If you haven't heard (Brent Burns news)

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thestonedkoala

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Brent Burns has been playing on defense for the Minnesota Wild since Filip Kuba went down with a hand injury. There has been some debate on whether Burns will stay permenantly on the blueline for the Wild or return and try to mold him into a PF.

Personally, with a report coming out that the Wild are still looking for a couple offensive players in this year's draft, Burns should stay on the blueline. He hasn't looked too shabby.
 

Jacob

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I can't think of a prospect in recent memory that was brought along worse than Burns currently is.
 

Wild Bill

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This doesn't make the Wild "Brain-Wizards" look all that good. First they take a guy that was widely thought to fall into the mid second round, at 20. Then they move him to defense in his rookie(or pseudo rookie) year!?!? Granted we are short handed on D right now and this year has been over for a month now so the results are meaningless. But, man...Burns at 20 and O'Sullivan at 56...could have easily been the other way around. I know a lot of people around here are pretty high on Brent and he has shown signs of great potential, but from what I've seen...I don't know. Freakin' Zach Parise was taken 3 spots before him! As time goes on, the Burns pick will be scrutinized heavily in Minnesota IMO.
 
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Bookman

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Hey, what's wrong with a 6'4" d-man with wheels, who likes to hit, with offensive upside? He would instantly vault to the top of the charts for Wild defense prospects. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Riseborough was considering this when they drafted him, so I wouldn't be so fast to say they're mishandling him. You see it all the time in baseball, where they draft a shortstop to make him a pitcher. You have to look at the tools and work from there.
 

GKJ

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I think the Wild will be looking for a defenseman in the draft personally. There isn't much on the blue line...
 

Motown Beatdown

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He didn't look out of place last night vs the Wings. But i dont know if i like the idea of moving a young player from Forward to defenceman. We saw what happed to Dandenault in Detroit. He's been jerked around so much, he makes stupid mistakes because he is over thinking the position.
 

Hitman*

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Didn't Burns play defense all the way up till Junior? I thought I heard the draft day commentators say something about that. But I agree, this isn't the way to bring up a player.
 

SmokeyClause

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Hitman said:
Didn't Burns play defense all the way up till Junior? I thought I heard the draft day commentators say something about that. But I agree, this isn't the way to bring up a player.


Yeah, he was switched to forward for atleast his final year with Brampton (maybe more). He had an OK year as a forward and he was drafted because he was raw and had excellent PF potential.
 

MePutPuckInNet

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The only mistake they've made is keeping him at the forward position. Burns is a natural Dman. Even his offense is mostly defensive. He only played HALF of his ONLY season in the major juniors [with Brampton Batallion] as a defensemen. Burns belongs on the blueline. He always did. The Brampton coach saw something offensive in Burns and jumped to a bad conclusion that he should become a forward. Wrong move. He should have let him continue his blueline experience. As Bookman said, nothing wrong with a Dman with a terrific offensive upside. When you consider Burns as that....maybe the #20 pick doesn't look quite so foolish [although there is NO WAY IN HELL he deserved that more than O'Sullivan did]. But if the Wild keep Burns as a forward.. well.....it'll just prove what I've suspected all along,,,they're clueless.
 

in the hall

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Jacobv2 said:
I can't think of a prospect in recent memory that was brought along worse than Burns currently is.
lundmark 'nuff said.... i would say fleury has been handled terribly this season but thats another story that i dont want to get into..
 

LaLaLaprise

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in the hall said:
lundmark 'nuff said.... i would say fleury has been handled terribly this season but thats another story that i dont want to get into..

The Rangers seem to screw up a lot of players, young and old. No offense. Maybe the Rangers have focused more on winning and bringing in high priced vets over takign care of their young people.
 

Wild Thing

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Jacobv2 said:
I can't think of a prospect in recent memory that was brought along worse than Burns currently is.

