2014-15 General Wild Discussion Thread

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Wild11MN

First round losers
May 28, 2013
13,201
1,992
MN
Funny how we outscore Colorado 8-0 in our first two games, lose our next two 2-1 on the road against two of the best teams in the league, and everyone is majorly concerned.

But sadly enough.. I'm also kind of concerned. I have opinions on a lot of what people are saying, but I'm going to wait it out a few more games before panicking.

Also, lol'd at the Breaking Bad picture. :laugh:
 

J22*

Guest
If you take Suter off the PP, you now don't have much of an option for zone entry. Not to mention you have to find someone who can handle the puck as well as he can up top and still be dependable when the puck goes the other way.

Yes, he's not prototypical with a shot to match but the Wild just don't have much of a better option for that spot either.

I completely agree. It's basically the old is Koivu a 1st line center argument. Suter might not be a perfect fit as a PP QB, but until you get somebody better, or at least as good, what's the point in complaining about it?


Yes, if you take away Bergeron being a better skater, a better goal scorer, a better defensive player, having more team success, and if you assume that Marchand and Smith/Seguin were better than Parise and Heatley/Coyle (they weren't), then sure Koivu is the better player :speechles

As long as you also note that Bergeron has always played with better center on his team to at least share some of the matchups.

So. Jason Zucker has had 2 goals and 6 shots from the fourth line. On top of that he had at least one shot on the crossbar while creating more chances with his speed and drive. What more does he have to show to get moved up? This is no fourth line player. Before this season I had doubts on Zucker but he's done nothing but impress so far. Do something, Yeo. If you don't want him on top 6, for whatever reason, move him with Haula in the third. That could be a dynamite pairing.

Zucker has also played a major role in 3 of the 4 goals they have allowed. Leave him on the 4th line for now and move him up the lineup in the games where he's playing well. What happens to his confidence if you put him on the 2nd line right now and he struggles for a handful of games and has to be moved back down?
 

Lennu32

Registered User
Oct 4, 2011
1,210
38
Based on who was out there this weekend when the Wild got scored on, it would seem it's time to bring Brodz back at least for a game.

I think that at this moment Wild are way better with Brodz than without him. Is there a trade in the works?

Parise - Granlund - Pommer
Vanek - Koivu - Coyle/Zucker
Nino - Haula - Zucker/Coyle
Cooke -Brodziak - Fontaine (was a good line in play offs)

or

Vanek - Granlund - Pommer
Parise - Koivu - Coyle
Zucker - Haula - Nino (Nino's better than Coyle, but this way this line is more dangerous)
Cooke - Brodziak - Fontaine

I'd like to see our 1st line to remain 1st PP line also. Same hustle, but with more space. Things go south when our PP teams become stagnant and overly predictable (one of the reasons is Suters play there)

#1 PP: Pommer - Parise -Granny
Scandella -Spurgeon

#2 PP: Vanek - Nino - Koivu
Suter - Dumba

#3 pp: Zucker - Coyle - Haula
Folin - Brodin
 

tsmbain

Registered User
Jun 6, 2010
130
0
Vanek-Granny-Pommer
Parise-Koivu-Nino
Zucker-Haula-Coyle
Cooke-Brodz/Carter-Fontaine

Parise can produce on any line and I'd like to see what Vanek can do with Granny and Pominville. Nino deserves a top 6 shot bottom line. You could argue he has been our second best forward so far after Parise. I also would like to see Zucker and Haula together.

I would like to see:

Vanek-Koivu-Pommer
Parise-Granlund-Nino
Zucker-Haula-Coyle
Cooke-Brodziak-Carter
 

gphr513

Watch the world burn
Jan 14, 2014
17,728
629
Minneapolis, MN
lulz

B0hE4TFIMAA0lVI.jpg:large


Also, I want that sweatshirt. Looks sweet.
 

Jarick

Doing Nothing
Funny how we outscore Colorado 8-0 in our first two games, lose our next two 2-1 on the road against two of the best teams in the league, and everyone is majorly concerned.

But sadly enough.. I'm also kind of concerned. I have opinions on a lot of what people are saying, but I'm going to wait it out a few more games before panicking.

Also, lol'd at the Breaking Bad picture. :laugh:

I don't actually think that many people are concerned here. I think a lot of us are worried that Yeo is mixing up lines and PP units after the Wild's first and second losses of the season, and going back to old things that didn't work.

As long as you also note that Bergeron has always played with better center on his team to at least share some of the matchups.

Koivu's not scoring more now that he's facing second tier competition.

Zucker has also played a major role in 3 of the 4 goals they have allowed. Leave him on the 4th line for now and move him up the lineup in the games where he's playing well. What happens to his confidence if you put him on the 2nd line right now and he struggles for a handful of games and has to be moved back down?

I dunno, maybe instead of 2-3 chances per game he gets 5-6? And he buries more of them? And if he's with Koivu who's supposed to be a great defensive center we don't gripe about his defense as much?

Also, if Zucker is so bad defensively, why is he on the PK? Because he's not bad defensively. It's something that just gets repeated over and over until it's assumed as fact. He wasn't drafted as a scorer. He was drafted as a gritty role player who could pop in the odd goal. Then he started scoring a bunch in college. Just like Haula.
 

DeuceMN

Really?
Oct 1, 2011
2,407
0
Chi-Town, Il
Dem lines Yeo is using makes me sad.

