Confirmed with Link: Eric Staal signs With Minnesota (3 yr, 3.5 AAV)

[BigT2002]

if he "fails" i think that Haula could plays second line center minutes most of the time. Still there is only one reason why this happened. Minnesota needs to give opportunity to Granlund play as winger. There is no point to trade him before that is tested because it could give him 60+ point season with 20+ goals.

IF big IF Staal finds himself again... then there is still someway possibility that even he could be first center of this team and take Koivu´s spot as first line center. Surely at all ways this is win win situation. Time to see if Granny can really play this game with expected level or not. I´m pretty sure that this is game changer for hes career.

Good assessment. I have been saying I would like to see Haula with Parise and Coyle, but you can't mess with that 3rd line that much right now. They are proven to score and play good offensive and defensive hockey. If they mesh again next year, same thing.

If Staal doesn't work then there are still opportunities out there for him to be productive on the team I think. I'm just not keen on a 3 year deal if he's just merely here until Tuch and Co. are ready. Because I think that could be next season.

 

[MNwild4life]

So:
Parise/Staal/Coyle
Zucker/Koivu/Granny
Nino/Haula/Pommer

I think they're planning on keeping Granlund on the same line as parise but I like that were finally playing him at wing

 

[Granlund 64]

I think they're planning on keeping Granlund on the same line as parise but I like that were finally playing him at wing

That would be difficult with Parise being a LW and Fletch saying that's where Granlund would, at least initially, play.

 

[Digitalbooya]

That would be difficult with Parise being a LW and Fletch saying that's where Granlund would, at least initially, play.

Is there a link to CF's comments? I thought Granlund said he prefers right wing.

 

[J22*]

I think they're planning on keeping Granlund on the same line as parise but I like that were finally playing him at wing

I hope not, those 2 don't mesh well at all. Parise is all north/south and throw everything at the net. Granlund is east/west and hold the puck waiting for a better chance.

 

[Granlund 64]

Looking for it, but Russo has him on the left side as well in his depth chart articles.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Looking for it, but Russo has him on the left side as well in his depth chart articles.

I wouldn't worry about it. I'll take your word for it. Interesting that our LW depth keeps getting longer.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

They have mentioned Parise/Staal/Coyle and Granlund/Koivu many times.

 

[Wild11MN]

I think they're planning on keeping Granlund on the same line as parise but I like that were finally playing him at wing

Welcome!

Agreed, hoping for a breakout year this year (finally).

 

[BigT2002]

They have mentioned Parise/Staal/Coyle and Granlund/Koivu many times.

Yup and quite frankly, that is what it should be. Granlund/Koivu played great together for Finland and I want to see what that PSC line could actually do. Otherwise, something is getting moved around. It was a bit of a gamble to sign him to 3 years purely on that alone.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure Friedman in his 30 thoughts or another article on sportsnet reported that EDM was asking for Dumba+ for RNH and Fletcher said no. The + was believed to be a 2nd.

3. The Hall trade finally brought some truth to a boatload of Edmonton rumours. There was definitely discussion with Minnesota on a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins/Matt Dumba deal, but the Oilers made it very clear that wasn’t enough to pry loose Nugent-Hopkins and asked for more. That’s where it fell apart. One of the things Edmonton is looking for is another second-round pick, because they owe one to Boston for Chiarelli’s hiring.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/30-thoughts-couldnt-edmonton-montreal-make-deal/

It doesn't say "Chiarelli asked for a second." It suggests that it might have been an ask in some discussions. It wouldn't have taken a big brain to realize that the Wild don't have a second until 2018. Pure speculation. Just because the Oilers need to pay the Bruins a pick doesn't mean they would dispense with the second most valuable forward on their team to do it. It establishes that RNH was worth more to the Oilers than Dumba, which I've said for months now. Just wanted to clear that up.

Staal is sort of the polar opposite solution here. A veteran guy who did win a Cup as approximately a third-line center in 2006. He fits that aspect of the core, but looked completely useless in this season's playoffs. We shall see.

 

[Minnewildsota]

3. The Hall trade finally brought some truth to a boatload of Edmonton rumours. There was definitely discussion with Minnesota on a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins/Matt Dumba deal, but the Oilers made it very clear that wasn’t enough to pry loose Nugent-Hopkins and asked for more. That’s where it fell apart. One of the things Edmonton is looking for is another second-round pick, because they owe one to Boston for Chiarelli’s hiring.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/30-thoughts-couldnt-edmonton-montreal-make-deal/

It doesn't say "Chiarelli asked for a second." It suggests that it might have been an ask in some discussions. It wouldn't have taken a big brain to realize that the Wild don't have a second until 2018. Pure speculation. Just because the Oilers need to pay the Bruins a pick doesn't mean they would dispense with the second most valuable forward on their team to do it. It establishes that RNH was worth more to the Oilers than Dumba, which I've said for months now. Just wanted to clear that up.

Staal is sort of the polar opposite solution here. A veteran guy who did win a Cup as approximately a third-line center in 2006. He fits that aspect of the core, but looked completely useless in this season's playoffs. We shall see.

And what exactly are you basing that off of? It surely isn't by points. And he had the 3rd highest average TOI to only Rod Brind'Amour and Justin Williams. So at the least, he was a 2nd line center.

 

[Haite]

And what exactly are you basing that off of? It surely isn't by points. And he had the 3rd highest average TOI to only Rod Brind'Amour and Justin Williams. So at the least, he was a 2nd line center.

After the lockout point totals were so inflated that a 100 point guy counted as a third liner.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

And what exactly are you basing that off of? It surely isn't by points. And he had the 3rd highest average TOI to only Rod Brind'Amour and Justin Williams. So at the least, he was a 2nd line center.

seemed to me they added Doug Weight to pick up his slack and also had Matt Cullen, but I guess I'm mis-remembering based on the Finals only.

