Do the wild over-emphasize 2 way play?

[Ban Hammered]

It doesn't limit them at all. Again, who cares how we got them, they are here.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Brown once, 6 or 7 years ago... Not that impressive.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Yeah..I mean they definitely have scoring. But they've acquired a majority of it by other means (Carter, Gaborik, Williams, Richards, etc.).

Edit: At the same time, Toffoli/Pearson look decent but still early stages on them.

 

[BigT2002]

I would rather have lines which can contribute offense when another line is in a slump. When the 1st line is being defended against the top lines in the league, it would be nice to see the 2nd line step up or the 3rd get those goals that get the win.

I don't think there is an emphasis on 2-way play. If there was, they would not have lost 3 difference 3 goal leads in the first quarter of the season. This team still deals with the same thing they've dealt with since Yeo started coaching and that is they pull their foot off the pedal when they start winning by 3+ goals. Those 3 games would have given us 2 more points, and better yet would not have given divisional foes 1-2 points on us when the West is starting to stack up on top of each other.

 

[Nharris31]

I would rather have lines which can contribute offense when another line is in a slump. When the 1st line is being defended against the top lines in the league, it would be nice to see the 2nd line step up or the 3rd get those goals that get the win.

I don't think there is an emphasis on 2-way play. If there was, they would not have lost 3 difference 3 goal leads in the first quarter of the season. This team still deals with the same thing they've dealt with since Yeo started coaching and that is they pull their foot off the pedal when they start winning by 3+ goals. Those 3 games would have given us 2 more points, and better yet would not have given divisional foes 1-2 points on us when the West is starting to stack up on top of each other.

Umm I'm pretty sure the 2nd line has been the one getting the goals lately.

 

[thestonedkoala]

It doesn't limit them at all. Again, who cares how we got them, they are here.

Yes, it doesn't matter that in order to acquire scoring we had to sign outside players or trade for them since Minnesota has unlimited resources and cap space...

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I wouldn't mind if we started drafting more offense-first, high upside players. I think we're in a position where we can take a risk or two and not have it bite us too bad.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I wouldn't mind if we started drafting more offense-first, high upside players. I think we're in a position where we can take a risk or two and not have it bite us too bad.

It doesn't even have to be first round guys.

 

[Ban Hammered]

30 goal scorers are not cheap no matter if you draft them or sign/trade for them. 21 guys hit 30 goals last season, go look at their money. Signing Parise & Poms did not limit this team no matter how much you keep believing it did.

 

[thestonedkoala]

30 goal scorers are not cheap no matter if you draft them or sign/trade for them. 21 guys hit 30 goals last season, go look at their money. Signing Parise & Poms did not limit this team no matter how much you keep believing it did.

Actually they are cheaper if you draft them because you have them for their RFA years. Trading them and signing them are hard because you have very little control over if you can or cannot bring them in. Signing Parise and Poms might have ramifications later for the Wild. Case in point; Heatley? Backstrom? Furthermore, trading for Poms has an impact as they lost 4 pieces they could have either moved or used to fill in gaps with this team. Poms did good in his first full season, has a major drop off this season. Who knows what happens next.

Ultimately, this team has always had to bring in free agents through either trades or signings to try and fill in gaps but they haven't worked out that well.

 

[DeuceMN]

30 goal scorers are not cheap no matter if you draft them or sign/trade for them. 21 guys hit 30 goals last season, go look at their money. Signing Parise & Poms did not limit this team no matter how much you keep believing it did.

No they have not and in fact, are on relatively decent deals given what they generally provide.

Pommer is not done or declining yet either. He's playing the same was he was last year and usually does. He's just playing through a bit of a rough patch right now.

Players like Pommer, who are not very physical and play a more shifty game, tend to last longer than more physical forwards. He's not on the decline yet and if he is, it's so minimal it'll be three years before it makes much of an impact in his game.

We need players like both of them. Hell, Pommer lead us in goals last year FFS. We need scoring and some are talking about trading our leading goal scorer from last year, a guy who consistently puts up 25+ and is a good 2-way player

 

[Nharris31]

Also didn't know Zucker was free agent. How is not emphasing two way play working out for Colorado and Dallas?

 

[DeuceMN]

Also didn't know Zucker was free agent. How is not emphasing two way play working out for Colorado and Dallas?

What's your point?

I was not commenting on the Wild's emphasis on 2-way play at all. In fact I'm a supporter of strong 2-way play.

Many have been after Pommer for a couple weeks now, and the contracts Parise and Pommer are on are not hindering the Wild at all.

What are you getting at?

 

[Nharris31]

What's your point?

I was not commenting on the Wild's emphasis on 2-way play at all. In fact I'm a supporter of strong 2-way play.

Many have been after Pommer for a couple weeks now, and the contracts Parise and Pommer are on are not hindering the Wild at all.

What are you getting at?

I wasn't directing at you it was based on the whole thread.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Also didn't know Zucker was free agent. How is not emphasing two way play working out for Colorado and Dallas?

Minnesota is only two wins ahead of Dallas and two 1/2 wins ahead of Colorado...That is a thin margin if you think about it. Compared to 4 1/2 wins San Jose has above Arizona. Minnesota is also 1 1/2 wins back from San Jose and Winnipeg and 2 wins behind Los Angeles.

At this point, outside of Edmonton and maybe Arizona, the entire conference is still in flux...

 

[Nharris31]

Minnesota is only two wins ahead of Dallas and two 1/2 wins ahead of Colorado...That is a thin margin if you think about it. Compared to 4 1/2 wins San Jose has above Arizona. Minnesota is also 1 1/2 wins back from San Jose and Winnipeg and 2 wins behind Los Angeles.

At this point, outside of Edmonton and maybe Arizona, the entire conference is still in flux...

Look how many games they played and how many the wild played.