2014 Wild Off-Season Thread
- Thread starter llamapalooza
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GinoLucia2217
Great Plains
AMEN! I like Yeo as a coach and he does a good job at getting his players to play well under him hut the special teams is god awful. I think if we were better on the PP we wouldn't be finished 24th or whatever in goals per game this year.
GinoLucia2217
Great Plains
Off season plans
Sign Niskanen
Keep cap room for bridge contracts of Niño Coyle Granlund and Brodin
Sign Niskanen
Keep cap room for bridge contracts of Niño Coyle Granlund and Brodin
DANOZ28
Registered User
truer words were never spoken! since we have a good core team i hope we focus on getting a bit faster & slightly bigger.
I don't see CF doing anything really crazy this offseason likes he's done in the past except for maybe the obvious of signing Vanek which seems pretty expected.
Bye heater, moulson, processor, Rupp, Bryzgalov (unfortunately)
Hello, Vanek, maybe Niskanen
Out of the box offseason trade-Koivu+ for Spezza
Bye heater, moulson, processor, Rupp, Bryzgalov (unfortunately)
Hello, Vanek, maybe Niskanen
Out of the box offseason trade-Koivu+ for Spezza
Generic User
How's your burger?
Niskanen is going to make $5m++ over a 5-year term, IMO. Want NO PART of that. Teams that sign players who were underachievers their whole career then step it up during their contract year tend to get bit. Rarely works out.
Plus, Pittsburgh is somewhat of an offensive powerhouse so his numbers are going to look better than they would on nearly any other team.
He would be our new Brodziak/Miettinen/Barker/whipping boy in no time flat. The contract would most likely hinder our ability to re-sign the young kids or another upper-tier free agent.
I'd rather give up assets or a couple extra million for a quality defenseman with a proven track record -- not sign one after some anomaly season.
I'm pretty confident Niskanen would get around $5-5.5m per. I don't even think I would want him at $4m. It'd just be a lateral move to get another warm body on the blue line.
tl;dr Go fish.
Plus, Pittsburgh is somewhat of an offensive powerhouse so his numbers are going to look better than they would on nearly any other team.
He would be our new Brodziak/Miettinen/Barker/whipping boy in no time flat. The contract would most likely hinder our ability to re-sign the young kids or another upper-tier free agent.
I'd rather give up assets or a couple extra million for a quality defenseman with a proven track record -- not sign one after some anomaly season.
I'm pretty confident Niskanen would get around $5-5.5m per. I don't even think I would want him at $4m. It'd just be a lateral move to get another warm body on the blue line.
tl;dr Go fish.
this providence
Chips in Bed Theorem
Want zero part of what Niskanen is going to bring for what his contract is going to look like. Simply, Suter, Spurgeon, and Scandella are already better players and the hope is that Brodin gets there as well. Just do not like the fit.
With that said, I'd feel pretty comfortable putting one month's mortgage down on a bet that the Wild get one of the two best players on the open market; Vanek & Niskanen. Who both, funny, have Minnesota ties. HF will likely freak. And I shall post Atmosphere's 'Always Coming Home To You'. /offseason
With that said, I'd feel pretty comfortable putting one month's mortgage down on a bet that the Wild get one of the two best players on the open market; Vanek & Niskanen. Who both, funny, have Minnesota ties. HF will likely freak. And I shall post Atmosphere's 'Always Coming Home To You'. /offseason
Northland Wild Man
Finnesotans?
Well, it's taken a while for me to process what happened. I'll try to sum up my feeling in a few paragraphs.
I don't like the "new" glass the NHL made mandatory in all the arenas. Player safety apparently was the reason the glass went in, but we've all seen games, and unfortunately important playoff games decided by the stanchions. It's time for the stuff to either go, or be redesigned so that these stupid bounces don't happen. These games are much too important to franchises for a defective glass design to decide games.
