Michael Russo: Dean Evason 5th full time head coach

[Dr Jan Itor]

It's not just the $1.5M and you know that. When you consider a 30 year old defenseman paid until he's 37 against a 25 year old defenseman paid for 3 more years, it becomes a no-brainer. When you consider the full NMC, it becomes a no-brainer. When you consider the 25 year old has already had a better season than anything the 30 year old has done? Yeah, you know the rest.

I"m trying to stay in the same "what's done is done, no use crying about it now" attitude that you have about this, the only difference is that I don't pretend that it wasn't a mistake when the disussion comes up.

I understand. You're on the side of age, lower cost, higher potential. I can't begrudge you for doing so. It makes total sense. I'm just on the side that I believe that our defense is just going to be flat out better for the next 5 years with Spurgeon on it (and no Dumba), than the other way around.

And while we can recognize that the 25 year old has had a better offensive season than anything Spurgeon has done (though Spurgeon isn't necessarily a slouch there, throwing up ~45 points per 82 games over the last 4 years), it should also be noted that Spurgeon pretty well crushes Dumba in the defensive metrics on a yearly basis, which probably isn't all that surprising.

 

[2Pair]

I understand. You're on the side of age, lower cost, higher potential. I can't begrudge you for doing so. It makes total sense. I'm just on the side that I believe that our defense is just going to be flat out better for the next 5 years with Spurgeon on it (and no Dumba), than the other way around.

And while we can recognize that the 25 year old has had a better offensive season than anything Spurgeon has done (though Spurgeon isn't necessarily a slouch there, throwing up ~45 points per 82 games over the last 4 years), it should also be noted that Spurgeon pretty well crushes Dumba in the defensive metrics on a yearly basis, which probably isn't all that surprising.

As long as it's also noted that Spurgeon has played with arguably the best defensive player in the world during that time.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

As long as it's also noted that Spurgeon has played with arguably the best defensive player in the world during that time.

It is. And in 2017-18 when Dumba played with Suter and had his best year as a pro, Spurgeon was at the top of the list that year as well.

 

[Spurgeon]

As long as it's also noted that Spurgeon has played with arguably the best defensive player in the world during that time.

And has performed better over the past 4 years than Suter while facing tougher competition. He was our best defenseman this year as well.

Past 4 years:



This season:

 

[57special]

Anytime someone proudly shows me a chart as if it is definitive proof of anything, my brain short circuits.

 

[Spurgeon]

Anytime someone proudly shows me a chart as if it is definitive proof of anything, my brain short circuits.

Spurgeon good

 

[grN1g]

Anytime someone proudly shows me a chart as if it is definitive proof of anything, my brain short circuits.

Whether you like it or not advance stats from all different angles draw the same conclusion. Wild D is good. Its goaltending is horrific. Spurgeon is a huge part of that good d thing we do.

 

[BagHead]

And has performed better over the past 5 years than Suter while facing tougher competition. He was our best defenseman this year as well.

Past 5 years:

I'm a little lost here. The axes on both charts are identical, yet the results on the chart are different? These must not be of the same periods of time, yeah? I also notice that in the first chart, the deployment% doesn't actually appear to be a percentage at all.... unless I'm supposed to believe that Spurgeon starts 100% of his shifts in the offensive zone, and he also starts 100% of other people's shifts there as well. I may need some things explained to me on this one.

Also not a huge fan of the way they did the Corsi shading. I feel like they should have shown it relative to the league, but instead are showing it relative to the team, making some defensemen look amazing and others terrible, if you don't know what you're looking at. It's useful for knowing who's performing best on the team, but not relative to the rest of the league, which is what I'd be interested in learning.

 

[Nharris31]

I'm a little lost here. The axes on both charts are identical, yet the results on the chart are different? These must not be of the same periods of time, yeah? I also notice that in the first chart, the deployment% doesn't actually appear to be a percentage at all.... unless I'm supposed to believe that Spurgeon starts 100% of his shifts in the offensive zone, and he also starts 100% of other people's shifts there as well. I may need some things explained to me on this one.

Also not a huge fan of the way they did the Corsi shading. I feel like they should have shown it relative to the league, but instead are showing it relative to the team, making some defensemen look amazing and others terrible, if you don't know what you're looking at. It's useful for knowing who's performing best on the team, but not relative to the rest of the league, which is what I'd be interested in learning.

There are charts like that one that show the whole league I think that person just isolated the Wild because were talking about Spurgeon and Suter.

 

[Spurgeon]

I'm a little lost here. The axes on both charts are identical, yet the results on the chart are different? These must not be of the same periods of time, yeah? I also notice that in the first chart, the deployment% doesn't actually appear to be a percentage at all.... unless I'm supposed to believe that Spurgeon starts 100% of his shifts in the offensive zone, and he also starts 100% of other people's shifts there as well. I may need some things explained to me on this one.

Also not a huge fan of the way they did the Corsi shading. I feel like they should have shown it relative to the league, but instead are showing it relative to the team, making some defensemen look amazing and others terrible, if you don't know what you're looking at. It's useful for knowing who's performing best on the team, but not relative to the rest of the league, which is what I'd be interested in learning.

I forgot to indicate that the bottom results are from this past season. The axes are different between the two due to being one season vs. 4 seasons, so divide everything on the top by 4. It's not the greatest graphical display out there, but I just chose one of the first sites out there that can do these comparisons over multiple seasons.

