At least the Wild didn't use whatever filter they used for their gameday pictures for this announcement. Otherwise Fenton would have looked 3 weeks past dead.
Confirmed with Link: Paul Fenton to be named GM of Minnesota Wild
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At least the Wild didn't use whatever filter they used for their gameday pictures for this announcement. Otherwise Fenton would have looked 3 weeks past dead.
DC4MVP
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All Fenton needs to do is find the next Connor McDavid in the 2019 draft, sign Taveras for millions less than he'd sign elsewhere, and get an Erik Karlsson level d-man for Ennis.
Boom. Easy.
Boom. Easy.
Sorry man. We all knew that you weren't in the running, but didn't know how to break it to you.
Won't lie...it was awkward posting around you for a while.
Level of enthusiasm is so thick.. no, level can't be thick, right?
Level of enthusiasm is so high here.. no that sounds kind of boring.
Liquid of enthusiasm is so thick you can feel it in your hands.. no, there's still something odd there.
Let's get high, back again. At least it works.
English, difficult.
Level of enthusiasm is so high here.. no that sounds kind of boring.
Liquid of enthusiasm is so thick you can feel it in your hands.. no, there's still something odd there.
Let's get high, back again. At least it works.
English, difficult.
Yeah, deep down I kind of knew it. I was aware they didn't kind of know about me. Didn't have my number, nor any other information, so they couldn't call for interviews and stuff.
But it still feels little rude. Thanks for being gentle though.
I know I'll get over it before next season. But this new guy better be good!! Not bitter or anything..
Milwaukee's worst year in nearly 2 decades is only marginally worse than Iowa's best year ever. Averaging 22pts more per season than Iowa since the season went to 76 games.
It must be the offseason, because my give a damn meter is broken. Feels like I should care more. These playoffs have just not gone the way I wanted them to, and I'm getting more and more pissed off with the results after each round. We could sign Greenlay as GM, yet I wouldn't care at this point.
He might promote himself to play-by-play guy instead of color commentator... The care meter might go up after that.
Except for the Greenlay, you've expressed my feelings exactly. Each season feels like Groundhog day.
You mean:
-Parise is injured and misses a bunch of time, or is playing too hurt to be efective
-Spurgeon misses 12 games
-Brodin misses 12 games
-Coyle disappears for whatever reason
-trade with Buffalo
-good enough to make the Playoffs, but not win the Division
-early Playoff exit
-a $5m+ player massively under-performs (Nino, Pommer, Heater, Vanek)
-strip the "C" from Koivu talk
At least there wasn't the yearly slump this year. The goalie carousel ended a couple of years ago. Crowd Chant went away a couple of years ago. No red jerseys this year. Baby steps, I guess?
We need a GM so that is it. What is his contract? most guys have a 3-5 year window they can tell the owner we will win or they are gone...
Saga of the Elk
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Just thought it was funny they had the same points and all this season. As I said in the thread, the fact that Nashville's org has been marginally better is a great sign for this hire.
I imagine some of the meh surrounding this is just that Chuck Fletcher was one of the league's most competent GMs and seemingly a good guy. Last season's team and the one prior to it were not bad teams. This is isn't getting rid of a Dave Nonis or a Steve Tambellini but still .. fresh eyes, and a good track record and reputation. Positive signs.
I am curious whether Fenton would have had some pre-draft meetings with Nashville's scouts and how that works - whether there's an NDA or a "gentleman's" agreement as to not poaching certain players.
Because Fenton has been in the pole position since Fletcher was let go I'd have to think that he was kept at arm's length from whatever draft prep has been happening in Nashville. Beyond that I'm not sure what you can do since Fenton's opinions are bound to be at least a little tangled up with his former organization's opinions.
All of this is actually one reason that I hope they keep Flahr on through next season. If they're looking to make tweaks they're going to want some degree of continuity between Fletcher and Fenton, and Flahr seems like the best way to do that. Having him around to take the lead on this year's draft is also a plus.
In the long run I imagine he'll follow Fletcher wherever he lands, but for now it'd be nice if he stuck around.
Dr Jan Itor
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Nashville doesn't have a 1st or 2nd rounder this year, so I think the poaching would minimal at best.
Yeah I work for the Admirals and this was a down year but overall the Admirals have seen really good success in a smaller secondary hockey town and it is definitely a better organization than Iowa has been since they moved up from Houston.