And they didn't work the first or the second times either, so I don't know wha he's smoking when he says they did work.

It's this kind of crap that gets this guy criticized and rightfully so.

He has improved as a coach, but his line makeups seem to either work because of sheer luck and a deep roster, or they're just awkward.

And Zucker really is not bad on D. He's young and makes those kind of mistakes, but he has some skill in that area and makes some good decisions too.
 

Casper

30 goal grinder
Mar 23, 2010
1,558
3
MN
It annoying that Yeo put Coyle on Mikkos line but it was expected. What really irritates me is that he put Fontaine on Haula's line over Zucker.
 

DrPP

Registered User
Oct 21, 2009
614
0
It's just weird. Why not try Nino on that second line? Nino has played well and Vanek needs a spark from someone with a higher level of play. It seems Yeo is really stubborn about not putting Nino in the top six for some reason.
 

Jarick

Doing Nothing
Big +1 to those lines. Break up Vanek-Koivu and try Zucker with Koivu. Vanek with Haula and Nino could be deadly.

FWIW the "2nd" line with Koivu should essentially be the matchup line against the other team's top players, IMO.

Also, shots:

Parise/Granlund/Pommer = 41
Vanek/Koivu/Fontaine/Cooke = 30
Nino/Haula/Coyle = 27
Zucker/Brodziak/Carter/Cooke = 13

That second line isn't doing drastically more than the third.
 

this providence

Chips in Bed Theorem
Oct 19, 2008
10,391
1
St. Paul
From my perspective, it seems silly to be experimenting with different combos already. They had time in camp and preseason to find lines and combos that worked. Instead they stuck with what they opened with and still aren't getting much in the way of production.

At the end of the day, it just annoys me that Yeo's default for any struggling line/unit is to add Coyle to the mix. Which would be well and good if Coyle was truly adding anything worthwhile at this stage of his career. I get that hard workers are always valuable, but at a certain point he needs to start seeing and reading the game markedly better if he's going to be the solution that Yeo sees him as.

There's a handful of players that are in a funk early but it's pretty safe to say Koivu and Vanek will snap out of it. I don't think they're right for each other but it's entirely possible they'll work out on the same line in time. I do think Haula should be on notice here a tad, especially considering he's going to get some push back from Graovac down in Iowa.

Still not sure why Carter is playing over Brodziak, though. And I'm anything but a Brodziak fan...
 

gphr513

Watch the world burn
Jan 14, 2014
17,728
629
Minneapolis, MN
Maybe Nino doesn't work well with Koivu in practice or something. 9 times out of 10 I'll defer to the coaches on lines because they know more about hockey and their team than any of us do.

There's gotta be a reason that Coyle consistently gets more cracks at top 6 minutes. But maybe it's not a matter of giving Coyle an opportunity, but rather the inverse of leaving Nino on the 3rd line because Yeo feels he can better exploit the oppositions lower level players.
 

P10p

Registered User
May 15, 2012
3,017
1,435
Maybe all 3 of them came to the coaches requesting to be left wingers, we don't know?....
 

nickschultzfan

Registered User
Jan 7, 2009
11,558
908
Yeo doesn't want a passive 3rd line. Nino makes things happen by himself. Hence, he gets his own line. At this stage in his career, nothing wrong with that being the 3rd line.
 

ThatGuy22

Registered User
Oct 11, 2011
10,511
4,178
I don't actually think that many people are concerned here. I think a lot of us are worried that Yeo is mixing up lines and PP units after the Wild's first and second losses of the season, and going back to old things that didn't work.



Koivu's not scoring more now that he's facing second tier competition.



I dunno, maybe instead of 2-3 chances per game he gets 5-6? And he buries more of them? And if he's with Koivu who's supposed to be a great defensive center we don't gripe about his defense as much?

Also, if Zucker is so bad defensively, why is he on the PK? Because he's not bad defensively. It's something that just gets repeated over and over until it's assumed as fact. He wasn't drafted as a scorer. He was drafted as a gritty role player who could pop in the odd goal. Then he started scoring a bunch in college. Just like Haula.

Koivu isn't the one facing 2nd tier competition. The Granlund line is.

Koivu didn't see a shift where he wasn't mirrored with Getzlaf, Kopitar or Duchene this season(except when Kopi was recovering from the Folin hit). I didn't realize it was as extreme as it was, but I just checked the shift charts and he saw nothing but Great Cs so far. He's held them all off the board at 5v5 to.

I'm happy with that.
 

W75

Wegistewed Usew
Oct 22, 2011
8,765
380
Winland
Wild should destroy Arizona. Ducks/Kings are almost the most poisonous matchup for the Wild and they still outshot both. Not worried yet.
 

Gaps

Registered User
Oct 3, 2012
3,190
0
Koivu isn't the one facing 2nd tier competition. The Granlund line is.

Koivu didn't see a shift where he wasn't mirrored with Getzlaf, Kopitar or Duchene this season(except when Kopi was recovering from the Folin hit). I didn't realize it was as extreme as it was, but I just checked the shift charts and he saw nothing but Great Cs so far. He's held them all off the board at 5v5 to.

I'm happy with that.

If that's true, I think Yeo's making a mistake in Vanek's usage (assuming he's seen the same matchups as Koivu). He's not a top go-to guy offensively and lacks defense. If you want good numbers out of him, I suggest you give him easier matchups. That means you either deploy the line differently or take him off it.
 
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