Wild Turning Season Around In Couple of Weeks

Locked on Wild Fixture or Fill ins (w/Seth Topel) does a good job of breaking down all the career years our journeyman core had in 21/22 season and here we are years later waiting for the unchanged one and done core to do it again. 

"It was all doom and gloom for the Minnesota Wild early on"

We are tied with 22 points with the two wild teams yet they have 2 games in hand.  Gone are the days of cap hell.  I like the improved discipline on D.  But it is still doom and gloom.  We still have some glaring issues.

1)  No 2nd line 

2)  Limited depth scoring

3)  28th ranked on the PK.

4)  -5 plus/minus ranking.  

We don't fix those we will be a forever bubble team.

So far after 20 games, this has been a tale of two 10 game seasons.

Penalty kill:

    First ten games: 14/23, 60.9%, 31st, 

    Last ten games: 19/23, 82.6%, 13th

+/-:

     First ten games: 28-39, -11

     Last ten games: 28-22, +6, tied for 8th

Points: 

     First ten games: 8 points, 29th

     Last ten games: 14 points, tied for 5th

Guess it depends how you look at it, but I tend to think we are closer to the team of the last ten games than the first ten games. Not sure if we can match the .7% points percentage for the rest of the season that we have the last ten games, (that would have us finish with 109 points), but somewhere between .62%-.65% would give us between 99-103 points at the end of the year.

Looking like Yurov will be getting those 1st line minutes some folks have been clamoring for. Hope he seizes the opportunity.

Good for Yurov

So can we stop the "THEY ALWAYS GET HELD BACK" stuff?  If he succeeds or fails is on him now.

3 hours ago, MNCountryLife said:

"It was all doom and gloom for the Minnesota Wild early on"

We are tied with 22 points with the two wild teams yet they have 2 games in hand.  Gone are the days of cap hell.  I like the improved discipline on D.  But it is still doom and gloom.  We still have some glaring issues.

1)  No 2nd line 

2)  Limited depth scoring

3)  28th ranked on the PK.

4)  -5 plus/minus ranking.  

We don't fix those we will be a forever bubble team.

I don't agree that it was or is still doom and gloom, and I still think people were overreacting to a small amount of games.  I thought it would stabilize a bit by 20 games in and it has.

There's still lots of room for improvement though.  I do believe they can continue to do better, but they have to keep working.  While all the things you point out have gotten marginally better lately and the team has been on the rise in these rankings, they absolutely need to keep at it.  They aren't outscoring other teams to the point where they can afford to take shifts off or it can and will probably cost them the game.

43 minutes ago, Enforceror said:

Looking like Yurov will be getting those 1st line minutes some folks have been clamoring for. Hope he seizes the opportunity.

Looks like Yurov will be with Kaprizov and Zuccarello. Hope they shine.

JEE with Boldy and Johansson

Trenin centering Moose and Stroh's

Jones between Ogre and Pits on line 4?

For players who have been in 6+ NHL games this season, Pitlick, Trenin, and Ben Jones are all in the top 16 for hits/60, and Foligno isn't too far behind, also in the top 30.  Looks like Buium and Hunt will stick together for 3rd pairing.

Trenin(2nd overall) and Foligno(10th) are both top 10 for total hits delivered so far this season and I'm sure they'll be active in the next game.

Back to where they've always been?? A mediocre bubble team?

"Shackles off, no more cap hell, this is the year, etc."

Disappointing. Sorry to say it, but I hope they don't make the playoffs this season. Would like to see several big changes. This team has been mismanaged for way too long.

16 minutes ago, raithis said:

I don't agree that it was or is still doom and gloom, and I still think people were overreacting to a small amount of games.  I thought it would stabilize a bit by 20 games in and it has.

There's still lots of room for improvement though.  I do believe they can continue to do better, but they have to keep working.  While all the things you point out have gotten marginally better lately and the team has been on the rise in these rankings, they absolutely need to keep at it.  They aren't outscoring other teams to the point where they can afford to take shifts off or it can and will probably cost them the game.

This could be as simple as defining the doom and gloom. 

If we were playing all the rookies and at this mark, I would be happy and confident, not doom and gloom. 

