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  • Wilderness Walk: Öhgren Confident He Has NHL Talent


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

    That's Wild

    • It was the Minnesota Wild's development camp earlier and that's where we got a good look at some key prospects and how they might eventually fit the team's timeline. One particular player was 2022 first-rounder Liam Öhgren, who is very confident that he will make the Wild's roster after spending one more year playing in Sweden. [StarTribune]
    • Another interesting youngster is Rasmus Kumpulainen who has similar tools to a certain defenseman we all know and love -- except this prospect is a forward. [Hockey Wilderness]

    Off the trail...

    • Young Florida Panthers netminder Spencer Knight is back on the ice as he hopes to make his return to action next season and his team hopes that they can sustain the success that took them to the Stanley Cup Final. [NBC Sports]
    • Well it certainly has been an interesting summer for the Philadelphia Flyers. The latest story is a staffer was caught during a livestream of a press conference bashing a reporter's question. The team had to release a statement condemning what was heard. [Yahoo Sports]
    • Pierre-Luc Dubois hopes to change his image as he makes his way to his third team, the Los Angeles Kings. [ESPN]

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    2 hours ago, Willy the poor boy said:

    You don't subscribe to that liberal rag?

    Not just a liberal rag, but why would an out of market fan subscribe to it? It is basically useless in every other aspect.

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    3 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

    Blocked too, everyone wants a subscription these days!

    There really isn't a lot in the article. Sarah is kind of just filling space until camp opens. Ohgren thinks he will make the team in 24-25. It talks about Ohgren's ability and situation in Sweden. It really is a nothing burger. The Trib's hockey coverage is not anywhere near what it was with Russo. They will have 10 bits on the Wolves or Gopher b-ball for every Wild or Gopher puck article. 

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    I was curious if he made any interesting statements in particular. He's got a decent NHL build. I like guys who have confidence tempered with humility. That's how Ohgren comes across. He doesn't wanna set himself up to be criticized too hard but thinking he can be an important player soon is a good thing. Showing an improvement and greater impact in the SHL this season is a good goal. The Wild will have some healthy competition after this next season for guys trying to make the big club. Hartman might be gone. Fleury, Foligno, and Zuccarello likely gone. It's gonna be up for grabs. It would he great if both Ohgren and Yurov were close with Knudi. It will be fun to see the new Wild taking shape with Guerin-era draft picks. Wallstedt too.

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    Probably won’t see him with big club this year, but this kid needs to dominate whatever league he plays in to give fanbase confidence a first rounder isn’t going to clang off the upright.  I’m expecting mid grade neidereitter (not as Swiss Army knife as Coyle) is his ceiling based on small sample size I’ve seen.  Probably a reasonable return given his late 1st draft position

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    Throwing out there this, guys from the draft generally aren't gonna become superstars beyond the top 10-20 from a typical draft class. Some drafts obviously are deeper than others but the expectation should be that most guys do not make it. I.e. if you pick seven players one or two guys is kinda what you're expecting to reach NHL status down the line.

    At the same time there's tons of examples of players who kinda come out of left field. Kaprizov is a fine example. Maroon as an example, is a player who also came from a lowly position in the draft and has multiple Cups. Therefore the odds of getting that guy is low. Yet, the potential that any player you've selected could become a Tomas Holmstrom, Pat Maroon, or a Mark Stone who aren't coming into the NHL with any hype at all but turn out to be great players despite no specific obvious talent that blows your doors off. 

    I would love for the Wild to get one of those guys.

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    16 hours ago, Protec said:

    At the same time there's tons of examples of players who kinda come out of left field. Kaprizov is a fine example. Maroon as an example, is a player who also came from a lowly position in the draft and has multiple Cups. Therefore the odds of getting that guy is low. Yet, the potential that any player you've selected could become a Tomas Holmstrom, Pat Maroon, or a Mark Stone who aren't coming into the NHL with any hype at all but turn out to be great players despite no specific obvious talent that blows your doors off. 

    I would love for the Wild to get one of those guys.

    To me, I think we have some potential there with the 2022 draft. Both Spacek and Petrovsky have that potential. Both have done well in international competition against their peers, and Spacek's game seems a lot more complete now than Addison's. He needs filling out and strength, but the hockey sense appears to be there. He looked every bit as good in the games I watched as Jiricek. 

    Petrovsky is a sleeper. I believe when we drafted him, he was 5'9", probably the reason he fell. This summer I saw a site listing him at 5'11". Those 2 inches, and a late growth, to me, make a huge difference. And, he's been competitive for his country in international play, playing on the top line. He hasn't looked out of place, though his team may have been weaker.  

    I thought we did a poor job in the later rounds of 2023, specifically since there were some guys available that could have brought us some things we do not have. We've got a lot of puck moving defenders who are in the 5'10"-6' range, but none in the Middleton weight class. To me, I think you needed to swing at some in hopes of coming up with our Parayko. A mean, nasty, huge defender who looks at belly buttons and not pucks and enjoys stapling people to the boards and trying to knock out their 2 front teeth with his fists. 

    It'll be interesting to watch Matteo Mann for the Flyers and see if he amounts to anything. I think I would have taken a flyer on that guy in the 5th instead of Pionk, though I agree with bloodlines drafting.

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    Ty Dellendrea just resigned a 1 year deal for $900k. The player is 22 and had a 9-19-28 stat line. He's also 6'1" and listed at 190. Why is this important? In less than a week, Brandon Duhaime has his arbitration hearing. I don't know what numbers have been exchanged, but I would have to say this is a top line comparable. To me, Duhaime's contribution is probably in the $800k category. I don't believe that RFAs should be going to arbitration for numbers this low. My prediction is he signs with the Wild before July 20th.

    Also of interesting note, Jack McBain took the Coyotes to arbitration also. This seems like a player who has a very high opinion of himself. I guess you have to have that to be successful. I thought he had a nice rookie year, not sure how he qualified for arbitration rights?

    Goose2's hearing is on the final day of arbitration. Ilya Samsonov has his date on July 21st. There should be a lot of interest in that ruling if it goes to that. Samsonov is, essentially, the same age as Goose2, but has 89 games played. He had a very similar year to Goose2's, but was a starter for an extra year. 

    Jeremy Swayman's is July 30th. He's also about the same age as Goose2, but with 88 games started and an extra year as a starter. His stats are a little lower than Goose2's last year, but better over the 88 games. 

    Both of these guys rulings should be very important to Goose2. I anticipate us signing Goose2 for a little less than these guys. 

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