I can't say enough about the Wild team. They showed a lot of intestinal fortitude late in the year, and into the playoffs. This is a young team with hopefully a lot of great moments in store for us in the future. We'll see if the NHL hype machine actually gives Minnesota the credit they deserve in the coming seasons. I really doubt they will, as the "major markets" are really all the hockey media talk about these days. IMO the Minnesota market is the most deserving of a cup in the US, but nobody on the big networks will talk about us.
The Wild deserved to win game 6. Anyone who says any different does not know hockey. I hate games decided by bounces like that, I really do. The Wild should have been up 4 or 5-1 if the puck actually would have stayed on the ice when we had possesion.
The Hawks have now become my my most hated team in the NHL. I've never witnessed a team getting that lucky that often. The ****ing puck just sits perfectly for some of those damn players. They get all the bounces all the time, and it's just disgusting to watch from an opposing fans perspective. If the law of averages is a real thing, that team is long overdue for some Skoula-esque moments.
One thing that's been on my mind for the entire 1st and 2nd round of the playoffs has been our talent level. We played against an up and coming team, and a team at their peak right now. Both teams have elite talent from going into the sewer to get it. Our talent level is good, but is it good enough to compete with elite talent that comes from the top of several draft classes? I honestly don't know. We still could end up being a mediocre team in this new division even though the Wild have made most of the right moves when it comes to development and drafting. This is Minnesota sports after all and it wouldn't be fitting if one of our professional sports teams was actually favored to win anything.
I felt the Wild played a good series, but they were not physical enough. They managed to do a good job with the Hawk defensemen, but Kane, Towes, and Hossa were all given far too much room. The Wild also need to improve on zone entry. Far too many times the puck went in and out before any scoring chances.
Anyway, it's going to be a long offseason. I'll watch a few more playoff games and see who wins the cup, but I doubt I'll have any enthusiasm. I will cheer against the Hawks though.
I don't like the "new" glass the NHL made mandatory in all the arenas. Player safety apparently was the reason the glass went in, but we've all seen games, and unfortunately important playoff games decided by the stanchions. It's time for the stuff to either go, or be redesigned so that these stupid bounces don't happen. These games are much too important to franchises for a defective glass design to decide games.
I can't say enough about the Wild team. They showed a lot of intestinal fortitude late in the year, and into the playoffs. This is a young team with hopefully a lot of great moments in store for us in the future. We'll see if the NHL hype machine actually gives Minnesota the credit they deserve in the coming seasons. I really doubt they will, as the "major markets" are really all the hockey media talk about these days. IMO the Minnesota market is the most deserving of a cup in the US, but nobody on the big networks will talk about us.
The Wild deserved to win game 6. Anyone who says any different does not know hockey. I hate games decided by bounces like that, I really do. The Wild should have been up 4 or 5-1 if the puck actually would have stayed on the ice when we had possesion.
The Hawks have now become my my most hated team in the NHL. I've never witnessed a team getting that lucky that often. The ****ing puck just sits perfectly for some of those damn players. They get all the bounces all the time, and it's just disgusting to watch from an opposing fans perspective. If the law of averages is a real thing, that team is long overdue for some Skoula-esque moments.
One thing that's been on my mind for the entire 1st and 2nd round of the playoffs has been our talent level. We played against an up and coming team, and a team at their peak right now. Both teams have elite talent from going into the sewer to get it. Our talent level is good, but is it good enough to compete with elite talent that comes from the top of several draft classes? I honestly don't know. We still could end up being a mediocre team in this new division even though the Wild have made most of the right moves when it comes to development and drafting. This is Minnesota sports after all and it wouldn't be fitting if one of our professional sports teams was actually favored to win anything.
I felt the Wild played a good series, but they were not physical enough. They managed to do a good job with the Hawk defensemen, but Kane, Towes, and Hossa were all given far too much room. The Wild also need to improve on zone entry. Far too many times the puck went in and out before any scoring chances.
Anyway, it's going to be a long offseason. I'll watch a few more playoff games and see who wins the cup, but I doubt I'll have any enthusiasm. I will cheer against the Hawks though.
