GDT: 1/14/21 Game 1: Minnesota Wild @ Los Angeles Kings - 9 PM CT - FS-N

[16thOverallSaveUs]

I don't care about winning tonight, I don't care about Fiala or Talbot.

All that matters is Kaprizov. FINALLY!!!

Hey now

 

[57special]

I care about you, Kevin!

 

[57special]

Hey, is LA any good? I know they have an awesome prospect pool, but don't know if any have graduated to the NHL

 

[ThatGuy22]

Hey, is LA any good? I know they have an awesome prospect pool, but don't know if any have graduated to the NHL

Barring Doughty and Kopitar finding a time machine and going back about 4 years, they are likely to be a tire fire this year. Bad goaltending, bad defense, no scoring depth.

Don't think any of their prospects are playing this season. Pretty sure they assign Byfield to the AHL until the CHL gets going.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Hypothetical question: Is it possible that Bjugstad (or Johansson or Bonino) plays so well that, rather than trade him, it makes more sense to re-sign him?

Bjugstad more than the other two.

 

[ThatGuy22]

Bjugstad more than the other two.

Depending upon what the market is like for him, i'd have no problem bringing Bonino back.... (after we trade him for a 1st).

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Vilardi is going to have a good season and solidify himself as the 2C. Blake Lizzotte, pride and joy of Chisago, is the current number 2 center for them.
Athanasiou could be a nice addition. If the Kopi and Doighty bounce back, they won’t be a tire fire. Not a great team, but could finish 6th in the division.

 

[killermiller]

Barring Doughty and Kopitar finding a time machine and going back about 4 years, they are likely to be a tire fire this year. Bad goaltending, bad defense, no scoring depth.

Don't think any of their prospects are playing this season. Pretty sure they assign Byfield to the AHL until the CHL gets going.

Kings Fan coming in peace here. Our goaltending/defense last year were abysmal to start but really came on strong the last half of the season. Quick had a .870 save percentage almost halfway through the season and ended up with a .904 at the end of the year so that kind of tells you the story of how bad we were the first half.

Defense also had a real shift, Walker and Roy started developing into solid defenders while the team as a whole really started coming around at the end of the season, think we won something like 11 of the last 13 games. A lot of that was learning Todd McLellan's new system and people buying into it, also Martin Frk and Gabe Vilardi (with his back problems behind him) had really good chemistry and were on our second line with Adrian Kempe. Cal Petersen (our goalie of the future) was great in his limited time too, expect him to play a lot more this season. Almost forgot Mikey Anderson (another D prospect) didn't look out of place in the NHL, he'll be on the second pairing all this season.

I really don't know what to except from us after like 10 months off though, our 3rd D pairing (Walker and McDermid) are out cause of covid protocols along with Frk and Turcotte (don't know if he was expected to make the lineup) injured...so tonight might be ugly.

I'm not expecting us to make the playoffs, but i'm excepting a lot more competitiveness each night, with so many young guys there are gonna be huge growing pains.

Good luck tonight, I hope Kaprisov and Fiala don't destroy us too bad

 

[AKL]

Is a tire fire better or worse than a dumpster fire?

 

[ThatGuy22]

Kings Fan coming in peace here. Our goaltending/defense last year were abysmal to start but really came on strong the last half of the season. Quick had a .870 save percentage almost halfway through the season and ended up with a .904 at the end of the year so that kind of tells you the story of how bad we were the first half.

Defense also had a real shift, Walker and Roy started developing into solid defenders while the team as a whole really started coming around at the end of the season, think we won something like 11 of the last 13 games. A lot of that was learning Todd McLellan's new system and people buying into it, also Martin Frk and Gabe Vilardi (with his back problems behind him) had really good chemistry and were on our second line with Adrian Kempe. Cal Petersen (our goalie of the future) was great in his limited time too, expect him to play a lot more this season. Almost forgot Mikey Anderson (another D prospect) didn't look out of place in the NHL, he'll be on the second pairing all this season.

I really don't know what to except from us after like 10 months off though, our 3rd D pairing (Walker and McDermid) are out cause of covid protocols along with Frk and Turcotte (don't know if he was expected to make the lineup) injured...so tonight might be ugly.

I'm not expecting us to make the playoffs, but i'm excepting a lot more competitiveness each night, with so many young guys there are gonna be huge growing pains.

Good luck tonight, I hope Kaprisov and Fiala don't destroy us too bad

Is the plan to have Maata on the first pair with Doughty all season? Because if Maata see's those types of minutes, you're probably gonna have a bad time almost regardless of what happens down the lineup.

Best of luck, got lots of shinny prospects to take solice in if things go sidewise.

 

[thestonedkoala]

That would be what you call a first world problem. In terms of Centers, we are more of a third world team.

HEY! We're a developing nation, not a third world team.

 

[Lapa]

Is a tire fire better or worse than a dumpster fire?

Depends what's in the dumpster.

 

[killermiller]

Is the plan to have Maata on the first pair with Doughty all season? Because if Maata see's those types of minutes, you're probably gonna have a bad time almost regardless of what happens down the lineup.

Best of luck, got lots of shinny prospects to take solice in if things go sidewise.

Yeah that's most likely the plan and while not the sexiest choice you have to understand, Drew Doughty has been paired with trash these past few years. I mean Derek Forbort? He's a 7th defenseman on most teams that was playing top pairing minutes, it's no wonder Doughty has looked average lately. He saw some time with Ben Hutton last year, actually were pretty decent together which kind of brings up the question of who is better between Maata and Hutton and honestly I think it's pretty close.

Maata doesn't have to be anything but decent and it'll be a win.

Also thanks for giving me Derek Forbort flashbacks, of course he gets signed by the Jets (I live in Winnipeg)

 

[ViD]

Only took a few days

 

[DeagleJenkins]

Only took a few days

Just a couple

 

[57special]

Hilario is going to have a good season and solidify himself as the 2C. Blake Lizzotte, pride and joy of Chisago, is the current number 2 center for them.
Athabaskan could be a nice addition. If the Kopi and Doighty bounce back, they won’t be a tire fire. Not a great team, but could finish 6th in the division.

Hilario? Athabaskan? You're just making names up now!

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Hilario? Athabaskan? You're just making names up now!

Jeez my auto-correct is bad. Vilardi. Athanasiou

 

[keppel146]

Stanley cup or tank

 

[guitarhunterdude]

HEY! We're a developing nation, not a third world team.

The Wild over the course of their history have been the perfect example of the middle-income trap.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

The Wild, quite literally, have the worst centers in the NHL.

 

[ThatGuy22]

The Wild, quite literally, have the worst centers in the NHL.

Probably bottom 3. I would put Chicago and NJ below us in terms of overall value the C's will provide as of today.

Chicago- No Dach/Toews leaves them with literally only Strome
NJ- Hughes is a sexy name, but he didn't impress last year and was worse than JEE or Bonino. The rest areterrible

 

[57special]

I would kill for Strome on this team, and i don't even like him.

You'd rather have our C's than Hughes and Hischier?

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

Haven’t been paying close attention this preseason, is Zucc injured or a healthy scratch?

 

[ThatGuy22]

I would kill for Strome on this team, and i don't even like him.

You'd rather have our C's than Hughes and Hischier?

Two different questions. Long term, i'd pick theirs.

This season, i'd bet we get more value/impact from ours.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

Probably bottom 3. I would put Chicago and NJ below us in terms of overall value the C's will provide as of today.

Chicago- No Dach/Toews leaves them with literally only Strome
NJ- Hughes is a sexy name, but he didn't impress last year and was worse than JEE or Bonino. The rest areterrible

Hischier is terrible?