Listened to the press conference, which pretty mostly reaffirmed what's already been said. Fenton thinks the team's in okay shape but needs "something else" to take the next step; not exactly earth-shattering.
He did mention the importance of building through the draft and that Nashville had 17 (I think it was?) drafted players on the roster when they went to the Cup final last year. I'm not sure if that necessarily means that he'll be more protective of 1st and 2nd round picks than Fletcher was, but it seems like a possibility.
Some talk of cultivating a "family" environment within the management team, though I'm not sure that there's much to take away from that.
Pretty middle-of-the-road, as you'd expect.
He did mention the importance of building through the draft and that Nashville had 17 (I think it was?) drafted players on the roster when they went to the Cup final last year. I'm not sure if that necessarily means that he'll be more protective of 1st and 2nd round picks than Fletcher was, but it seems like a possibility.
Some talk of cultivating a "family" environment within the management team, though I'm not sure that there's much to take away from that.
Pretty middle-of-the-road, as you'd expect.
I liked Crowd Chant.
Fletcher wasn't a bad GM, but he has left Fenton with some messes to clean up. Some(Ennis) should be relatively easy, others(Parise), near impossible.
We are all assuming that Fenton will come and make moves that will make the team better. What if he comes in and fails? What if he trades Nino for Evander Kane, Brodin for Gardiner, and Ennis for Kesler?
IMO, the "young core" of the Wild, Brodin, Dumba, Granny, Nino, Coyle, Zucker, Spurgeon...are all good or better players. None of them, however, is good enough to lead a team far in the playoffs. Granlund is the closest, but he simply doesn't have the athletic ability to dominate. Even if we package two of those players we are likely only to get another very good player back (i.e. a Johansen/ROR type), not a true elite player. The Wild need to use one or more of the players above to buy a lottery ticket that will give them a chance at "that" player. If we send Brodin/Coyle and our 1st to MTL, will they send us back the #3oa? Is (Zadina?) worth it?
Can we scoop a player like Juluoevi from Van? Is he a sleeper, like Sergachev was in MTL? Jost?
Hopefully, Fenton has an ability to sort all this out. The above core, with the possible exception of Dumba, have more or less done their growing, and are what they are.
Brodin- good #3 Dman
Granlund- good, but not elite, 1st line playmaking winger.
Nino- an average 2nd line scoring wing with size and strength.
Zucker- a 2nd line scoring wing with great speed, no size. Can have great years if paired with top #1C.
Coyle- an average 2nd line RW/C with size and strength.
Dumba- I don't know what the hell this guy is. Part Bobby Orr, part Vanek.
Spurgeon- 2nd best player after Granlund in this group, but also the oldest. Time to cash out on him? Hate to do it, because he has smarts, and a great heart. He is like Granlund in that respect...maybe a bit more humble. I don't think teenage girls are squealing over him when he returns to EDM in the summer.
Staal- I would hate, hate, hate to trade him, but Fenton may well come in and see that he is the one asset he can trade, get a good return, and not sell our future. Trading him becomes complicated by the fact that he would be of most use to a team that is already a Cup contender, and they generally don't have high picks or prospects sitting around.
We're stuck, for better or worse, with Parise, Suter, and Koivu. Suter's injury further complicates any decision to move a Dman in trade. I know people were happy with Seeler, but part of that was because he came in with literally no expectations on him. We didn't think that he would even be a solid #6. We have to pump the brakes about sticking him in the top 4, i think, till we see more of him.
I have mixed feeling about Koivu. About 7-8 years ago i thought he was one of the great, unheralded players in the league, about 4-5 years ago I was fed up with him. I respect him, but am also impatient to move on from his leadership.
Foligno and Ennis can go away.
Ek, Greenway, and Kunin are our future. They should not be traded unless we get something special in return. I think Ek is far better than his #'s suggest, suspect that Greenway will be an interesting and useful middle six guy...Kunin I'm not sure of. Have seen no signs of the scoring ability that he had at lower levels.
Fletcher wasn't a bad GM, but he has left Fenton with some messes to clean up. Some(Ennis) should be relatively easy, others(Parise), near impossible.
We are all assuming that Fenton will come and make moves that will make the team better. What if he comes in and fails? What if he trades Nino for Evander Kane, Brodin for Gardiner, and Ennis for Kesler?