Trading Koivu is just plain stupid. Yeo is a system guy, we finally have an entire team that showed it can work. Now you trade the main piece in the hopes that the new guy can come in and not only do it but do it better.
He was 57% in the dots in the playoffs. Avergaed the most TOI for forwrds. Registered the 4th amount of shots. I would have have liked him to score more goals. The things he can control he did a great job of.
Regular season on pace for 68 points in 82. A bad few games post injury. 70 points next year is not out of the question.
Anything we could get would be a lateral move and introducing a new player into a new system is not guranteed to = success.
Pomm- Granny- Parise
Best players
Vanek- Koivu- Coyle
Cycle and get to the front. Lots of goals scored within 5-10 feet.
Nino-Haula- Zucker
The fun and gun
Cooke- Brodziak-McCormick
Hit everything
No idea on D.
Ballard and Stoner combined for in game 7.
5 SOG, 3 blocks and 3 hits. No PIM. The only 2 d men that got in others faces for being to close to the goalie. While playing 13 min.
Those two make up a perfect bottom pairing.
Stoner could come cheap.
Would leave lots of cap room. Not signing a D. With the way Yeo already like his top 4 it would be a waste to have Spurgeon or Scadella demoted to the 3rd pairing playing 10-15 min a game. Seems like we are better suited to save some money and keep room for a mid late season big trade.
Suter 26 min
Brodin 24
Spurgeon 23
Scadella 19
Stoner 14
Ballard 14
I can live with that. As as Ballard promises to play more like he did in the playoffs and not the regular season at times. Quiet and controlled.
The following year with a lot of room. Either trade for or sign a stud to replace Scandella. Or maybe Scadella plays himself into that role. Use the recent picks and signing to replace the bottom 2. Keep Stoner as a 6/7 tough guy.
In the playoffs i would find it hard to think
Suter, Brodin, Spurgeon, Scandella and worst at darts would be tough enough to battle a grind it out team. IMHO we were helped out alot by not facing STL in round 1.
He was 57% in the dots in the playoffs. Avergaed the most TOI for forwrds. Registered the 4th amount of shots. I would have have liked him to score more goals. The things he can control he did a great job of.
Regular season on pace for 68 points in 82. A bad few games post injury. 70 points next year is not out of the question.
Anything we could get would be a lateral move and introducing a new player into a new system is not guranteed to = success.
Pomm- Granny- Parise
Best players
Vanek- Koivu- Coyle
Cycle and get to the front. Lots of goals scored within 5-10 feet.
Nino-Haula- Zucker
The fun and gun
Cooke- Brodziak-McCormick
Hit everything
No idea on D.
Ballard and Stoner combined for in game 7.
5 SOG, 3 blocks and 3 hits. No PIM. The only 2 d men that got in others faces for being to close to the goalie. While playing 13 min.
Those two make up a perfect bottom pairing.
Stoner could come cheap.
Would leave lots of cap room. Not signing a D. With the way Yeo already like his top 4 it would be a waste to have Spurgeon or Scadella demoted to the 3rd pairing playing 10-15 min a game. Seems like we are better suited to save some money and keep room for a mid late season big trade.
Suter 26 min
Brodin 24
Spurgeon 23
Scadella 19
Stoner 14
Ballard 14
I can live with that. As as Ballard promises to play more like he did in the playoffs and not the regular season at times. Quiet and controlled.
The following year with a lot of room. Either trade for or sign a stud to replace Scandella. Or maybe Scadella plays himself into that role. Use the recent picks and signing to replace the bottom 2. Keep Stoner as a 6/7 tough guy.
In the playoffs i would find it hard to think
Suter, Brodin, Spurgeon, Scandella and worst at darts would be tough enough to battle a grind it out team. IMHO we were helped out alot by not facing STL in round 1.
Why is everyone so obsessed with signing another defenseman? That is FAR from the biggest need we have.
We need consistency at the goalie position.
And for the millionth time, we need goals...
If we improve our finishing and the PP, we are in the WCF.
We need consistency at the goalie position.
And for the millionth time, we need goals...
