Wilderness Walk: Not Good Enough

While Sammy had himself a preseason I don't think he showed enough to stay up, most of the time I didn't remember seeing him on the ice. Maybe Vinni rises to the occasion? Boldy being out I think is really hurting the Wild. I wouldn't mind seeing the lines put into a Blender and see what happens. Thinking something like this would be interesting.

Kap - Hartman - Duhaime (reward Duhaime, could drive play and be less pass happpy)

Freddy - Ek - Zuccarello (Zucc has been shooting, Freddy decent puck mover, Ek being a beast)

Johansson - Rossi - Moose ( I like moose with Rossi but Johansson can bring some speed and hopefully another shot/pass option)

Vinni - Dewer - Maroon (I don't know much about Vinni haha)

Mids - Faber

Brodin - Addison

Mermis - Merril (Sure do miss Spurge)

Maybe I am just hoping that a shake up would fix the lack of care that seems to be showing up. We aren't firing the coach early in the year so might as well blend up the lines and see if something can get going. Break up the over passing and waiting for the pretty play and drive it more.

23 minutes ago, IllicitFive said:

Kap - Hartman - Duhaime (reward Duhaime, could drive play and be less pass happpy)

I don't understand all the love for Duhaime and I think him on the 1st line would be a gong show but sure let's try it and see if he's a young gun we need to re-sign OR trade

24 minutes ago, IllicitFive said:

Freddy - Ek - Zuccarello (Zucc has been shooting, Freddy decent puck mover, Ek being a beast)

Freddy is the Cooler on this team.  He's where offense goes to die.  If he weren't a shoot out wizard he'd be my least favorite contract on the team.

25 minutes ago, IllicitFive said:

Johansson - Rossi - Moose ( I like moose with Rossi but Johansson can bring some speed and hopefully another shot/pass option)

This is intriguing.  I've come to appreciate what Foligno brings and for $2M/yr we've paid more and gotten less than we're getting from Mojo right now.  Let's try this line before Mojo get's hurt.  

While the speculation is Vinni, I'd kind of like to see what Beckman can bring to the table. Let's see if he can sub in for Boldy.

Walker could not. In 2 games he went from line 2 to line 4 to out the door. His play was pretty much uninspiring and he just blended in. If you want the spot, you've got to take it and stand out. Blending in gets you a bus ticket.

I believe Sammy needed to put some points on the board to stay. He was brought up for offense. He didn't really shoot much, his speed was not evident, and even though Walz highlighted him, he was pretty much invisible on line 4. 

Yet, Maroon, a 4th liner, put up points on line 2. That's what was needed. Now, to make no mistake, there wasn't a bunch of HDSCs either while Walker was on the ice. He's simply got more work to do. Sammy, go on down to Des Moines and start piling up the goals!

44 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

I don't understand all the love for Duhaime and I think him on the 1st line would be a gong show but sure let's try it and see if he's a young gun we need to re-sign OR trade

I went for something completely different instead of the over passing lack of defense they are currently providing. Also wasn't sure who else to move up into that spot.

17 minutes ago, mnfaninnc said:

While the speculation is Vinni,

NHL.com says it's My Cousin Vinni

2 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Freddy is the Cooler on this team.  He's where offense goes to die.  If he weren't a shoot out wizard he'd be my least favorite contract on the team.

I think it's more likely they move Gaudreau to 1st line center than move Zuccarello lower. Hartman with Foligno and Rossi could work too.

Impossible to replace Boldy and Spurgeon, but the remaining players should be able to hold up better on home ice than we they showed in the last game.

Khaira would give the Wild a better chance to win than Sammy Walker.

1 hour ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I think it's more likely they move Gaudreau to 1st line center than move Zuccarello lower.

While i think this is exactly what Dean will do with his security blanket named Fred, I'd much rather see Dewar or Rossi get reps on that first line.  If those don't work, force Ek into a 5-10 game tryout as 1C and see if they can create chemistry.  

I'm a big Hartman fan, but 1st line is sputtering like it did last year which led to a Hartman demotion.  Let's not watch 20 games of this first line before we change things up to find a new combination