Speculation: If you were GM of Minnesota what direction would you take?

[Digitalbooya]

From a business standpoint, I would tough it out for 3 years before rebuilding. The hardest piece to acquire from the op would be the #2 center.

22-23 season, parise is only paid 2 million and should not be impossible to move. So is suter if he declines as much. The only problem is if they retire early.

In the 22-23 season, wild should start stockpiling picks and acquiring assets in exchange for who is not part of their core.

What about the #1 center? The Wild currently have two older #2 centers and two younger #4 centers.

 

[FlameChampion]

Tough I would say.

Their defense still looks good on paper. Dubynk is still a good goalie.

Some of their forwards are solid but they just dont have anything spectacular.

They also just dont have much for great prospects pushing to come up.

They are stuck in that zone of not good enough and not bad enough.

I dont think full rebuild will work for them. They need to retool but tbh I am not sure the best way for them to do it. Need to improve drafting and development, they seem like they play it too safe. Need to make good decisions in regards to trades, signings and free agency.

Tough situation imo.

 

[majormajor]

This is predictable. Most will come in and say "rebuild" without providing an actual plan and completely disregarding that a rebuild isn't feasible at this point.

Here's the plan: instead of trading 26 year olds for 22 year olds with only a bit more upside, which is just spinning the wheels, trade for 19 and 20 year old wildcards with big upside. Spend the next couple years' cap space by taking on dumps for futures. Re-evaluate in a couple years.

 

[Bazeek]

Here's the plan: instead of trading 26 year olds for 22 year olds with only a bit more upside, which is just spinning the wheels, trade for 19 and 20 year old wildcards with big upside. Spend the next couple years' cap space by taking on dumps for futures. Re-evaluate in a couple years.

Any 19-20 year olds with big upside that you think are realistically available?

 

[TheBloodyNine]

Blow it the f*** up. As fast as you can.

 

[matt trick]

Trade Zucker for a 1st+prospect. If you need to retain a million (or take a short term cap dump), do it. If you can only get a few 2nds or secondary prospects I'd hold onto him for another year.

Move Spurgeon for a 1st+good prospect. Toronto, Vegas (taking Clarkson+Eakin), Florida, San Jose (if EK walks), Pitt, Edmonton, and NYI are teams that could really benefit from him. His cap hit is extremely reasonable. If you have to give up a bit more/take a non-Lucic contract from Edmonton or Florida pull the trigger. He's at worst a #2 dman.

If Koivu wants to chase a cup, move him at the deadline. Staal seems content in Minnesota, but if the drop in talent results in him wanting to leave, he's a pretty valuable commodity. Good #2 center with size dirt cheap for the next two years.

If you get a really nice offer on Dubynk from Florida, San Jose, Calgary, Edmonton, I'd make the move- they're three years from competing best case, and by that point he'll be much more expensive and 30+. Imagine what the Sharks would include with Dell for Dubynk at 50%? Anyone with questionable goaltending being able to pick a #1 signed for two years dirt cheap- that's worth at least a first/top prospect and probably more. If we sign EK, I'd probably give up Merkeley or Chelemevski.

In short, MN desperately needa a franchise forward, they're only going to find that in the top 3 of a draft.

I'm generally not a fan of tanking, but Minnesota just has way, way too many holes and they've always been okay, meaning they haven't been able to get top tier talent. Also, though it was their choice, the expansion draft was harder on them than anyone else.

One last option is to throw a ton of money at Duchene, as that would almost solve the lack of elite talent at forward. The D and goaltending are plenty good, but I just don't see how they solve their lack of forward talent

 

[Icejoker]

About Filip Johansson he has 1 point in 8 game for Sweden U20 national team the other Johansson the cousin of Wennberg has 6 point in 11 games.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

The main thing I would do if I were Fenton is see where Kaprizov stands. He is probably the best player outside the NHL right now. If he has zero intention of playing for the Wild in 2020-21, then trade his rights somewhere he IS interested in playing and trade them now. You could either get futures for him and continue to retool or you could get a veteran who could help you now.

 

[AKL]

About Filip Johansson he has 1 point in 8 game for Sweden U20 national team the other Johansson the cousin of Wennberg has 6 point in 11 games.

Yes what about it?