If we are playing vets with the idea of winning the cup this year... then this is doom and gloom.  Because this lineup with these deficiencies will not get passed the 1st round of the playoffs. 

BG is most definitely in the 2nd of these options.

The issue is even if you do break down the team (or accidentally tank one year, which this team won't do at this rate), what are even the chances Ek, Rossi, Buium, etc stay once ALL the veterans are swept out?

I understand the want to finally get that elusive can't miss player at the top of a draft, but Kaprizov and Boldy exist, as do Gus and Walky.  I don't believe this team will ever be 1st pick bad.

And given the Pouliot situation, I don't know if I trust this team to make that choice anyway.

Wally* damn phone

1 hour ago, Enforceror said:

Looking like Yurov will be getting those 1st line minutes some folks have been clamoring for. Hope he seizes the opportunity.

This is a great development.  If he simply keeps up with 97 and 36 and doesn't look like Victor Rask it's a win for his development.  I'm optimistic on Yurov becoming Luke Kunin Heavy (better than Kunin but similar style player)

6 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

If he simply keeps up with 97 and 36 and doesn't look like Victor Rask it's a win for his development.  I'm optimistic on Yurov becoming Luke Kunin Heavy (better than Kunin but similar style player)

Who knows what he could be at this point. Perhaps his development will go along the lines of Kirill Marchenko. Marchenko didn't dominate the KHL, or the NHL at first, but jumped to 74 points last season(age 24) as a line 1 forward.

We need to remember to give Yurov time. I understand hoping for immediate impact but those players are rare.

He has a huge opportunity ahead of him if they do indeed play him in that role against the Canes. Even if he doesn't score, if he can give Kaprizov and Zucc confidence that they can play offense and have defense covered, it could work.

20 hours ago, Scalptrash said:

Back to where they've always been?? A mediocre bubble team?

"Shackles off, no more cap hell, this is the year, etc."

Disappointing. Sorry to say it, but I hope they don't make the playoffs this season. Would like to see several big changes. This team has been mismanaged for way too long.

If that happens, you may get a coaching change, but Guerin has built up plenty of goodwill with the owner, you won't see that change. In the owner's eyes, Guerin has delivered. Also, remember where Leipold came from, a minority owner with Nashville who kept Poile around for decades.

20 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Trenin centering Moose and Stroh's

Jones between Ogre and Pits on line 4?

For players who have been in 6+ NHL games this season, Pitlick, Trenin, and Ben Jones are all in the top 16 for hits/60, and Foligno isn't too far behind, also in the top 30.  Looks like Buium and Hunt will stick together for 3rd pairing.

Trenin(2nd overall) and Foligno(10th) are both top 10 for total hits delivered so far this season and I'm sure they'll be active in the next game.

For tonight (I'm blacked out), we need guys who can really skate. Having Trenin centering a line suggests to me that this will be a slow line. Carolina has guys who are small and fast, we didn't really need a bunch of bangers playing, in fact, this would have been a good game to rest Foligno and go with a guy like Haight. I think they called up the wrong forward in Pitlick, and should have gone more with a center. Perhaps Haight isn't playing that well?

I quickly checked the stats, Haight looks like he has picked up his play.

I just hope people actually see where Yurov is at, not what he could become.  That is what I warn about all the time when I say, "this guy has done this or this or this" or when I was one of the first to sour on Beckman, Khusnutdinov Ohgren, Jiricek, etc.

The excitement of seeing Yurov on line 1 is great, but I didn't clamor for it.  I won't say, "SEE HE WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT WITH AN OPPORTUNITY!"

Just temper expectations and hope he is pretty good.  I'm not expecting Celebrini in Russian form.

20 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

The issue is even if you do break down the team (or accidentally tank one year, which this team won't do at this rate), what are even the chances Ek, Rossi, Buium, etc stay once ALL the veterans are swept out?

I understand the want to finally get that elusive can't miss player at the top of a draft, but Kaprizov and Boldy exist, as do Gus and Walky.  I don't believe this team will ever be 1st pick bad.

And given the Pouliot situation, I don't know if I trust this team to make that choice anyway.

Even if you finish in 10th place, you can still get the 1st overall with a nice lottery ball. However, in this year, I think McKenna will somehow end up going to a large market team and that in years with a really good 1st overall the balls are rigged. As for Pouliot, that regime no longer exists, but to your point, the guy we have in there now passed over M. Tkachuk for a smooth skating, tiny Euro defender who hasn't made an impact even at the A level.

