Minnesota Wild General Discussion IV

[Uberdachen]

Suter's so frustrating on the PP. Every time, every damn time, he ruins my complaining about him by picking up another stupid point.

 

[Wabit]

i do feel suter should have a few more goals (only 6) but he is an excellent quarterback and a stellar example for teammates. he rarely makes a mistake.

Suter hasn't ever been a goal scorer, he can be counted on for 7 or 8 a year and that's about it. He's never hit double digits goals in his NHL career. His limp wrister isn't impressive; but he get's it to the net (or close) without having a big rebound off the backwall bounce back out and clear the zone, or have it blocked and lead to a short handed rush against.

His PP time and how he slows everything down (downright stops and lets the PKers reset sometimes), but he's doing something right with his 22 PPP.

 

[57special]

well, he never gets off the ice, for one.

 

[2Pair]

well, he never gets off the ice, for one.

When the alternative is Brodin, he should play the entire PP every time.

 

[Wabit]

When the alternative is Brodin, he should play the entire PP every time.

I don't mind Brodin on the PP. He doesn't sit on the puck and moves it quickly. The only problem is he's slightly above 0 as a scoring threat.

I'd rather have Brodin than Coyle on the point, but neither are great options.

 

[NonsenseElimination]

Yeah, #1 on the team in PP points and tied for #6 in the entire league for defenseman (tied with Hedman; ahead of Subban, Doughty, Jones) really bogs it down.

You do realize that if you're out there for the first 1:30 of every PP and touch the puck every time, you are bound to get a lot of assists. I can guarantee if Brodin was out there that much (or a forward playing point) they would have as many if not more points.

 

[2Pair]

You do realize that if you're out there for the first 1:30 of every PP and touch the puck every time, you are bound to get a lot of assists. I can guarantee if Brodin was out there that much (or a forward playing point) they would have as many if not more points.

I can guarantee that you're wrong.

 

[Wabit]

You do realize that if you're out there for the first 1:30 of every PP and touch the puck every time, you are bound to get a lot of assists. I can guarantee if Brodin was out there that much (or a forward playing point) they would have as many if not more points.

I don't buy that. Suter's stats from the last 4 years don't really backup that theory. Yes there have been different players and coaching staffs, but the PP coach has been the same IIRC (not sure on this).

14/15 season: 246 power plays, 39 PPG, 15.8 % rate. Suter: 291 mins, 3:49 ToI/game, 1g, 10a, 11p
15/16 season: 259 power plays, 48 PPG, 18.5% rate. Suter: 330 mins, 3:40 ToI/game, 3g, 18a, 21p
16/17 season: 224 power plays, 47 PPG, 21.0% rate. Suter: 233 mins, 2:46 ToI/game, 4g, 8a, 12p
17/18 season: 219 power plays, 45 PPG, 20.5% rate. Suter: 227 mins, 3:06 ToI/game, 1g, 21a, 22p

 

[Goose312]

You do realize that if you're out there for the first 1:30 of every PP and touch the puck every time, you are bound to get a lot of assists. I can guarantee if Brodin was out there that much (or a forward playing point) they would have as many if not more points.

Couldn't disagree more on Brodin. He's been getting some time on the PP the last few games. Or he was. Now he's done because he's a complete dredge on the PP. He's just too conservative. Fine for holding the puck, but he's a black hole of offense even on the PP.

 

[Wabit]

Couldn't disagree more on Brodin. He's been getting some time on the PP the last few games. Or he was. Now he's done because he's a complete dredge on the PP. He's just too conservative. Fine for holding the puck, but he's a black hole of offense even on the PP.

Brodin has a total of 2:05 mins PP ToI since Feb 1st (14 games played). 1:23 of that came in the game Spurgeon got hurt against Col, 25 sec against AZ, the other 17 secs come from what looks to be line changes at the very end of a failed PP.

 

[57special]

Brodin is fine on the PP point. Certainly a better, and safer option than Coyle. Forwards simply aren't used to shooting and handling the puck from back there, just as Dmen aren't good at cycling, for the most part. I want Coyle using his body down low, and in front of the net.

JB understands how to play back there, and how to move the puck. He could be better at zone entries, but if you make sure Granlund is on the ice when he is then that is covered. The only guys on the team who are good at zone entries are Suter and MiG. Koivu is OK. Dumba, not bad. Murphy might not be too bad...I sense a bit of chemistry between him and Brodin.

 

[Lapa]

Missed way too many games lately. I've followed the scores, but haven't seen many games. How have we looked lately? Anyone disappointing, anyone playing particularly well?

 

[Wabit]

Missed way too many games lately. I've followed the scores, but haven't seen many games. How have we looked lately? Anyone disappointing, anyone playing particularly well?

Granny has been disappointing lately. Coyle has been showing up nicely as of late. Total guess is that Coyle took a page from Dr. Evil and stole Granny's mojo.

The Kings game was a good game for the team, they lost in OT but played well for (almost) the whole game, the game had a Playoff feel to it. I hope you missed the Col games, the Wild got whooped by them.

 

[Wild11MN]

Granny has been disappointing lately. Coyle has been showing up nicely as of late. Total guess is that Coyle took a page from Dr. Evil and stole Granny's mojo.

The Kings game was a good game for the team, they lost in OT but played well for (almost) the whole game, the game had a Playoff feel to it. I hope you missed the Col games, the Wild got whooped by them.

