Wilderness Walk: Second Round Continues On

That Nurse-Hague bout was quite a good one. I was surprised we never really had any fights in the Stars-Wild series, I thought it was going to be pretty nasty, especially after the Dumba hit on Pavelski.  Honestly, I think a couple of fights, specifically in game 4 would have helped this team!

Just remember, Florida and Seattle wins let us go up 2 draft spots!

I get that Marat Khusnutdinov is a real center, and so is Rossi. Both are really short. I still think the Wild are short in center depth and we need to shore that up this draft. Petrovsky and Bankier are also in the system, but we're looking at around 2 more years out before they're even knocking on the NHL door.

Speaking of Bankier, he and Masters had their seasons end earlier this week. 1 is left standing, Lambos as Winnipeg goes for the WHL title. Spacek also didn't make it past this round, his team was shut out the final 2 games of the series. 

If I were planning this site, I think I would want to start with what we have in the cupboards and then move into what we need in the draft. After that, let's find out what's available, at least for the 1st 2 rounds.  It seems like this would be the draft to have a couple of 1sts in! Can we get there? Khus is a nice place to start the "what we have" conversation, I suppose.

I wanted to get back to the CHL, since we have some final stats:

1. Bankier- 14 games, 7g, 11a, +5. Bankier was really good in the 1st round, decent in the 2nd round, but the 3rd round was not his friend. Kamloops was a division winning club, but just couldn't handle Seattle. 
2. Masters- 14 games, 1g, 6a, -2. Masters was nearly a PPG player in the regular season, and as a defender, I can see where his offensive numbers weren't so good. This stat line suggests that he beat up on weak competition and severely fell off as the competition got harder. Both of these guys should be in Iowa next season.
3. Spacek- 14 games, 3g, 5a, +3. Spacek really shined statistically, I thought, except for the last 4 games of the playoffs where his line got beat up pretty bad. I think he'll be in Iowa next season too, and I'm pretty excited about his development. Every time I've watched Spacek, I see a complete player getting better. He's probably still a couple of years away and needs some size. 

I think the biggest thing we need to have with these guys is patience. They performed well in the jrs. Now they need to get bigger, better and be ready to produce against men. I'm hoping all make it, but it is doubtful. 

Bankier was playing LW for the playoffs, but he's listed as a C. This is an important offseason for him, as he is already close to NHL size. If he can put on strength to get him to around 210, he could be a pretty imposing player. It would be real nice to find a gem in the later rounds with Bankier. 

2 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

It seems like this would be the draft to have a couple of 1sts in! Can we get there?

Looks like the Wild would have picks around:

• Pick #22 in the 1st
• Pick #54 in the 2nd
• Pick #61 in the 2nd(Vegas pick via Buffalo from Greenway trade).

Not sure the Wild can package a couple of late 2nd round picks to get another in the 1st, but the Blues do have picks around #25(from the Stars via the Rangers for Tarasenko) and #30(from Toronto for Ryan O'Reilly, which the Wild helped facilitate). Those actual pick numbers are not set yet since those teams have not been eliminated from the playoffs.

1. The teams that made the playoffs in the previous season but did not win either their division in the regular season or play in the Conference Finals (picks 17–24 up to 28, based upon regular season finish)
2. The teams that won their divisions in the previous season but did not play in the Conference Finals (potentially picks 25–28)
3. The teams that lose in Conference Finals (picks 29 and 30)
4. The team that was the runner-up in the Stanley Cup Finals (pick 31)
5. The team that won the Stanley Cup in the previous season (pick 32)

If the Wild do have pick #22 and St. Louis really wanted to move up to #22, you could maybe trade back with them from #22, adding one of those 2nd rounders, or something like that in return for both of their first round picks in the 25-32 range--the Blues are also slated to pick #10 using their own pick.

The Blues might be able to get a better deal elsewhere if they were looking to move up using those picks. Of course, the Wild could involve players to make things work out as well, but other than the conceivable trade with St. Louis above, I don't think it's highly likely the Wild would trade for another 1st.

The Wild don't have any picks in rounds 3 or 4 in this 2023 draft, due to trades for Deslauriers and Sundqvist, and I don't think they'll want to trade a future 1st round pick to get a late 1st in this draft. They are already missing a 3rd round pick next year(2024 draft) for Johansson.

