Minnesota Wild General Discussion IV

[TaLoN]

Was talking more just in general, not just Winnipeg. When they seemed to have issues with Colorado it was when players like Landenskog or their bigger players started to rough them up. Took the Wild off their game. Same thing when they played St. Louis last year. The Wild looked off because they were trying to play a physical (fire with fire) type game.

Wild seem to flourish the most when they were allowing speed to dictate the play in the series they've been in. The issue they seemed to have ultimately with the Jets is there wasn't a lot of speed and passing was atrocious up into the neutral zone.

Disagree. Last year the Wild looked completely dominant vs the Blues, just couldn't get the puck in the net.

A couple years ago when we BEAT the Blues, yes, they looked to struggle vs the physical play of the Blues, but the Blues generally don't even play that way anymore.

I do agree that we struggled AT TIMES vs the Jets physicality, but I don't think that was our problem at all. It was all play speed related due to the lack of ability to complete passes.

We greatly missed Suter in transition, and other than Granlund, nobody could get a puck on the tape of their line mates, slowing everything down.

 

[GapToothedWonder]

Hey guys. I was wondering what you expect Zucker will get paid on his next contract. And if you have any ideas if your new GM likes to front load his contract offers. Any info would be appreciated.

 

[TaLoN]

Hey guys. I was wondering what you expect Zucker will get paid on his next contract. And if you have any ideas if your new GM likes to front load his contract offers. Any info would be appreciated.

I don't think any of us have a clue on what he prefers with his contracts... he's never been the head honcho before, so we'll find out his tendencies over time as he hands out more and more deals.

As for Zucker... I think most expect between $5-6m/yr.

 

[BigT2002]

Hey guys. I was wondering what you expect Zucker will get paid on his next contract. And if you have any ideas if your new GM likes to front load his contract offers. Any info would be appreciated.

I'm with Talon on this one, it will be hard precursor since he is RFA and I'm sure if he got low-balled he'll go to arbitration. With teams like Vegas (naturally his home town) now with a team and cap space, there is probably some wiggle room for leverage on his end. However, the family factor now in Minnesota could be there as well. So who knows!

I would go lower than Talon though and say he takes more years for less money. 4x4 is my best guess at this point. That puts him at 30 years old and at that point, he most likely goes to Vegas as he has alluded to wanting to do in the waning years of his career.

 

[Digitalbooya]

I really hope it’s 4x4. Seems like a steal for us.

 

[57special]

no way it's 4x4. Goal scorers get paid. Speedy goal scorers, especially. I could see him going for under 5M if he gets a quasi long term deal, i.e. 6/4.75M.

Still, Atkinson could be used as a comp, and also a cautionary tale, for the Wild. He signed a 7/5.875M contract last summer, when he was basically the same age as Zucker, with a similar skill set, and similar production (Atkinson's production was better, but not WAY better).

5x5.5M, maybe? I don't love it, but he's playing like a 1st line winger right now.

 

[BigT2002]

no way it's 4x4. Goal scorers get paid. Speedy goal scorers, especially. I could see him going for under 5M if he gets a quasi long term deal, i.e. 6/4.75M.

Still, Atkinson could be used as a comp, and also a cautionary tale, for the Wild. He signed a 7/5.875M contract last summer, when he was basically the same age as Zucker, with a similar skill set, and similar production (Atkinson's production was better, but not WAY better).

5x5.5M, maybe? I don't love it, but he's playing like a 1st line winger right now.

I wouldn't argue with you regardless...but with really no playoff production in his tenure, I don't see how he can push for 5M IMO.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I think his playoff numbers keeps him below $6M, but the regular season is good enough for $5M.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

I think his playoff numbers keeps him below $6M, but the regular season is good enough for $5M.

No Wild player has good playoff numbers of late. Zucker led the team in last season's playoffs though, in shots on goal. Only had the one goal, but I don't think it's a strong argument when his entire team has sucked around him the past two post-seasons. I think the conversation starts at 6. Although we assume desire on the part of the player to stick around, he has a ton of value right now and needs to get paid while he still has that speed, and his camp knows it. He's been a bargain - this next deal probably will not be one.

 

[Mickey the mouse]

Can they sign either Zucker or Dumba at any time or do they have to wait until July 1st ?
I have a brain fart !

 

[Bazeek]

Can they sign either Zucker or Dumba at any time or do they have to wait until July 1st ?
I have a brain fart !

They can re-sign them right now, but it probably won't happen until after the draft at the earliest. Probably after free agency, too. Way too much going on between now and then.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Can they sign either Zucker or Dumba at any time or do they have to wait until July 1st ?
I have a brain fart !

Zucker and Dumba they could do at any time.

For Staal, they'd have to wait if they wanted to extend him.

 

[Bazeek]

Zucker and Dumba they could do at any time.

For Staal, they'd have to wait if they wanted to extend him.

Staal's kind of interesting. After the year he just had do they try to get an extension done this offseason? Or do they wait until next spring to make that decision? With Fletcher I would have guessed it gets done this summer, similar to Koivu. With Fenton I'm less sure.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Staal's kind of interesting. After the year he just had do they try to get an extension done this offseason? Or do they wait until next spring to make that decision? With Fletcher I would have guessed it gets done this summer, similar to Koivu. With Fenton I'm less sure.

I'd wait.

I would've waited with Koivu last summer too.

Guys in their mid-30's can go the wrong direction pretty fast.