Thirded. There's no way this particular guy should have spent 80% of the season sitting in the press box watching other people play hockey. A huge part of what should have been a key development year has been wasted. This is the second year in a row the Wild have stunted the development of their top pick by bringing him up too soon, and I just hope to God they learn something from it so that they don't screw up this year's first rounder too.
 

strib

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Wild Thing said:
Thirded. There's no way this particular guy should have spent 80% of the season sitting in the press box watching other people play hockey. A huge part of what should have been a key development year has been wasted. This is the second year in a row the Wild have stunted the development of their top pick by bringing him up too soon, and I just hope to God they learn something from it so that they don't screw up this year's first rounder too.

The Wild will do the same thing next year and every year Lemaire and Riser are around. It is to make everyone think "Look how good our pick is compared to everyone else" He is capable of playing right now. Or we can teach him so much with the MASTER" teacher Jaacques at the helm. If they sat back and thought about how stupid they look by doing it they might change. Doubtful.
:yo:
 

thestonedkoala

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GKJ, it has been reported that the Wild are looking to grab not just in the first or second round but in the top three rounds the Wild are looking for offensive players. Idiotic.

The reasoning behind Burns signing is confusing but then again Riser has been confusing for the most part. He had to do something to appease the fans and Burns had a good camp but he should've been sent down after the WJC.
 

Luigi Lemieux

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in the hall said:
lundmark 'nuff said.... i would say fleury has been handled terribly this season but thats another story that i dont want to get into..
it's not like fleury lost his confidence. he's dominating in juniors. he'll be up for good starting next year i think.
 

Stock Rocks

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BuffaloBill said:
This doesn't make the Wild "Brain-Wizards" look all that good. First they take a guy that was widely thought to fall into the mid second round, at 20. Then they move him to defense in his rookie(or pseudo rookie) year!?!? Granted we are short handed on D right now and this year has been over for a month now so the results are meaningless. But, man...Burns at 20 and O'Sullivan at 56...could have easily been the other way around. I know a lot of people around here are pretty high on Brent and he has shown signs of great potential, but from what I've seen...I don't know. Freakin' Zach Parise was taken 3 spots before him! As time goes on, the Burns pick will be scrutinized heavily in Minnesota IMO.

I thought youse guys would take local boy Mark Stuart...
 

Vlad The Impaler

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I think people are a bit too hasty in their conclusions.

Neither Bouchard nor Burns are "ruined" yet. They are groing through growing pains like countless young hockey players before them. All of them being brought in unique, different ways.

The idea that their development is stunted is hasty and misguided. In this last tier of the season, Bouchard looks to me like he is showing glimpses of what he will become: a great hockey player. He is showing me more confidence, speed and seems stronger. He is starting to play the NHL-way. I am very optimistic. I suggest anyone who thinks his development was "stunted" looked at the statsheet and decided to offer the usual HF gem of ignorance.

As for Burns, it's been done time and time again. Mostly in Europe. Players change positions, it's nothing new. People, forget Dandenault. Dandy doesn't suck because he changes position. He changes position because he sucks. Burns has a much higher ceiling than Dandy.

I love the person who sarcastically called Lemaire a "genius", like he's some sort of twit. Shows right there the lack of knowledge. Lemaire is bar none the best coach in hockey and one of the best person to help the youngsters become very, very good hockey player in a team concept.

This is what it is about. A team concept to eventually build a winning team as opposed to satisfy a few fantasy hockey guys who decided to look at ESPN, check Bouchard's stats and mumble something about his development being "stunted".

It will take many years but these two guys should eventually become good players. I say "should" because it is still too early to tell in certainty. And it sure as hell is too early to tell they won't amount to anything much. Right now, I like what I see. It's been a bad year all-around for Minny and I put that in the equation as well. That was to be expected after last year.

I did say last year that it seemed to me Bouchard could have benefitted from an extra year of junior but I don't make a fuss about it when the decision comes from such an organization. It's one of the better in the league. They've taken some very good decisions and this franchise is in good hands.

There are dozens of prospects with golden potential who are rotting and stunted. Yet somehow Brent Burns is the worst example of how to develop a prospect?

Rrrrright :shakehead
 

thestonedkoala

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And this is why Vlad is one of the best posters on the board :D

Bouchard, to me though Vlad, just doesn't seem to fit in the Wild defensive-first type game.
 