From what I've seen, I would agree. Granny has been playing poorly, and Coyle has gone into mini-beast mode. No one else has been noticeably good or bad to me the last few games. We could definitely use Spurgeon back.

 

[DANOZ28]

i realize we have 9 gms left & i realize some players have dealt with injuries but many forwards on this team are not producing what i think they are capable of. granlund 19G (-6); koivu 13G (-3); coyle 11G (-9); parise 9G (-11); nino 17G (-3); JEE 4G (-8) trying to fill haula's skates. ennis 8G (-4) i didn't have high expectations for him. suter 6G (-4); spur 9G (-1). thats 49G of missing potential production. the real team issue we're not higher in the standings is the GA. we are already at 210GA equaling last years with 9 games to go! UGH charlie brown. why? i blame dubnyk what you say?

 

[nickschultzfan]

I am more disappointed in our inconsistent defense and soft goals than our lack of offensive production from our forwards, who I actually blame more for their defensive mistakes these days. We miss Haula and a healthy Nino a lot. Hell, I ripped him for years, but I have to admit Pominville is a bigger net-positive on the ice than Ennis.

That said, we have some good contributions from guys like Staal, Zucker, Brodin, Dumba (yes...), Prosser, Seeler, Winnik, etc. that have keep this team going.

 

[DANOZ28]

imo we needed to upgrade pommer but instead we downgraded with ennis. only one person to blame for that.

 

[Wild11MN]

Is anyone aware of the "Guardian Project" the NHL did a number of years back? Apparently they created custom superheroes for every team for some reason. This was the Wild's.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Believe it was discussed at the time, and then was tossed into the celestial incinerator until today.

 

[Bazeek]

I don't like Ennis, and going from 2016-17 Pominville to 2017-18 Ennis was a downgrade. I'm not sure that going from 2016-17 Pominville to 2017-18 Pominville would have been any better though; Pommer's hot start aside, he's been pretty trash for Buffalo. And he carries $1m more in cap hit, which was relevant in the lead-up to re-signing Granlund and Nino.

I think the only semi-realistic option to actually upgrade on (last year's) Pominville was to have Kunin or another prospect play way beyond realistic expectations.

I'm not satisfied with how it turned out, but in the final analysis I get all the moves that were made as part of the Great 2017 Expansion-RFA Vortex. In hindsight I think the goals going in were:

Primarily: Keep Staal, Zucker, Dumba, Brodin, Nino and Granlund
Secondarily: Try to minimize the fallout
Tertiarily: Make the team better

I think they achieved the primarily goal, did okay-ish at the secondary goal, and didn't manage to pull off the tertiary one. Under the circumstances, that doesn't bother me.

To me the only absolute, certified double-plantinum flub from that offseason was the Quincey signing. It messed up cap space for the RFAs, the handling of Olofsson and Reilly, and the team's chemistry. It only makes a shred of sense if they thought Quincey would play on the right, and I still have no clue where they might've gotten that idea.

Honorable mention to Foligno's contract, but at least that was done after getting Nino and Granlund signed.

Maybe I'm dumb, but with good odds to make the playoffs right now I'm inclined to cut Fletcher slack for how last offseason went. I'm more interested to see how the rest of this year and the ensuing offseason go.

 

[Bazeek]

Is anyone aware of the "Guardian Project" the NHL did a number of years back? Apparently they created custom superheroes for every team for some reason. This was the Wild's.

That whole thing was almost as bewildering to me as the popularity of the MCU.

 

[Uberdachen]

I'm going to guess that Tyler "Expired 'Big' wish" Ennis gets knocked around by Spurgeon's kids when they play knee hockey. And that there are broken windows in the house from Spurgeon perfectly tossing bottled waters to him.

I don't know if Craig Leipold has kids, but if he does there's no reining them back in now. He can't ever say no to buying something that costs stupid money for the sake of teaching them reason. "But Daddy, you're paying several million dollars to the equivalent of a dead beetle too big for the vacuum to pick up so it just shoots out a few feet away, which brings no joy whatsoever to any actual people on this earth. The dog cannot be entertained because it runs from the vacuum. The cat is a cat and just does not give a shit, and would rather claw your pillow to ribbons and then wait on a shelf to make sure it sees your expression when you see what it did. I go on about these other details in this comparison because they are all far more interesting than going on about that piece of shit beetle. Now shut your sad parody of a parent box and buy me that diamond-filled chocolate bar."

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

You do realize that if you're out there for the first 1:30 of every PP and touch the puck every time, you are bound to get a lot of assists. I can guarantee if Brodin was out there that much (or a forward playing point) they would have as many if not more points.

We average 3 power plays per game (219 opportunities in 73 games). 3 opportunities is 6 minutes. Suter averages 3:06 of PP ice time per game. So, it appears he's out there for the first 1:02 of every PP, which is hardly egregious.

 

[DANOZ28]

just 2 be clear im not ripping ennis for his size , im ripping ennis for his production & cap hit. i guess this gmcf trade was a swing & a miss. i felt from day one we should have traded pommer & retained 50% or bought him out. gmcf gambled on an ennis recovery & lost.

 

[57special]

Missed way too many games lately. I've followed the scores, but haven't seen many games. How have we looked lately? Anyone disappointing, anyone playing particularly well?

Same ol', same ol'. Coyle is showing signs of life, as is Parise. Murphy has made some mistakes, but I think he has done some good things, also. Staal being Staal...Granlund has been better.