If we improve our finishing and the PP, we are in the WCF.
MuckOG
Registered User
- May 18, 2012
- 15,578
- 5,618
Lock-up Zucker, Fontaine, and Nino.
Re-sign Stoner, Kuemper, Blum and McCormick
Extend Granny
Sayonara Moulson, Heatley, Prosser, Bryz, Curry
Sign Vanek (only if to a reasonable deal)
Sign Halak
Put Harding on LTIR
Kuemper plays next season in Iowa
Parise - Granny - Pominville
Vanek - Haula - Coyle
Nino - Koivu - Fontaine
Cooke - Brodz - McCormick
Suter - Brodin
Scandella - Spurgeon
Stoner - Ballard
Folin
Halak
Backstrom
Drop the puck!!!
Re-sign Stoner, Kuemper, Blum and McCormick
Extend Granny
Sayonara Moulson, Heatley, Prosser, Bryz, Curry
Sign Vanek (only if to a reasonable deal)
Sign Halak
Put Harding on LTIR
Kuemper plays next season in Iowa
Parise - Granny - Pominville
Vanek - Haula - Coyle
Nino - Koivu - Fontaine
Cooke - Brodz - McCormick
Suter - Brodin
Scandella - Spurgeon
Stoner - Ballard
Folin
Halak
Backstrom
Drop the puck!!!
This last Wild season was part of an upward trend that is hopefully not peaking for a year or five. It wasn't perfect, in fact it was infuriating at times, but overall it was a good time. I originally said that I was going to post what I would do if I was GM but that is mostly useless. This is going to be a somewhat long post clarifying salary cap non-issues, some hopeful speculation, and some overall thoughts that I would just throw down. It's going to be a long one and I don't expect anybody to read it but I'll throw it out there just because.
Lots and lots of people believe that the Wild are going to be facing some heavy salary cap issues in the near future. That they will experience devastating losses similar to what Chicago did after their first cup a few years ago - without actually winning a cup. This is simply not true. Not only is the salary cap going up roughly eight million dollars, but Dany Heatley's albatross 7.5 million dollar cap hit, along with Matt Moulson's useless 3.13m and Mike Rupp's 1.5m. That is, roughly, 18 million. There is another four million tied up in RFAs that we may or may not let go.
Cody McCormick, Nino Neiderreiter, Jason Zucker, Justin Fontaine, Clayton Stoner, and Jon Blum should all be brought back for a combined, I'm estimating, seven or eight million dollars.
Josh Harding is probably done. We can't count on him any longer. Niklas Backstrom isn't in a much better spot. Darcy Kuemper should get somewhere between 1 and 1.5 million and be brought back as the hopeful starter going into next season. Bringing back Bryz to split time would be ideal but who knows if that will happen.
All of this brings a total of about 10 million, at worst, to play with in free agency. Will that be used to bring in Matt Niskanen? Thomas Vanek? Or somebody else? Who knows. I think playing Vanek in a top six role will just limit this team going forward. It prevents Nino and Zucker from making top six spots any time soon and there is a solid chance he becomes another Dany Heatley down the line. Niskanen would improve our team a bit, but not as much as some would hope - especially for what his contract is assuredly going to be.
Looking at the Wild this year, a few players stand out for their play. Or lack thereof. Mikko Koivu, first and foremost, was the face of this franchise for the bulk of the last decade. His regular season was admirable - he has been plagued by injuries the last few years and I have to hope he finally gets out of his funk but who knows. His first round was unspectacular but average. His second round against the Hawks was terrible. One point in six games. Last year he was pointless in five. One point in eleven games over two seasons? Come on, Mikko. Is he going to be traded? Should he be traded? No. But two years of injuries and invisible playoffs could be written off as a coincidence. Three would be a trend. I don't want to see that trend continuing beyond three years - if it even gets there.
Jason Pominville needs to work on his accuracy in the off-season. Granlund setting him up prime and adding in his own ingenuity and hockey IQ, Poms gets more beauty opportunities than anybody in the league. He could be a 45 or 50 goal scorer if he could actually put it on net with 1/5th of his missed opportunities. Instead, he's stuck in that middling area of 30 goals a year. Take that next step and the entire team would benefit. Greatly.
