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  • Wild Development Camp Gets Going

    Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports
    Thomas Williams

    By Thomas Williams -

    That's Wild

    • Minnesota Wild Development Camp has started and there are plenty of interesting prospects on the roster. So, of course, the team started with their annual tradition of having a bunch of teenagers play some volleyball.

     

    • We really dug through the numbers and context and team outlook, to try and make sense of Jake Middleton's four-year contract extension that will keep him on the team through the 2028-29 season. [Hockey Wilderness]
    •  

    Off the trail...

    • Travis Konecny is still in Philadelphia as a Flyer, amidst trade rumors, but does not have a contract extension like we all thought he would by now. Does that mean talks have stalled? Or, maybe as we point out here, the recent contract signings across the league with similarly talented players, doesn't really bode well for the Flyers' top winger. [Broad Street Hockey]

    • A really sad day. Tony Voce, a former Philadelphia Phantom and hometown player -- a rarity to have a player from specifically Philadelphia -- passed away on Monday. He played 181 games for the AHL Phantoms. [SI]

    • Three non-playoff teams from last season that could make a jump into the postseason, and these playoff teams could miss. This upcoming 2024-25 season feels like a transition from the existing powers of the NHL to the new, young studs. [Daily Faceoff]

    • Fourteen players who are restricted free agents, have elected to head to arbitration to find a new contract for next season. Among those, are some really interesting cases. [Sportsnet]

    By Thomas Williams  

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    Protec

    Interested in development camp, especially the defense group. 

    Vaj is the top goalie although there's some solid NCAA and junior goaltenders too. McClellan and Rousseau are both interesting but Wutzke is the newest tallest, skinniest guy.

    Ohgren is there with Stramel and the top picks Haight/Heidt but also Goldsworthy's nephew and Pascal Dupuis's kid. A few local guys, Nevers as an invite. Large Kampu, and Sop are guys who will be important for IA with Bankier. Lorenz is another player that will hopefully keep winning at the NCAA level. Sorry Gopher or Spartan prospects but Denver will be hard to beat. Peart is kinda an afterthought looking to the back end.

    The defense group has big Steevie, Buium, and Spacek, Masters, along with Lambos who have the most pro experience. Not a ton of size with this group but Soini is 6'2" and shoots right. Benoit, and Pionk along with the AHL guys are at least 6'+.

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    Amaddeo

    Would love to see a few guys crush camp and pre-season and force their way onto the Wild roster, even for a 9 game tryout. 
     

    Hopefully we can see a few guys push for some spots so Nojo, Foligno, Freddy and Hartzy aren’t complacent come October. 

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    Protec
    3 hours ago, Willy the poor boy said:

    Sounds like it's Finland or bust for the next 2 years for Kump...

    Better for his development than IA? How's he gonna get the grit-injections?

    Maybe we can hope he turns into a highly-skilled Euro. With no Norwegian Hobbit or NoJo, MN will need Ogie to do it. Maybe RasmuKampu can be plan B? 😁

     

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    AKwildkraken
    8 hours ago, Protec said:

    Better for his development than IA? How's he gonna get the grit-injections?

    I think since he played in the OHL last year, he can't play in the AHL this year.  Better to play against grown men in Ligga than the OHL at this point.  

     

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    Protec

    Hopefully he’ll work on his skating and become like a graceful Pelican. 😁

    Pretty sure I’m not impressed by Euro team names or uniforms either.  Ya got a fish-eating bird that glides everywhere and your barrel breezers are all about looks. 
     

    #nogrit 

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    Pewterschmidt
    17 hours ago, Protec said:

    RasmuKampu - Don't let em suck the grit out of you. 🥺

    image.png.181489ca5ac037b49eec3f53008ad40f.png

    #frootieunis

    At some point these leagues are going to require one skater wear a GD sandwich board with ads at all times

    #howmuchistoomuch

    #there’saspotavailableacrosshisvisor

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    LittleBallofHate

    Haha, that's quite the jersey. Devcamp was a good excuse for me to get out with the family into some nice AC & then get good food & drink at T.Reid's.

    For what it's worth (observations I could make past a whiny 4 year old & a ASD/ADHD 7 year old):

    1) Heidt is noticeable, whether it is skill-drills or 3v3

    2) Stramel is pretty good at navigating the crease 3v3, had good inside cuts with solid balance, he shined a little less at skill-drills

    3) Ryder Ritchie was also quite noticeable, he basically dipsie-dooed everyone for a goal 3v3. He didn't seem to have any issues with skills either.

    4) Defense seemed to be having alot of fun out there, a couple of friendly scraps. Zeev got into a comical soft-jab match with Soini (I think).

    5) Kiviharju looked laser focused & seemed to have quite the chip on his shoulder. He was looking like a combination of smooth with some piss-&-vinegar.

    6) Surprising entertainment & worthwhile watch was Leskovar. He was loose (like a 6th rounder), but the dude's shot is a fricken cannon. His slapper is very consistent, finds twine alot too, I don't think I saw him shank one. I think he snapped a couple of twigs. Now if he could get the skates moving beyond molasses-speed, to be fair I didn't actually see him during any speed drills

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    LittleBallofHate

    **Add-on

    Another interesting Kiviharju bit. He was quarterbacking a bunch of D-coverage, there were several plays where he could be seen pointing to his fellow d-man to close a gap or take another player. It was interesting that he would do that on such an enclosed ice surface with so little time to structure a defense.

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    Protec

    As long as he plays defense himself I don't mind it but sometimes surveying the ice and directing is counterproductive. 

    I ask myself what would Scott Stevens say? Two hands on your stick and don't lay down on the ice when defending. 

    Give the Finns a couple years. Let's see how the three of them do this season with the snazzy-sweaters.

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    LittleBallofHate
    4 minutes ago, Protec said:

    As long as he plays defense himself I don't mind it but sometimes surveying the ice and directing is counterproductive. 

    I ask myself what would Scott Stevens say? Two hands on your stick and don't lay down on the ice when defending. 

    Give the Finns a couple years. Let's see how the three of them do this season with the snazzy-sweaters.

    Yep, i've seen that before. In these cases he had his man the whole way

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    Protec

    Protec 2,530

    Posted (edited)

    Frick'n links all busted. Rats. Had to ditch phone to salvage posts that look like Joe Biden composed em.

    Edited by Protec
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