Wild Prospects Perform At World Junior Summer Showcase

Buium had 3 assists in 2 early games for the summer showcase, then team USA shut down all of the players returning from last year's team to get a better look at the newer hopefuls. He'll be top pairing and their PP1 defenseman when things get serious.

Top line forward, Ryan Leonard(#8 in 2023 draft), indicated that about 75% of the reason he didn't sign with the Capitals for the upcoming season was that he wanted to play on team USA for the World Juniors again this year. He and Gabriel Perreault have good chemistry and they should have another strong year, both in the World Juniors and for Boston College.

In other news, I saw this gem from an ex football player recommending something to Justin Jefferson, I don't know if anyone saw it:

Quote

“Rule number one: When you get the f**king bag, never purchase a house where you got the contract at,” said Newton on his podcast 4thand1show. “If you want to splurge on something, splurge on what you can’t foresee you always going back to. In-season house. Off-season house. Two different houses. You got the money to do it. Figure it out. In-season house, $2 million. Off-season house, $10 million. Bye-week house? It’s free game.”

“There are levels to this. When you get the bag, like when you’re getting 27 million dollars a year, that type of bag, go get it. Minnesota? No. He’s on the first flight up and out of there to get going somewhere.”

Now, this applies in general to professional athletes, not just NFL players. Recently, Brock Faber got "the bag." Boldy recently got "the bag." Hopefully Kaprizov will get another "bag."

I assume that Ek probably has a very nice house in Sweden. I'm not sure that Kaprizov has that in Russia with the way things currently are. But Faber is a homegrown player. Where would a guy like Faber put down a nice home? What did Mauer do? And how about other homegrown players?

I think quite a few longtime players put down roots in the area and are happy to be living in MN. But, for a guy like Jefferson, where would he want to spend his offseason? I do like the recommendation of having 2 homes, one where you want to spend your time off, and the other in the market where you have the long term deal. Cousins had that real nice home he built in Michigan. 

Hockey players are a little different, they thrive in cold weather. Sure, the FL beach area sounds really nice, especially when there's no state tax, but it's not for everyone. I would think that MN would be a very good home for hockey players, maybe not fully in the Twin Cities, but at least in the state. 

However, looking at where many of our current players have their main home might be a decent exercise for one of the writers during this dog days offseason stretch. Some have indicated that they do not believe MN is a destination state. I believe it is, or has been, a real good place to raise families, though with the political climate as it currently is, that may deter some from wanting to move there. 

I think it might be interesting where the players are putting down their estates. Do they stay in the area? Do they move to Wisconsin, Dakotas, Iowa which are within the 5 state area? Or do they completely bail and choose to live elsewhere? Like it was stated in the above comment, apparently we aren't looking for the $2m home, we're looking for the $10m one.

Another interesting thought is where are these players signing their cushy contracts that include a signing bonus? Let's just say that a player spends his offseason in Vegas where there's not a state income tax (I'm doing this from memory which may be wrong), does he sign his new deal there and take advantage of the signing bonus' being state tax exempt? 

Some may not care about the finances of the rich and famous, but I think it's an interesting way where they try to keep as much of what's theirs and play the game of paying the least amount of taxes that they can. And, how does this affect the foreign players? If we had a capologist on staff, this would be a great article for him/her!

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Hockey players are a little different, they thrive in cold weather. Sure, the FL beach area sounds really nice, especially when there's no state tax, but it's not for everyone. I would think that MN would be a very good home for hockey players, maybe not fully in the Twin Cities, but at least in the state. 

There's no state income tax for Florida, but there is property tax, and I imagine homeowner insurance policies being considerably higher in hurricane alley than they are in some other parts of the country.

Given that the income tax difference would not impact him while he is playing for the Wild, Florida is one of the last places I would put a permanent residence. It can be a nice place to visit in the fall/winter months, but he can afford to just get a nice hotel in those situations.

A hockey player in MN is more likely to get a cabin up North given that their months off are June through early September, and they may want to stay nearby to participate in summer hockey that is big in the Twin Cities area for NHL players.

NFL players have their seasons end in January or February, so it definitely makes more sense for them to have a 2nd home elsewhere and avoid a few of the least exciting months in Minnesota, especially for those who like training outside.

The thing with millionaires and their million dollar houses say about 2-3 million or more they usually hire an assistant to manage their properties  ,   when you here someone say this politician hired cheap labor to mow their grass or to paint it etc  is more than likely false because their personal managers/ assistants usually do that  hiring because those houses require constant maintinance  and athletes / politicans are always traveling ,   if an athlete like JJ  buys a 10 million dollar home in say Wisconsin   it could easily get trashed if something happened and no one was around to catch it  ,   like a slight water leak .    those 10 million dollar homes own the buyers and not the other way around  .    Thats why you purchase it where you are  it  needs to be babysat .   

I live in FL. The insurance thing is a factor for some areas, but not most.  The maintenance is not that big of a deal. Keeping the AC on and landscaping isn't extra millions. 

My .02 cents. 

20 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

A hockey player in MN is more likely to get a cabin up North given that their months off are June through early September, and they may want to stay nearby to participate in summer hockey that is big in the Twin Cities area for NHL players.

NFL players have their seasons end in January or February, so it definitely makes more sense for them to have a 2nd home elsewhere and avoid a few of the least exciting months in Minnesota, especially for those who like training outside.

I think this is very true, however, what the advisor was saying was get your $10m place out of the market. I don't know if a cabin up north qualifies, but do the Europeans get their place here, or back home? What do the Canadian players do? I do find it interesting how players from different cultures think. 

I would say that loyalty to a team is probably more so in hockey than in the other major sports. I wonder if that changes things for them? Also, there has been a huge debate on what Kaprizov is thinking. Housing will often indicate a player's intensions. It's not just if a player puts his house up for sale, but also if a player is buying an upgraded property in the area. Is Kaprizov trading in his $2m property for a $5m place? I'd think that might signal his intensions.