Kyle Brodziak is done. At least, on this team. He's been a consistent workhorse for this team for years but is finally forced out of the lineup by some of these young guys. Erik Haula and Mikael Granlund prevent him from playing on either the second or third line, and Kyle Brodziak, at 2.83 million, is overpaid for a fourth liner. Cody McCormick, surprisingly the best play in that Moulson trade at the deadline, is our perfect fourth line guy.
Christian Folin is going to challenge Stoner and Ballard for that third pairing. I expect the three of them to rotate on that pair for the bulk of the season.
Ideally, my lineup for next season would be this:
Parise - Granlund - Pominville
Nino - Koivu - Coyle
Cooke - Haula - Zucker
Veilleux - McCormick - Fontaine
Suter - Brodin
Scandella - Spurgeon
Stoner - Folin/Ballard
Kuemper
Bryzgalov
Not a whole lot different from the playoffs, but hopefully enough to get us over the hump. With Nino, Coyle, Granlund, and Haula all tapping into their potential during the playoffs I dream of them doing it consistently for an entire season. Zucker has earned the right to compete for a spot. And I hope he earns it playing next to Cooke and Haula. It would be one of the fastest lines in the league and would be a beauty to watch.
Lots and lots of people believe that the Wild are going to be facing some heavy salary cap issues in the near future. That they will experience devastating losses similar to what Chicago did after their first cup a few years ago - without actually winning a cup. This is simply not true. Not only is the salary cap going up roughly eight million dollars, but Dany Heatley's albatross 7.5 million dollar cap hit, along with Matt Moulson's useless 3.13m and Mike Rupp's 1.5m. That is, roughly, 18 million. There is another four million tied up in RFAs that we may or may not let go.
Cody McCormick, Nino Neiderreiter, Jason Zucker, Justin Fontaine, Clayton Stoner, and Jon Blum should all be brought back for a combined, I'm estimating, seven or eight million dollars.
Josh Harding is probably done. We can't count on him any longer. Niklas Backstrom isn't in a much better spot. Darcy Kuemper should get somewhere between 1 and 1.5 million and be brought back as the hopeful starter going into next season. Bringing back Bryz to split time would be ideal but who knows if that will happen.
All of this brings a total of about 10 million, at worst, to play with in free agency. Will that be used to bring in Matt Niskanen? Thomas Vanek? Or somebody else? Who knows. I think playing Vanek in a top six role will just limit this team going forward. It prevents Nino and Zucker from making top six spots any time soon and there is a solid chance he becomes another Dany Heatley down the line. Niskanen would improve our team a bit, but not as much as some would hope - especially for what his contract is assuredly going to be.
Looking at the Wild this year, a few players stand out for their play. Or lack thereof. Mikko Koivu, first and foremost, was the face of this franchise for the bulk of the last decade. His regular season was admirable - he has been plagued by injuries the last few years and I have to hope he finally gets out of his funk but who knows. His first round was unspectacular but average. His second round against the Hawks was terrible. One point in six games. Last year he was pointless in five. One point in eleven games over two seasons? Come on, Mikko. Is he going to be traded? Should he be traded? No. But two years of injuries and invisible playoffs could be written off as a coincidence. Three would be a trend. I don't want to see that trend continuing beyond three years - if it even gets there.
Jason Pominville needs to work on his accuracy in the off-season. Granlund setting him up prime and adding in his own ingenuity and hockey IQ, Poms gets more beauty opportunities than anybody in the league. He could be a 45 or 50 goal scorer if he could actually put it on net with 1/5th of his missed opportunities. Instead, he's stuck in that middling area of 30 goals a year. Take that next step and the entire team would benefit. Greatly.
