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  • Wild Prospect Hunter Haight Crowned Memorial Cup Champion


    Image courtesy of © Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
    Thomas Williams

    That's Wild

    • Hunter Haight and his Saginaw Spirit have slayed the dragon. The London Knights were the favorites heading into the four-team round-robin that is the Canadian Hockey League's Memorial Cup -- and they earned that title by also going undefeated through that initial stage and punching their ticket into the Final. But Minnesota Wild prospect and his team of skilled-and-fun players ended up beating the Knights by a score of 4-3. [The Hockey News]
    • Last week, the Wild fired long-time assistant coach Darby Hendrickson. He has been behind that bench for 14 years. [ESPN]
    • An open letter to the departing coach. [Hockey Wilderness]

    Off the trail...

    • The Stanley Cup Final has been decided: The Edmonton Oilers will face the Florida Panthers. But how will they match up? Will the goaltending decide the series? Will the stars face each other and try to out-do each other? [ESPN]
    • Lord Stanley's Cup is going to be given to a new team soon and that means one thing: The 2024 NHL Draft is right around the corner. A look at the 10 biggest risers in this draft class: [Daily Faceoff]
    • The Dallas Stars were sent packing by the Oilers and now they have to face an existential crisis, questioning whether or not they can get there again. [Sportsnet]

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    Height has to get into the weight room. You got the Memorial Cup, now gotta start bulking up.

    Trying to beat mnfaninnc to the punch. 😄

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    Haight had 2 goals and 1 assist in 5 games. I believe the points were all in the Drummondville game. 

    Saginaw was the host team and the only team that had not won their league. I guess they got the trophy they really wanted!

    Yes, Haight's got to bulk up, he's listed at 5'11" 180. That message should be sent loud and clear when Shooter calls (ed) him to congratulate him on winning the Memorial Cup. 

    Haight's got an advantage over some other prospects, he's an RHS. If he can get himself to about 192 this offseason, his body will be NHL ready. Still a little light, but he's on the fringe of an NHL body. 

    Now, let's also know the player a little bit. Haight is an extremely skilled player who is very good in tight spaces. He's not going to be a huge hitter, he just needs enough strength to get to home plate, and to dig some pucks out of the corners. I'm not exactly sure about his shot, but he would be a candidate for Ovechkin's office in my book. 

    Haight also doesn't have blazing speed. Therefore, along with the weights, he needs to be working with Andy Ness a lot. If I were Brock Faber, I'd be inviting him to MN for the summer.

    Congratulations, Hunter. I believe the Spirit gave London the best fight in the playoffs and in this tournament.

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    3 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

    Haight needs to come to the NHL big enough to put Jack McBain on his ass.

    Why just McBain?

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    I see Scott Wheeler put out his top 100 on The Athletic. Center Michael Hage now ranked 15th, in the same tier as Iginla, and ahead of Sennecke(#16), Greentree(#19), and Jiricek(#21), which are names I've seen mentioned as possibilities for the Wild.

    Wheeler indicates he has a clear top 17 players. We'll see how the draft goes, but Yakemchuk and Brandsegg-Nygard are the 2 guys listed right behind Iginla at #12, so the Wild should have some good options available.

    Trevor Connelly is listed at #17, but I don't see him as a Wild player and he's only 160 pounds right now at 6'1". Connelly might be skilled, and he was easily the best player on his USHL team, but that frame seems far from NHL ready.

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    Wheeler has picks 4-11 in Tier 3 and picks 12-17 in Tier 4. Some of the Tier 4 picks have been going top10 in a lot of the drafts. So Tiers 3 and 4 are very close, hard to say what the actual pick order will be. The Wild will get a very good player at 13.

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    On 6/4/2024 at 6:54 AM, Imyourhuckleberry said:

    Trevor Connelly is listed at #17, but I don't see him as a Wild player and he's only 160 pounds right now at 6'1". Connelly might be skilled, and he was easily the best player on his USHL team, but that frame seems far from NHL ready.

    He's also a PoS so hopefully they just pass on the guy. Let him be somebody else's PR nightmare. 

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    3 hours ago, B1GKappa97 said:

    He's also a PoS so hopefully they just pass on the guy. Let him be somebody else's PR nightmare. 

    Possible he is maturing. I was aware he had other issues, which was part of my comment on not seeing him as a Wild player, but decided to focus on the lean frame instead as we've seen that be an issue for many players who were productive at lower levels, but cannot seem to find the same success as they progress towards, and especially once they reach, the NHL. 

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