19 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

I'm optimistic on Yurov becoming Luke Kunin Heavy (better than Kunin but similar style player)

Kunin wasn't afraid to drop the mitts, I don't see Yurov as that kind of player.

Finishing my point (cause I thought of it a few minutes later).  

I forget who, but someone was like, "Yurov could be our Barkov or Ek 2.0.". How about he just be Yurov a 3rd/4th line guy who got his spot due to injury?  Defense first guy, hopefully accountable, but he doesn't get overwhelmed trying to keep up with Kap and Zucc doing their telepathy.

If we're going to say, "Rossi's only good when he's next to Kap (everyone is, duh, and Rossi is pretty good on his own), I would hope people not yell "Yurov 1C!" unless he gets a point per game for a week.  Be excited, but don't go overboard unless it happens.

Still too soon to give up on Yurov, but if Sabres are willing to listen to offers for Tage…..

I’d be interested in seeing if Ohgren can be packaged for o’reilly 

yes he is getting up in age, but he can still play and comes in at a minuscule 4mm

thoughts?

Rossi Kap Zuccy

Ek Boldy Johy

ROR Harty Yurov

Trenin Sturm Foligno

Vlady is gone

1 hour ago, Citizen Strife said:

Finishing my point (cause I thought of it a few minutes later).  

I forget who, but someone was like, "Yurov could be our Barkov or Ek 2.0.". How about he just be Yurov a 3rd/4th line guy who got his spot due to injury?  Defense first guy, hopefully accountable, but he doesn't get overwhelmed trying to keep up with Kap and Zucc doing their telepathy.

That was me.  I am psyched about Yurov.  He looks like Selke material.  It's just rare for us to have a rookie hit the ground running and Yurov is doing exactly that.  I like his game... it's disciplined and he has great instincts for puck control in the Ozone.  He shows little flashes of skill and is confident but still reserved.  I think there is a lot more in the tank with Yurov.

I don't know if he will mesh well with KK and Zucc.  It will be interesting to watch tonight.  I thought he was great with Folino and Trenin.

I'm also psyched about Zeev.  Makar comparisons with Zeev are as outrageous as Barkov comparisons with Yurov I guess so call me guilty.  Zeev's game is evolving game by game.  He has toned it down (maybe too much) and is playing more balanced.  His D game is also getting better.  I really like him on PP1 and maybe work him into OT slowly.  His decisions on the blue line are starting to look less frantic and loose game by game.  He is engaging in the O zone at times and blowing me away with his talent, but hasn't developed the vision yet to be that playmaker.

These two rookies are worthy of getting psyched about.  Wally too.  

I won't let MN PTSD fandom bring me down.

49 minutes ago, OldDutchChip said:

Still too soon to give up on Yurov, but if Sabres are willing to listen to offers for Tage…..

I’d be interested in seeing if Ohgren can be packaged for o’reilly 

yes he is getting up in age, but he can still play and comes in at a minuscule 4mm

thoughts?

Rossi Kap Zuccy

Ek Boldy Johy

ROR Harty Yurov

Trenin Sturm Foligno

Vlady is gone

Preds might blow it all up.

21 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

Preds might blow it all up.

They really should, but if they do that - I’d pass on Stamy and Marchy. ROR is interesting, he is a gamer, great FO, and low cost….

1 hour ago, OldDutchChip said:

but if Sabres are willing to listen to offers for Tage…..

Sabres have said multiple times (including recently) that Tage is not available and that they are not open to offers.  While no one is truly unavailable, I believe they hold on to him with same death grip they have on Dahlin.  Neither of those players are getting traded unless they've made it clear they want out or they won't re-sign in a contract year.  The only other reason is if they decide to tear everything down the floor boards and rebuild...for umpteenth time - and I don't see them doing that again with the fan base as disgruntled as it is.  The only thing keeping them partly gruntled is players like Dahlin and Thompson giving them hope that maybe they'll finally turn a corner.

An offer would probably have to include Boldy, Yurov, Buium, and picks.  Thompson's a good player, but the cost would be too high to pry him away.