games, his stats will need to adjust.

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    Protec

    I think if your paying Foligno 4M per year for awhile yet, what are you paying for? ~ 40pts? If not, then are you back-paying for good years, hitting, heavy-body, fighting, leadership, aloof-answers for questions about losing? 

    Just asking the questions? To me it seems like we'd want a player that does those types of things but scores 30-40pts for 4M per year. 

    Perhaps it's right that without good balance, players are not getting to their best. I think Foligno is probably like a 20-30pt guy year to year.

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    mnfaninnc
    2 hours ago, Protec said:

    Perhaps it's right that without good balance, players are not getting to their best. I think Foligno is probably like a 20-30pt guy year to year.

    This sounds about right, but I also think he's a 60 game player at this point.

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