Player Discussion Luke Kunin

[Fremitus Borealis]

Trust me, we dodged a bullet. I'm hopeful that Kunin becomes a legit top 9 NHL'er, maybe even top 6. Would be surprised if he is top line material.

I'm still waiting to hear the story about that time Bellows stole your car or whatever that makes you reply with a laconic one-liner suggesting how terrible he is, every single time someone brings up his name

 

[57special]

I'm still waiting to hear the story about that time Bellows stole your car or whatever that makes you reply with a laconic one-liner suggesting how terrible he is, every single time someone brings up his name

I'd tell you, but Then I'd have to kill you.

 

[57special]

If anything it's been the opposite: people skeptical of Tuch's upside after his first pro season while Kunin gets the benefit of the doubt. I mean I fall into it too and admit that I'm more excited about Kunin, but we'll see how things look after a year in Iowa. We're not in Madison anymore, Toto.

Pretty much this. We love em all till they actually play and expose their faults.

 

[Fremitus Borealis]

I'd tell you, but Then I'd have to kill you.

See?

 

[DANOZ28]

all i remember is bellows was goal scorer or bust , even lou nanne thought we'd pick him. i liked kunin better because he was more well rounded , no red flags in his game. plus he was drafted as a center even if hes been playing wing. the stole yer car thing reminds me of the time kuba's kid ran a stop sign & totalled my buds audi.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Pretty much this. We love em all till they actually play and expose their faults.

It's funny to me, he's like the opposite of PMB. Doesn't shy away from contact. Will almost always shoot first (even to a fault possibly). Passing is underrated but only shows flashes of great with it. Average speed (move your feet!). I haven't really been a fan of Tuch even when we first drafted him. I thought we should have taken a center in that draft. He hasn't really wowed me at the college or AHL level. Well the next draft we take Ek as the late riser. Closest draft I ever followed. Came down to Ek or White and I'm still glad we chose Ek. If he turns into a 30+25 version of Koivu that is fantastic! I didn't really see many faults in his game other than deferring to vets a little bit.

 

[Wabit]

It's funny to me, he's like the opposite of PMB. Doesn't shy away from contact. Will almost always shoot first (even to a fault possibly). Passing is underrated but only shows flashes of great with it. Average speed (move your feet!). I haven't really been a fan of Tuch even when we first drafted him. I thought we should have taken a center in that draft. He hasn't really wowed me at the college or AHL level. Well the next draft we take Ek as the late riser. Closest draft I ever followed. Came down to Ek or White and I'm still glad we chose Ek. If he turns into a 30+25 version of Koivu that is fantastic! I didn't really see many faults in his game other than deferring to vets a little bit.

The thing I like the most about Kunin is his mindset/confidence. Even on the REALLY bad UW team he didn't seem to 2nd guess himself on the ice. WJC and this year's UW team I saw the same thing. He doesn't hesitate on the ice, he's a driver not a passenger.

There are parts of his game that need work, but that holds true for any 20yo. I think he truly believes he'll make the Wild out of camp this year, and will work his butt off this offseason to do that.

 

[57special]

I like that Kunin has an edge to him. I don't know if he will be able to carry that with him into the pros, but i like guys who have a bit of nasty. Nino, Coyle, Dumba and Zucker have it....not so much Brodin, Granlund...not everyone can do it.

 

[DatDude44]

As a blues fan i'm so jealous of your pipeline lol.

Kunin, Greenway, Eriksson-Ek, Kaprizov, Tuch, Bellows, Belpedio, Kahkonen and even Soucy.


You guys are gonna be so scary when kunin, EK, kaprizov are all in your lineup on ELC's and you have rid yourselves of pominville etc.. God i'm so jealous...Can the blues please borrow one of your centers? lmao

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

As a blues fan i'm so jealous of your pipeline lol.

Kunin, Greenway, Eriksson-Ek, Kaprizov, Tuch, Bellows, Belpedio, Kahkonen and even Soucy.


You guys are gonna be so scary when kunin, EK, kaprizov are all in your lineup on ELC's and you have rid yourselves of pominville etc.. God i'm so jealous...Can the blues please borrow one of your centers? lmao

We don't have Bellows.

 

[Digitalbooya]

I'd be completely okay if you just took Bellows (he's not a Wild prospect)

The next 1-3 years should be crazy with the roster turnover. Eventually we are gonna need spots for the young guys and have to pawn off vets for picks/prospects.