As far as comparison to the rest of the league, I really only wanted to compare within the Wild because of the opinions that Spurgeon is our 3rd or 4th best defenseman.

However, if we looked at the league as a whole, the Wild's defense should be at the top of those charts. Our defense is typically #1 or #2 in a lot of the advanced defensive analytics. I'm doing a statistics project on some NHL analytics, so I'll see if I can find some better comparisons while doing that.

 

[BagHead]

I forgot to indicate that the bottom results are from this past season. The axes are different between the two due to being one season vs. 4 seasons, so divide everything on the top by 4. It's not the greatest graphical display out there, but I just chose one of the first sites out there that can do these comparisons over multiple seasons.

As far as comparison to the rest of the league, I really only wanted to compare within the Wild because of the opinions that Spurgeon is our 3rd or 4th best defenseman.

However, if we looked at the league as a whole, the Wild's defense should be at the top of those charts. Our defense is typically #1 or #2 in a lot of the advanced defensive analytics. I'm doing a statistics project on some NHL analytics, so I'll see if I can find some better comparisons while doing that.

Thanks for clarifying!

The assertion that Spurgeon is our 3rd of 4th defenseman is ridiculous. The guy is very obviously in the top 2, and depending on the metrics being used, may be the #1. Fully with you on that!

 

[a79krgm]

Is anyone concerned yet on the way that Evason is conducting training camp? Really going easy on the boys it seems while teams like Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver are already holding competitive scrimmages. Dunno, maybe that's the right approach?

I'm also concerned with all his talk about "just getting back" to how we played before. I just don't think you can take 4 months off and expect to have your team's engine cranking the same way. Some guys won't be ready while others will be big surprises. It's the coaches job sort out these guys … and fast.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

Is anyone concerned yet on the way that Evason is conducting training camp? Really going easy on the boys it seems while teams like Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver are already holding competitive scrimmages. Dunno, maybe that's the right approach?

I'm also concerned with all his talk about "just getting back" to how we played before. I just don't think you can take 4 months off and expect to have your team's engine cranking the same way. Some guys won't be ready while others will be big surprises. It's the coaches job sort out these guys … and fast.

they have scrimmages scheduled, also wasn't Toronto one of the first teams to progress to phase 2 really quickly? that could be why they are further ahead in the process.

 

[Mickey the mouse]

Is anyone concerned yet on the way that Evason is conducting training camp? Really going easy on the boys it seems while teams like Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver are already holding competitive scrimmages. Dunno, maybe that's the right approach?

I'm also concerned with all his talk about "just getting back" to how we played before. I just don't think you can take 4 months off and expect to have your team's engine cranking the same way. Some guys won't be ready while others will be big surprises. It's the coaches job sort out these guys … and fast.

a lot of the teams are scrimmaging and battling very hard already.
I've seen videos from the teams you mentioned plus others

 

[Minnesnota]

I read a report that MacKinnon has already chewed out the Avs for their lack of competitiveness in practices so far.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

I read a report that MacKinnon has already chewed out the Avs for their lack of competitiveness in practices so far.

That’s the type of intensity that wins championships. I think Lafreniere also has that.

 

[57special]

So, are the boys complaining about the lack of snacks, poor water pressure in the showers, and hangnail problems?

 

[nickschultzfan]

Is anyone concerned yet on the way that Evason is conducting training camp? Really going easy on the boys it seems while teams like Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver are already holding competitive scrimmages. Dunno, maybe that's the right approach?

I'm also concerned with all his talk about "just getting back" to how we played before. I just don't think you can take 4 months off and expect to have your team's engine cranking the same way. Some guys won't be ready while others will be big surprises. It's the coaches job sort out these guys … and fast.

Double edge sword. Those teams are also risking injuries. Easier to make that bet with younger teams.

 

[Webster]

Interesting how Guerin pointed out that he likes how Evason communicates with every player. Zuccarello said he had zero communication with Boudreau, obviously a reason why the old coach was fired. And some other players probably had the same problem.

 

[57special]

BS.

 

[Mickey the mouse]

Interesting how Guerin pointed out that he likes how Evason communicates with every player. Zuccarello said he had zero communication with Boudreau, obviously a reason why the old coach was fired. And some other players probably had the same problem.

Maybe the irresponsible players or the ones who played hard when they wanted to or turn over machines.
I don't think BB had to communicate to those players that they were playing like dog shit because they knew it

 

[2Pair]

Maybe the irresponsible players or the ones who played hard when they wanted to or turn over machines.
I don't think BB had to communicate to those players that they were playing like dog shit because they knew it

Maybe Boudreau wasn't a good coach?

 

[Webster]

Maybe Boudreau wasn't a good coach?

A lot of Wild fans, and Russo, will never realize that...

But it didn't take long for a new GM to see that he wasn't.
And Boudreau's rear must be pretty sore after getting the boot so many times in this league.

 

[TaLoN]

A lot of Wild fans, and Russo, will never realize that...

But it didn't take long for a new GM to see that he wasn't.
And Boudreau's rear must be pretty sore after getting the boot so many times in this league.

Unless your name is Lemaire, if you're an NHL coach, you're going to get fired... likely several times. Go figure.

 

[a79krgm]

A lot of Wild fans, and Russo, will never realize that...

But it didn't take long for a new GM to see that he wasn't.
And Boudreau's rear must be pretty sore after getting the boot so many times in this league.

Yeah, I guess you're right. Boudreau only has a .635 winning percentage. He's a terrible coach.