The main thing I would do if I were Fenton is see where Kaprizov stands. He is probably the best player outside the NHL right now. If he has zero intention of playing for the Wild in 2020-21, then trade his rights somewhere he IS interested in playing and trade them now. You could either get futures for him and continue to retool or you could get a veteran who could help you now.

Not a fan of trading Kaprizov. All signs point to him coming here in 2020. And he has to come here if we wants to play in the NHL ever. Until he fulfills his time with the Wild, we hold his rights indefinitely.

 

[absolute garbage]

I would've tried my best (without sacrificing all future) to assemble a roster that could hopefully contend for a cup before Suter etc fall off. It's not an impossible thing. Had Minnesota made the ROR trade for example, who knows what would've happened. Not many people had St. Louis as the Cup favorite even after the trade.

The main problem is that Fenton already dun goofed. He unloaded three major assets last season and got just various levels of trash back. I feel like that's it. They're done. They blew it. Had those 3 assets + probably Zucker and Brodin and some picks/prospects been used to actually make impact acquisitions, they could be a major contender. You can't get those assets back anymore. They are stuck in mediocrity now, and will die slowly during the next half decade.

 

[Dijock94]

I would tear it down and start over.

 

[AKL]

I would've tried my best (without sacrificing all future) to assemble a roster that could hopefully contend for a cup before Suter etc fall off. It's not an impossible thing. Had Minnesota made the ROR trade for example, who knows what would've happened. Not many people had St. Louis as the Cup favorite even after the trade.

The main problem is that Fenton already dun goofed. He unloaded three major assets last season and got just various levels of trash back. I feel like that's it. They're done. They blew it. Had those 3 assets + probably Zucker and Brodin and some picks/prospects been used to actually make impact acquisitions, they could be a major contender. You can't get those assets back anymore. They are stuck in mediocrity now, and will die slowly during the next half decade.

Donato and Fiala aren't trash at any level.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Not a fan of trading Kaprizov. All signs point to him coming here in 2020. And he has to come here if we wants to play in the NHL ever. Until he fulfills his time with the Wild, we hold his rights indefinitely.

If the signs are pointing towards him coming over, then that's fantastic. Nothing else needs to be done here except wait it out.

I was talking about the possibility of him not wanting to play in Minnesota when he finishes his deal. In that scenario, I think it would be foolish to sit on that asset and not exploit it via trade.

 

[AKL]

If the signs are pointing towards him coming over, then that's fantastic. Nothing else needs to be done here except wait it out.

I was talking about the possibility of him not wanting to play in Minnesota when he finishes his deal. In that scenario, I think it would be foolish to sit on that asset and not exploit it via trade.

Depends on the value we'd get. Like I said, Kaprizov would have to come play for us eventually. If we don't get value equivalent to those 3-5 years of Kaprizov (whatever it is, I'm not sure how the rules work with KHL rights), we might as well keep his rights and bank on him biting the bullet eventually.

 

[absolute garbage]

Donato and Fiala aren't trash at any level.

I haven't seen anything from these players to raise a team out of mediocrity. Minnesota forward group is currently one of the worst in the league, and those assets that already were traded (and those still in the system who possibly could be traded) should've combined to return so much more than that.

Point is that, like I said, the way Fenton handled those assets and that restructuring of the roster was so incredibly wasteful that they no longer can pull off building a contending team within the Suter/Parise timeline (in the next couple years). That's the way I see it at least.

 

[AKL]

I haven't seen anything from these players to raise a team out of mediocrity. Minnesota forward group is currently one of the worst in the league, and those assets that already were traded (and those still in the system who possibly could be traded) should've combined to return so much more than that.

Point is that, like I said, the way Fenton handled those assets and that restructuring of the roster was so incredibly wasteful that they no longer can pull off building a contending team within the Suter/Parise timeline (in the next couple years). That's the way I see it at least.

Well clearly Granlund, Niederreiter and Coyle weren't enough to raise a team out of mediocrity either so I'm not sure what you expected.

 

[Prominence]

What about the #1 center? The Wild currently have two older #2 centers and two younger #4 centers.

Goal should be to make playoffs but not necessarily win cup. Two decent #2 centers for next 3 years shouldn’t be that hard if they can somehow keep staal and koivu. I’m not sure why they traded granlund. The best time to start rebuild is in 22-23 season that way it is easier to move suter and parise and if they cant, it is a 3 year rebuild and they can place both in ltir. They can draft that #1 center in 22-23.