Kyle Brodziak is done. At least, on this team. He's been a consistent workhorse for this team for years but is finally forced out of the lineup by some of these young guys. Erik Haula and Mikael Granlund prevent him from playing on either the second or third line, and Kyle Brodziak, at 2.83 million, is overpaid for a fourth liner. Cody McCormick, surprisingly the best play in that Moulson trade at the deadline, is our perfect fourth line guy.
Christian Folin is going to challenge Stoner and Ballard for that third pairing. I expect the three of them to rotate on that pair for the bulk of the season.
Ideally, my lineup for next season would be this:
Parise - Granlund - Pominville
Nino - Koivu - Coyle
Cooke - Haula - Zucker
Veilleux - McCormick - Fontaine
Suter - Brodin
Scandella - Spurgeon
Stoner - Folin/Ballard
Kuemper
Bryzgalov
Not a whole lot different from the playoffs, but hopefully enough to get us over the hump. With Nino, Coyle, Granlund, and Haula all tapping into their potential during the playoffs I dream of them doing it consistently for an entire season. Zucker has earned the right to compete for a spot. And I hope he earns it playing next to Cooke and Haula. It would be one of the fastest lines in the league and would be a beauty to watch.
Actually it is the biggest need they have. You have one guy playing 30 minutes a game, something that hasn't been done since the mid 90's. You have a 5/6 that are subpar NHL players. They have their moments but who is out there for a majority of those goals? The 5/6 Dmen. Now, one of these slots will be taken care of if Folin can play the way he has. But they still need one more on the blueline that can help get Suter's minutes down, allow for Spurgeon to take advantage of mismatches in the offensive zone as well.
Kemps having concussion issues already has me a little wary too.
Ask Washington how it is when you score a lot of goals but have subpar defense.
If we improve our defense, Toews never scores his goal in Game 5 and we win that game. If defense doesn't cough it up to Versteeg behind the net, we win Game 6. Prosser covers the wrong guy in Game 5 as Suter was over there already. Tazer goes up and Prosser is flat footed trying to skate to the net. Believe it was Ballards screwup for Versteeg's as well.
PP needs to be revamped majorly (8% on the road is horrid, let alone I believe 12% at home). But that really needs more movement and getting the other team to actually skate. Something they are not doing now.
MuckOG
Registered User
- May 18, 2012
- 15,578
- 5,618
Even assuming all of what you say is true, I don't see any blueliner on the UFA list that would be a clear upgrade over what we already have, and I'm including Niskanen. He's a decent player, but he will get stupid dollars this summer.
Our defensive corps behind Suter is still young and improving. I say we roll with them, unless Fletcher can pull off a trade to bring in someone better.
FVM
This does not please me.
I'm with BigT2002 here. Our D core is simply not a Cup contender's one. Even the salaries reveal it: After Suter, highest-paid one is Spurgeon with his 2,66M cap hit. All the others make less than 2M. Simply put, it's Suter and a mixed bag of good to mediocre guys, most of them young too. Yeo's strong defensive structure and forwards committed to two-way play shelter our D a lot, but in the end it's still a hole which will be exposed before Cup finals. Not to mention that added offense which a real PP QB would provide.
I have faith Fletcher will address this, be it a free agent or a trade. I'd go for a trade, using picks and prospects as ammo. Our Cup window opened with this run. With good roster management it will stay open for 3-4 years at least.
It is completely my opinion and I understand and respect most will not agree with it. But that is what makes having these discussions with everyone so much fun is you get others opinions and it isn't so much about swaying the other to agree, but to see what combinations are there.
As far as FA's, I don't care about them. Reason? Fletcher isn't keen on going for them unless they are a sure bet anyways. The last "true" UFA he's signed was Cooke, who has played great. Everyone other than ZP and RS were traded for. We have some pieces of the puzzle we can lose and still finish the puzzle.
I don't think you can roll next year with what they have though. Ballard/Stoner/Prosser combined could make a decent 6 guy, but that is the thing...none of them can play it the way this team needs them to play.