Wonder what kind of pick Addison could get? You would get a more mature player, one who has proven to be an effective offensive defenseman and PP guy. Could the Wild get an early second round pick from a bottom dweller-team looking to get better now which already has stocked up on draft picks in recent years or who have crummy defensive groups. ARI, VAN, and ANA all come to mind. An early 2nd rounder for Addison would make sense cause he himself was an early 2nd. A 2-player deal with Addison and let's say another nice player the Wild might not have room to sign like Duhaime or perhaps a defense prospect could maybe get the Wild a late first. Maybe...

Rossi could perhaps go for a late  an early 2nd to a similar team if they believe a better opportunity higher in the lineup would be a good strategy and it's easier for them to plug him in. Again, big maybe because trading him would be an admission the Wild lost belief.

Mercer scored a nice one tonight for the Devils.

13 hours ago, Protec said:

Wonder what kind of pick Addison could get? You would get a more mature player, one who has proven to be an effective offensive defenseman and PP guy. Could the Wild get an early second round pick from a bottom dweller-team looking to get better now which already has stocked up on draft picks in recent years or who have crummy defensive groups. ARI, VAN, and ANA all come to mind. An early 2nd rounder for Addison would make sense cause he himself was an early 2nd. A 2-player deal with Addison and let's say another nice player the Wild might not have room to sign like Duhaime or perhaps a defense prospect could maybe get the Wild a late first. Maybe...

Rossi could perhaps go for a late  an early 2nd to a similar team if they believe a better opportunity higher in the lineup would be a good strategy and it's easier for them to plug him in. Again, big maybe because trading him would be an admission the Wild lost belief.

I was thinking about the article on what a Rossi trade would be worth, and I think a mid 1st was suggested.  What would it take to keep our 1st, but separate AZ from their #12 pick? 

I was thinking we could use our 2nds to move up, along with Addison and possibly Rossi if he's fallen out of favor too far. For me, Rossi is closer to being ready to go, but his current style hasn't matched ours due to his size. However, after looking at his draft profile, something this doesn't match up.

I think it is most important for us, as a franchise, to worry more about higher picks since our prospect depth is so good. At some point, we won't be able to place every player on the big club, and we're only cap restricted for 2 more years. Having 3 drafts with multiple 1sts should go a long way in developing a very nice young core of players. 

I'd also like to know why you think Duhaime won't be resigned? He had a very entertaining rookie year, and an injury plagued 2nd year. He doesn't warrant much of a raise, and is a very good, inexpensive option. I could see somewhere in a 2 X $1.1m offer, and I don't believe his qualifying offer is much of anything. 

Come '25-26, we then start to beef up the salaries of who we want to keep. I would think Duhaime should be a 3rd line wing staple by then. I would think Dewar might be his center, and if Foligno is still around, the other wing.

Without premium picks with out of this world skill, I would think that taking the Carolina model would be the best approach. 4 lines that are structurally sound and play to different identities, but they all play. Some may be more creative than others, but at the end of the season, all 4 lines have +net scoring.

23 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

The Wild don't have any picks in rounds 3 or 4 in this 2023 draft, due to trades for Deslauriers and Sundqvist, and I don't think they'll want to trade a future 1st round pick to get a late 1st in this draft. They are already missing a 3rd round pick next year(2024 draft) for Johansson.

As I said above, due to current organizational depth, I believe we go with premium picks the next couple of years. It's nice to have a great prospect pool, but what stinks is having it so good that players leave because there's no spot for them. So, a prospect pool needs to cycle. It'll get lower when the prospects graduate, and then you've got the next few years to build it back up again. 

We can backfill with trades or undrafted free agents on some of these slots. For instance, I'd expect the baby Wild to be one of the youngest teams in the A next season. There's just not much room for the Hicketts and Petans anymore.

I don't have much reason for thinking rhe Wild woudn't resign Duhaime, more that he might be a trade piece. He has had some trouble with injuries and is playing a tough game. I could see the Wild keeping him with a raise like you said but a cheaper, younger player could step in if he was part of a package with Addison let's say. An ARI or ANA pick would be great but perhaps the Wild could save some cap space if there's a player they think could step in as a bottom six energy guy like Duhaime. 

Dewar seems more durable. Shaw's injury though forces ya to look at Duhaime and he's more valuable because that type of depth is less certain. At one point this year Shaw, Dewar, Walker, Duhaime, and even Beckman were sort of in the same role as energy-grit guys. When it was going good there was some thought maybe one should be traded. I think the Wild needs those guys but how many and at what cost? That's what I was thinking...

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