Well he sure did have a good season ten years ago, no question about it.

 

[123TripleDoge]

Only thing I remember is Commodore lol

 

[Nharris31]

http://m.startribune.com/eric-staal-is-not-thomas-vanek-or-dany-heatley/385748701/ Somebody that actually doesn't have lazy analysis on the Staal signing.

 

[Al Lagoon]

Only thing I remember is Commodore lol

He invented the monster beard no?


IMO Staal is still a good hockey player, and so this deal doesn't come close to hurting the Wild. People love to trot out truisms, but given the Wild's history at center ice, he looks capable of satisfying even the the harshest critics.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

http://m.startribune.com/eric-staal-is-not-thomas-vanek-or-dany-heatley/385748701/ Somebody that actually doesn't have lazy analysis on the Staal signing.

I for one am shocked a Strib columnist would have this take.

The recency bias has nothing to do with Vanek or Heatley or Setoguchi or Moulson or Bergenheim. Eric Staal has been a solid player and much more in this league throughout his career. He was considered enough of an asset to be worth a big price from the New York Rangers.

My recency bias has to do with seeing a player slow down as he ages. Then seeing him get his knee exploded on that Edler hit. Then seeing him at the end of this season.

Being a GM in this league means taking on a lot of risk. Staal is not an old guy, and I'm sure he's going to come to camp in the proverbial best shape of his life. Willing to believe he can work out for the Wild next season. But that column is ridiculous and anyone who has watched Fletch operate in free agency is entitled to a heaping plate of skepticism regarding his acumen in these deals.

 

[Nharris31]

I for one am shocked a Strib columnist would have this take.

The recency bias has nothing to do with Vanek or Heatley or Setoguchi or Moulson or Bergenheim. Eric Staal has been a solid player and much more in this league throughout his career. He was considered enough of an asset to be worth a big price from the New York Rangers.

My recency bias has to do with seeing a player slow down as he ages. Then seeing him get his knee exploded on that Edler hit. Then seeing him at the end of this season.

Being a GM in this league means taking on a lot of risk. Staal is not an old guy, and I'm sure he's going to come to camp in the proverbial best shape of his life. Willing to believe he can work out for the Wild next season. But that column is ridiculous and anyone who has watched Fletch operate in free agency is entitled to a heaping plate of skepticism regarding his acumen in these deals.

Saying that he is going to play like he did last season is despite being a possession monster is definitely receny bias. Russo article was different. Vanek and Heatly weren't very good possession players Staal is on of the bests at driving possession.

 

[Nharris31]

The people that are mad at this are the same people who were mad that we traded a third round pick for Dubnyk.

 

[Minnesota]

Picture says a thousand words.

 

[PuckInTheNards]

It establishes that RNH was worth more to the Oilers than Dumba, which I've said for months now. Just wanted to clear that up.

I guess that's one way to remember it... I seem to recall that you said that Dumba could not even be the base of a trade for someone as valuable as RNH.

The lack of a trade also indicates that RNH was NOT more valuable to Fletch than Dumba. Fletch could have added to Dumba to make the deal and chose not to... but I guess that doesn't fit your narrative, eh?

 

[Slick Willy*]

The people that are mad at this are the same people who were mad that we traded a third round pick for Dubnyk.

This board was littered with 'em. A tune of some 7-8 to 10, as I recall (I for one was not one of 'em, fwiw).

 

[Nharris31]

This board was littered with 'em. A tune of some 7-8 to 10, as I recall (I for one was not one of 'em, fwiw).

I wasn't one of them either.

 

[Circulartheory]

As promised but delayed by a few days (no wifi at my place!)

Assumptions:
- Las Vegas selects Jason Zucker ($2 mil cap hit) vs one of our defensemen ($4mil cap hit)
- Salary cap stays at $73mil in 2017-18
- Mikael Granlund re-signs similar to Nazem Kadri
- Nino re-signs similar to Bjustad
- Dumba re-signs at $2.6 mil, a high price for a bridge contract
- We sign a backup goalie at a high premium at $2mil

With all those assumptions, we are left with a cap space of $85, 579 with still 1 forward left to sign. This is very, very tight

But as mentioned before, there are alot of assumptions built in that works AGAINST the Wild. For example, Las Vegas selects a hometown boy (Zucker) vs the better option in Scandella/Spurgeon. We are also assuming we are not moving one of these defensemen during this season, which I HIGHLY doubt as I don't think the Wild would risk leaving 2 of Spurgeon/Scandella/Dumba unprotected.

In addition to that assumed $2mil, we are also assuming the cap does not move up by even $1 mil.

Now, if you were to reverse these assumptions in favor of the Wild, it would give the team about $2 mil of cap space. Tight still but much more workable.

In summary, yes, Staal does put us at the edge. But factoring in how the expansion will affect the league (forcing us to move a defenseman) and some other assumptions (don't think we'll sign a $2mil backup) and maybe some optimism (getting Nino closer to Coyle than Bjustad; getting Haula cheaper than premium price), it should still be workable and does not FORCE the Wild trade a valuable asset like Coyle or Nino; the expansion draft is already doing that with our d-men.

What the Staal signing DOES do however, is give us a team that will look almost the same in 2016 than it will in 2018. So how we do this year will be REALLY telling. Doesn't force us to make a move but does paint a rather solid picture of our next 2 years. But I love how Staal and Stewart don't have a NTC, otherwise that would be killer.

EDIT: Basically, how you see this situation is based on how optimistic you are of the current roster (we need drastic improvements vs quite solid). I am in the quite 'solid party' so I don't expect us to need $4-5 cap space flexibility to make major moves. I like the team we have. If need more offense, we could always use our required defenseman trade to bring one in.