 

[Wabit]

As a blues fan i'm so jealous of your pipeline lol.

Kunin, Greenway, Eriksson-Ek, Kaprizov, Tuch, Bellows, Belpedio, Kahkonen and even Soucy.


You guys are gonna be so scary when kunin, EK, kaprizov are all in your lineup on ELC's and you have rid yourselves of pominville etc.. God i'm so jealous...Can the blues please borrow one of your centers? lmao

If Tage Thompson is coming back to Minny, I'd consider a trade of some sort.

 

[57special]

As a blues fan i'm so jealous of your pipeline lol.

Kunin, Greenway, Eriksson-Ek, Kaprizov, Tuch, Bellows, Belpedio, Kahkonen and even Soucy.


You guys are gonna be so scary when kunin, EK, kaprizov are all in your lineup on ELC's and you have rid yourselves of pominville etc.. God i'm so jealous...Can the blues please borrow one of your centers? lmao

I would imagine that STL would love to have Kunin, the local boy, back in the fold. Still, until we figure out what he is, I can't see him being traded. He just MIGHT be the 35 g shooter we've been looking for.

 

[DatDude44]

lmao idk why i always mix up bellows being with mine instead of NYI. my bad lol

We'll give ya alex steen for Kunin instead

 

[DANOZ28]

after he gets upto speed in the nhl we'll probably start calling him lucky luke! so unless hes part of a trade that brings tarasenko here i wanna keep him.

 

[Wabit]

after he gets upto speed in the nhl we'll probably start calling him lucky luke! so unless hes part of a trade that brings tarasenko here i wanna keep him.

If anything it'll be Coolhand Luke. Every Luke I've ever know (all 2 of them) had that moniker. Good movie too.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Brian Posick called him Master Luke during his play-by-play.

 

[TaLoN]

Kunin is getting the call.

 

[TaLoN]

Think he gets put into the top 6?

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I'm not sure it matters when you only have three top-6 forwards in your lineup, but yes.

Zucker - Koivu - Kunin
Ennis - Staal - Eriksson Ek
Call up - Cullen - Call up
Call up - Call up - Call up

Poor Cullen.

 

[TaLoN]

I'm not sure it matters when you only have three top-6 forwards in your lineup, but yes.

Zucker - Koivu - Kunin
Ennis - Staal - Eriksson Ek
Call up - Cullen - Call up
Call up - Call up - Call up

Poor Cullen.

Zucker - Koivu - Ek/Kunin
Ennis - Staal - Ek/Stewart/Kunin
Winnik - Cullen/Ek - Stewart/Kunin/Ek/Call up
Call up - Cullen/Call up - Call up

I think I'd prefer Ek on the Koivu line due to experience, the Koivu line gets the toughest task. I'd think Kunin would be sheltered a bit wherever he plays... be it on the Staal or the Cullen 3rd line.

If Kunin plays on the Koivu line though, I think Ek stays on the 3rd line as either Center or Wing, Stewart will be on the Staal line.

We won't need 5 more call ups in the lineup, we had 11 of 12 forwards when 3 went down... Kunin replaces one of the 3, so we need 3 more forwards for 4 complete lines.

 

[BagHead]

This forward lineup is going to be expansion-esque. Turns out I'm cheering for two expansion teams this year.
BTW, does this mean we're sending Mike Reilly down? As I recall, that was the only way we could afford Luke, correct?

 

[Wild11MN]

This forward lineup is going to be expansion-esque. Turns out I'm cheering for two expansion teams this year.
BTW, does this mean we're sending Mike Reilly down? As I recall, that was the only way we could afford Luke, correct?

He was already sent down. With Coyle going on LTIR, we can afford some additional call-ups now as well.

 

[TaLoN]

This forward lineup is going to be expansion-esque. Turns out I'm cheering for two expansion teams this year.
BTW, does this mean we're sending Mike Reilly down? As I recall, that was the only way we could afford Luke, correct?

He was already sent down before Coyle went on LTIR - unfortunately for Reilly... the forward bodies are just needed more at this point.

Still need to call up 3 more with the cap space cleared by Coyle going on LTIR and the two roster spaces cleared by Coyle and Nino both being on IR, to go along with the already open roster space we had.

 

[Wabit]

CapFriendly has the Wild calling up Bertschy, Ferraro, and Mitchell tomorrow in their transactions page.