Brock

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This is interesting because like one poster said, Burns has a lot of qualities that could make him a very good defenseman in the NHL. In fact, maybe even an elite defenseman.

Lets look at the facts here....

1) Brent Burns is a big kid who plays a physical game.

2) Brent Burns is a smart and aware hockey player who is already defensively responsible.

3) Brent Burns is an outstanding skater

4) Brent Burns is a sufficient playmaker

5) Brent Burns hands are the most suspect of his hockey skills

If we face those facts, not to mention the fact that A) Brent Burns has played defense before and B) These type of experiments have been done before, going from defense to forward, forward to defense.

I think this is extremely interesting and I'm sure he's just happy to be getting playing time. He played a decent amount last night against the Wings, and judging by his assist on the powerplay, he must have done a pretty good job running that.

BUT, I do think that the Wild have played his situation very poorly this year. He should have been back in junior with Brampton, being their leader and just improving his offensive consistency.

If you want to look at a comparable situation. Look at Jeff Carter. Similar to Burns in the fact that he was taken before expected, his physical tools superseeded his stats and his power forward potential got the eye of scouts. Jeff Carter went back to Junior this year, and look at the strides he made.
 

Vlad The Impaler

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thestonedkoala said:
Bouchard, to me though Vlad, just doesn't seem to fit in the Wild defensive-first type game.

I agree for now. But wait three more years. IMO, Minny is going to be a team that plays a smart offensive game before long. They will need a player like Bouchard. I always liked the kid's attitude but he is an even more apt pupil than I ever imagined.

You have probably the advantage of seeing play each and every game. But I like my perspective because sometimes I watch team X and then I only get to watch it again three weeks later. I try to follow al the teams and what I like about it is seeing more drastic differences in the development.

Allow me to go new age a second, but I compare this to seeing a tree grow. If you watch the tree every day, you do not notice it grow. But if you see it only once a year, the differences become more obvious.

To me, this is what is happening to Bouchard. He's really the same player but at the same time everything is more effective, less cute. It could take years but he'll be one of the good ones. Better than Briere is what I expect, so I'm not worried about him being ruined too much.

With Koivu, Gaborik, O'Sullivan, this team will have a couple of offensive weapons in a few years. I don't see any of them missing the big show. Minny will mold them slowly and you're right, the team has an identity as a defensively conscious team. But the Devils did score when needed. It should be a collective offense.

It's the mobility and the ability to play a positional game that will give opponents a hard time. I think Bouchard will eventually excel at it and his playmaking skills will be put to good use in time.

I've never seen Bouchard skating as well as he is right now. It's a big difference from the less powerful, slower and especially shakier skating style he had.

I'd like to add one more thing concerning Burns on this thread: I'm not sure, but I think people forget he was injured two or three times this year. True, he has played 30-something game in the NHL only but when you take into consideration the WJCs, the AHL conditional stint and the injuries, it is more understandable why Burns didn't play more.

I don't think he's been amazing. I don't think the Wild have done a wonderful job with him. But they did sufficiently well under the circumstances. If not for these circumstances, Burns would be closer to 50 games. That's MORE than enough for a young player.

I have never believed in the myth that players need not to be rushed and absolutely have to waste time in the minors or that there is a one true way to bring up players. The reason is simple: It has been proven that it is untrue.
 

thestonedkoala

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:bow: :bow: :bow:

I think you're right about that Vlad. I don't get to see them that much either (DAMN NCAA BASKETBALL!) but when I did Bouchard looked a little loss. I think the fact that this team is getting younger and looser is helping him.

I'm a bit worried about Koivu too...
 

Goldy

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A comment Risebrough made about Bouchard last year focused on his rate of development in the Minnesota vs. in the Q. (Paraphrasing) he said "how rapidly will he continue to develop in the Q when he is always the best player on the ice? Who will push him? By keeping him in Minnesota, we can work with him more closely and he will develop much quicker."

He made a similar comment regarding Burns in that he would develop much quicker in Minnesota than in the OHL.

Regarding TSK's comment that the Wild will draft offensive players in the first three rounds, remember that "offensive" does not always mean "forward".
 
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