Put it this way:
We all agree our 1st line is formidable (PGP)
Our 2nd line is big body and can score and play defense
Our 3rd line will need someone on it with Haula who can be utilized
Our 4th line is a great forechecking line as it stands now (C-B-M)
If they sign Vanek, great. You move Nino with Haula and hopefully Fontaine reproduces what he did this year. Or you sell Fontaine off with Zucker and a pick and you solidify your blueline. Knowing that we have 3 goalies on the books next year (at this moment) you can't just go out and get another goalie. The defense on this team is going to need to step it up even more.
Put it this way, if they wanna make a really solid blueline core IMO they have these three as the anchors
Suter-?
Brodin-?
?-Spurgeon
Fill the gaps on those lines with solid players (Scandella being the obvious one) and you now have 3 balanced defensive lines who all can play 18-24 minutes a game with ease.
Dude. You are cherry picking examples; against one of the most talented forward groups in the league.
Here's what really mattered. We out skated, out shot, and out chanced Chicago in all but one game of that series. And we lost. No amount of selective, unwarranted defensive outrage will change that.
Our captain and #1 center was a -3 with no goals. Our leading goal scorer only managed an empty netter in 6 games. Our trade deadline top 6 acquisition didn't record a point. Our bottom 6 outscored our top 6.
If you think defense lost us this series, you are out of your mind.
I'm all in for improving the D but Niskanen seems too average to pay 4-5 mil for a long time. Would rather trade for someone better.
FVM
This does not please me.
Watching the post-game interviews it's interesting to see guys with real playoff beards for the first time. Brodziak, Fontaine and Stoner have pretty badass ones. Spurgeon's stache is glorious. Koivu's beard looks like mine if I let it grow, so I try to keep it trimmed short. Not the best beard genes here 
Jarick
Doing Nothing
I've got three ideas to fix the team:
1. Take Koivu off the #1 PP. He's not a threat from the half-wall and Granlund is far more dangerous there. This also reduces Koivu's ice time and potentially leaves him more fresh to play at even strength, which is going to hopefully help as his speed continues to diminish.
2. Take Suter off the #1 PP. Again, he's not a threat to score from the point as he can't shoot the puck well at all and lacks creativity big time. Again, this will also reduce the number of minutes he needs to play quite a bit and save him for other situations.
3. Hire a PP coach. Completely change it. They were great 5v5 but crapped the bed over and over again with the man advantage.
1. Take Koivu off the #1 PP. He's not a threat from the half-wall and Granlund is far more dangerous there. This also reduces Koivu's ice time and potentially leaves him more fresh to play at even strength, which is going to hopefully help as his speed continues to diminish.
2. Take Suter off the #1 PP. Again, he's not a threat to score from the point as he can't shoot the puck well at all and lacks creativity big time. Again, this will also reduce the number of minutes he needs to play quite a bit and save him for other situations.
3. Hire a PP coach. Completely change it. They were great 5v5 but crapped the bed over and over again with the man advantage.
DANOZ28
Registered User
just food for thought, our D only allowed 206GA so if it aint broke dont fix it could be the right plan. folin could be all we need.
FVM
This does not please me.
This is a team statistic. It's got as much to do with our great defensive structure (thanks to coaching and good two-way forwards) as the D itself.
Ville231
Registered User
What a playoff run by the Wild. That was the first time I watched every playoff-game of an NHL team. Lots of early wake ups, but it was all worth it.
I think the Wild need to be smart in the offseason. Getting Vanek would be a huge mistake. Just think about it, Vanek's player profile doesn't quite fit with the Wild's. The only thing wild needs to sort out is the goalie situation, they need to figure out a stellar no. 1 guy. + add a top 4/ top 6 defenceman.
Anyways the future is bright and I'm already looking forward to next years playoff run
I think the Wild need to be smart in the offseason. Getting Vanek would be a huge mistake. Just think about it, Vanek's player profile doesn't quite fit with the Wild's. The only thing wild needs to sort out is the goalie situation, they need to figure out a stellar no. 1 guy. + add a top 4/ top 6 defenceman.
Anyways the future is bright and I'm already looking forward to next years playoff run
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