 

[Bazeek]

I'd wait.

I would've waited with Koivu last summer too.

Guys in their mid-30's can go the wrong direction pretty fast.

Agreed, and that's probably how it happens. Getting Koivu's done early was at least partly a courtesy for services rendered.

 

[57special]

Staal has been terrific, but I'd rather having him playing hungry. I'm willing to take the risk that he wants to end his career here, and is unlikely to sign somewhere else in FA unless we decide we just don't want him next year or we really lowball him. I think he's into the whole family thing now, and sees the value in stability. A MN lifestyle is very similar for a Canadian, or at least One from Central Canada such as Staal. The guy has made his money... if he is offered, say, a 2/9-10M contract and some other team offers 3/15m then it gets dicey, but if they offer 2/11-12M then I don't think he's going anywhere.

If Staal's play falls off a cliff after this year then they can either not offer him anything, or something similar to what he has now, but for two years. That way they won't be stuck with a cap anchor.

 

[Bazeek]

Not big news, but listening to Russo on KFAN this morning it sounds like some sort of assistant coaching change may be imminent.

He also mentioned that Fenton's talking to everyone about everyone trying to gauge values on the current roster, though that's to be expected. He and LeBrun both think something's likely to happen between the pro scouting meetings next week and the draft.

Edit: A somewhat more interesting tidbit - Russo's talked to a GM in the last week or so about the tough spot the Wild are in. He went into the conversation with a fairly negative take (the Wild look desperate, have a new GM, guys like Nino and Coyle had down years, etc.) and the GM sort of stopped him and said there are multiple guys on the team that are still very highly valued around the league. Again it's nothing shocking, but a good reminder that most GM's do have memories that extent beyond the last year or so.

 

[Bazeek]

Not big news, but listening to Russo on KFAN this morning it sounds like some sort of assistant coaching change may be imminent.

He also mentioned that Fenton's talking to everyone about everyone trying to gauge values on the current roster, though that's to be expected. He and LeBrun both think something's likely to happen between the pro scouting meetings next week and the draft.

Edit: A somewhat more interesting tidbit - Russo's talked to a GM in the last week or so about the tough spot the Wild are in. He went into the conversation with a fairly negative take (the Wild look desperate, have a new GM, guys like Nino and Coyle had down years, etc.) and the GM sort of stopped him and said there are multiple guys on the team that are still very highly valued around the league. Again it's nothing shocking, but a good reminder that most GM's do have memories that extent beyond the last year or so.

So there's that. Kind of interesting that it's Boudreau's guy.

 

[DANOZ28]

that cant make BB happy. why would fenton do that? the only reason i can think of is suter doesnt like BB & company.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Hey, coach, you're safe, but we're not going to renew your best friend in hockey...

so far, so good!

 

[HollaHaula]

John Anderson ran the Wild's PP, which was 18th in the league this year. A drop of 9 spots from last year. Whether that was a function of Anderson or the regression of our roster is up for debate.

I'm honestly kind of lukewarm about BB being our coach. The way he constructs lines is that his bottom-6 always has grinders/less-skilled players while his top-6 is expected to do most of the scoring. As we've been seeing in recent playoffs, that's not really a recipe for success. You need at least 3 lines that can contribute offense because you are facing the same team multiple games in a row. The other team will almost always be able to find a way to shut down/mitigate at least one of your top-2 lines. If the bottom-6 can't be dangerous on the scoresheet to make up the loss, have fun golfing.

 

[Bazeek]

Seems like there are a few ways to interpret it, depending on information that I don't think we have:

1.) Fenton wants to make changes to the coaching staff, but nothing too drastic right away. Anderson drew the short straw because his contract was up while Woods and Hendrickson still have a year on theirs.
2.) Same as 1, but Fenton specifically wanted to replace Anderson because of some deficiency he saw.
3.) This is at least partially a move aimed at Boudreau and could signal a coaching change next year.
4.) Anderson once brought Suter's post-game glass of milk but FORGOT to add the chocolate syrup first.

1 or 2 seem pretty likely to me.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

Seems like there are a few ways to interpret it, depending on information that I don't think we have:

1.) Fenton wants to make changes to the coaching staff, but nothing too drastic right away. Anderson drew the short straw because his contract was up while Woods and Hendrickson still have a year on theirs.
2.) Same as 1, but Fenton specifically wanted to replace Anderson because of some deficiency he saw.
3.) This is at least partially a move aimed at Boudreau and could signal a coaching change next year.
4.) Anderson once brought Suter's post-game glass of milk but FORGOT to add the chocolate syrup first.

1 or 2 seem pretty likely to me.

All four seem likely. I think it is a fairly drastic move. Bruce brought John Anderson in himself because he's a trusted advisor. Obviously if it's a Cup-winning team, you don't change the staff, and things didn't go so swimmingly, but to single out a guy's best pal sends a strong message. And it's kind of a dick move!

 

[2Pair]

If Fenton did it just to take a poke at Boudreau, then it's a dick move. If he did it because he doesn't think Anderson is a good enough coach, then it's a great move. f*** your friends, we're here to win

 

[Saga of the Elk]

If Fenton did it just to take a poke at Boudreau, then it's a dick move. If he did it because he doesn't think Anderson is a good enough coach, then it's a great move. **** your friends, we're here to win

(during the regular season.) What is a good enough coach? Bruce is one of the winningest coaches in NHL history but he can't pick his assistants? This is a power move, plain and simple.