IMO, the "young core" of the Wild, Brodin, Dumba, Granny, Nino, Coyle, Zucker, Spurgeon...are all good or better players. None of them, however, is good enough to lead a team far in the playoffs. Granlund is the closest, but he simply doesn't have the athletic ability to dominate. Even if we package two of those players we are likely only to get another very good player back (i.e. a Johansen/ROR type), not a true elite player. The Wild need to use one or more of the players above to buy a lottery ticket that will give them a chance at "that" player. If we send Brodin/Coyle and our 1st to MTL, will they send us back the #3oa? Is (Zadina?) worth it?
Can we scoop a player like Juluoevi from Van? Is he a sleeper, like Sergachev was in MTL? Jost?
Hopefully, Fenton has an ability to sort all this out. The above core, with the possible exception of Dumba, have more or less done their growing, and are what they are.
Brodin- good #3 Dman
Granlund- good, but not elite, 1st line playmaking winger.
Nino- an average 2nd line scoring wing with size and strength.
Zucker- a 2nd line scoring wing with great speed, no size. Can have great years if paired with top #1C.
Coyle- an average 2nd line RW/C with size and strength.
Dumba- I don't know what the hell this guy is. Part Bobby Orr, part Vanek.
Spurgeon- 2nd best player after Granlund in this group, but also the oldest. Time to cash out on him? Hate to do it, because he has smarts, and a great heart. He is like Granlund in that respect...maybe a bit more humble. I don't think teenage girls are squealing over him when he returns to EDM in the summer.
Staal- I would hate, hate, hate to trade him, but Fenton may well come in and see that he is the one asset he can trade, get a good return, and not sell our future. Trading him becomes complicated by the fact that he would be of most use to a team that is already a Cup contender, and they generally don't have high picks or prospects sitting around.
We're stuck, for better or worse, with Parise, Suter, and Koivu. Suter's injury further complicates any decision to move a Dman in trade. I know people were happy with Seeler, but part of that was because he came in with literally no expectations on him. We didn't think that he would even be a solid #6. We have to pump the brakes about sticking him in the top 4, i think, till we see more of him.
I have mixed feeling about Koivu. About 7-8 years ago i thought he was one of the great, unheralded players in the league, about 4-5 years ago I was fed up with him. I respect him, but am also impatient to move on from his leadership.
Foligno and Ennis can go away.
Ek, Greenway, and Kunin are our future. They should not be traded unless we get something special in return. I think Ek is far better than his #'s suggest, suspect that Greenway will be an interesting and useful middle six guy...Kunin I'm not sure of. Have seen no signs of the scoring ability that he had at lower levels.
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Some thoughts:
- I'm cautiously optimistic with Parise. If the surgery can get us two more good years and two more meh years out of him that contract will be manageable. The last 2 years will such regardless unless he ends up on LTIR, but that might not be unlikely. Either way, if the cap stays pretty steady or goes up I don't think one bad contract is too horrible to work around.
- Suter doesn't really worry me. The injury introduces some uncertainty, but I'll worry about it more when there's a clear reason to do so.
- I like all of the "trade bait" guys, but this is one of those cases where we just have to hope the professionals earn their paychecks and make the right decision, whatever the move ends up being. If there's cause for optimism it's that the number of moveable pieces we have makes it easier to play the opportunist this offseason. Mistakes are made every year; hopefully we can capitalize on one.
- I think there's zero chance that Ennis is on the team next year. I'm hoping that Foligno does better next year, but I wouldn't count on it.
- I think there was an article around mid-season that mentioned Kunin focusing on rounding out his game in the AHL this year. Things that worked in college and won't work in the pro's, etc. Hopefully we see him pick up the offense again next year.
StateofCelly
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- Jan 5, 2017
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I mean Tuch didn't show signs of it up here either. A lot of it has to do with our use of some guys while protecting face of others. Wild don't exactly have a Crosby to pair a guy like Kunin with like Guentzel got, but instead they have road blocks that take the minutes and seem to not really take young guys under their wing the same. I think Kunin will turn out to be a fine player, and hopefully Fenton works with Bruce to take the nipple off for guys that seem to like the pissing contests of seniority
Tuch did score more in the AHL, though it wasn't as big a difference as I was thinking:
Tuch (2016-17): 0.65 PPG
Kunin (2017-18): 0.52 PPG
Goal:assist ratio was about 1:1 for both players, too.
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