 

[AKL]

Goal should be to make playoffs but not necessarily win cup. Two decent #2 centers for next 3 years shouldn’t be that hard if they can somehow keep staal and koivu. I’m not sure why they traded granlund. The best time to start rebuild is in 22-23 season that way it is easier to move suter and parise and if they cant, it is a 3 year rebuild and they can place both in ltir. They can draft that #1 center in 22-23.

Very underwhelming season, UFA next summer and likely wants more than we want to pay, and mostly, Fenton REALLY likes Fiala.

 

[tony d]

I think a rebuild would be for the best with the Wild.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Goal should be to make playoffs but not necessarily win cup. Two decent #2 centers for next 3 years shouldn’t be that hard if they can somehow keep staal and koivu. I’m not sure why they traded granlund. The best time to start rebuild is in 22-23 season that way it is easier to move suter and parise and if they cant, it is a 3 year rebuild and they can place both in ltir. They can draft that #1 center in 22-23.

I'm kinda hoping that Fenton can pull of signing Duchene to like a 5-6 year deal, maybe snag Pavelski as well, and then trade Zucker to offset cap a bit in a deal like Fischer+2nd or #16 from Colorado.

They traded Granlund because he fell off a cliff at some point during the season, most likely due to an injury, and he was essentially a two playoff one year rental that will be seeking a big contract.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

If the signs are pointing towards him coming over, then that's fantastic. Nothing else needs to be done here except wait it out.

I was talking about the possibility of him not wanting to play in Minnesota when he finishes his deal. In that scenario, I think it would be foolish to sit on that asset and not exploit it via trade.

If Kaprizov wants to play in the NHL he has to do it with the Wild, no reason to trade him.

 

[Knies iT]

There is no way I would blow this team up yet with the level of parity in the league. On paper, Minnesota is still a consistent playoff caliber team, albeit a lower-end one. No GM is going to dismantle a competitive roster after seeing the Islanders, Canes, and Knights win rounds with a weak team on paper.

Excellent defense and goaltending will always keep you in the mix, even with an anemic forward group and a few bloated contracts. There may be an opportunity to get out from under one of those anchor deals (e.g. Parise) with the Seattle expansion. Other than that, they're lacking a legitimate top 6 offensive centre and maybe some flare on the right wing, neither of which are impossible issues to solve.

 

[RationalExpectations]

We beat the Avs (2014) and the Blues (2015). We lost to the Cup champions (Hawks) twice. We had two years that were marred by serious injuries to key players late in the season: 2016 (Parise) and 2018 (Suter). And we had one year where everything fell into place but we got beat by a white-hot goalie (2017).

"Contender" (in this context) is a word without a useful definition. Was Tampa a "contender" this year? Was St Louis? Where do we put Caronlina? Or Toronto?

Sorry I forgot the wins in 2014 and 2015, that is my bad indeed.

But this does not change my analysis from what I see MIN. I just made a proposal, maybe it is bad but you ll notice I have not tried to undersell your players, I just genuinly believe this team is getting old overall, has few upside in the upcoming years but that it has some pieces which could be nice additions in some teams contending which would help MIN being a top team in 3 years between picks and signing good UFAs.

 

[Spurgeon]

There is no way I would blow this team up yet with the level of parity in the league. On paper, Minnesota is still a consistent playoff caliber team, albeit a lower-end one. No GM is going to dismantle a competitive roster after seeing the Islanders, Canes, and Knights win rounds with a weak team on paper.

Excellent defense and goaltending will always keep you in the mix, even with an anemic forward group and a few bloated contracts. There may be an opportunity to get out from under one of those anchor deals (e.g. Parise) with the Seattle expansion. Other than that, they're lacking a legitimate top 6 offensive centre and maybe some flare on the right wing, neither of which are impossible issues to solve.

Fenton seems like he's trying to.

 

[majormajor]

Any 19-20 year olds with big upside that you think are realistically available?

I don't know who's available beyond obvious boom/bust projects like Puljujarvi, Milano, Andersson, and Ho-Sang. Those guys would be relatively cheap. Presumably there's a next level up of player that you could get for trading good roster players. I'm sure this has been discussed but Tolvanen is the right aged player for the Wild's retool, not Fiala, just because of the higher upside/risk.