Player Discussion Luke Kunin

[nt3005]

Kunin has played with a better line in my opinion, I like the fact that both are noticeable in not bad ways.

Its funny which players are most noticeable this year. Not players I would have guessed before the season.

 

[ThatGuy22]

JEE has been playing good hockey too. I don't think either of them have outplayed the other so far.

It's not really a decision that has to be made until at least Nino and Coyle are both back. I do agree about the healthy competition between them.

I have zero problems with the game JEE has been playing. He's been solid in the O zone, strong on the puck and basically everything i've expected (maybe I expected a bit more in the D zone). I just think Kunin's played a bit better, and I think BB agree's given the responsibilities and icetime he's given him.

 

[Dee Oh Cee]

Both JEE and Kunin look really strong. They are going to be tough to get off the puck now and even more as they get stronger.

 

[StormFather]

What is the ceiling for a guy like Kunin? Does anyone have any projected 'comparables' as to what kind of player he would be like? If there is such a thing in hockey...

 

[ThatGuy22]

What is the ceiling for a guy like Kunin? Does anyone have any projected 'comparables' as to what kind of player he would be like? If there is such a thing in hockey...

Seems like he could be a Ryan Kesler type player if he plays C to me.

 

[Minnesota]

What is the ceiling for a guy like Kunin? Does anyone have any projected 'comparables' as to what kind of player he would be like? If there is such a thing in hockey...

I've seen stylistic comparisons ranging from Joe Pavelski to Mike Fisher.

 

[57special]

Both JEE and Kunin look really strong. They are going to be tough to get off the puck now and even more as they get stronger.

I agree that they look reasonably strong for young players, but more when they don't have the puck. I don't see any strong keep away/ possession ability so far.

 

[Wabit]

I agree that they look reasonably strong for young players, but more when they don't have the puck. I don't see any strong keep away/ possession ability so far.

To be fair to JEE, he hasn't really had much in the way of wings to work with so far this year.

Neither of them have had any consistency for line-mates. It's hard to keep possession when you are guessing where people will be. Plenty of pucks have gone net front or behind the net and the rotations are just a little off. Kunin and Staal seem to be getting on the same page. Foligno/JEE/Coyle looked decent (the letter I saw) in the preseason.

 

[BagHead]

I agree that they look reasonably strong for young players, but more when they don't have the puck. I don't see any strong keep away/ possession ability so far.

Agreed, but I didn't see any possession or keep away ability in Granlund during his rookie season, much less the ability to stay on his feet or keep hold of his stick. I swear, if I were Yeo, I would have glued it to his gloves. Point being, let's wait and see. They're going to get stronger, quicker, and they're going to eventually find chemistry with some line-mates, hopefully. That said, and it's a small sample size, I felt like Kunin had chemistry with Staal almost immediately.

 

[Nharris31]

Boudreau said on the radio this morning that he will get some powerplay time tonight.

 

[57special]

JEE, for one, has a very mature defensive game.

 

[2Pair]

JEE, for one, has a very mature defensive game.

He knows where he's supposed to be and what he's supposed to do, but he's been pretty bad in his own end so far this year.

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

He wasn't good on the WPG goal tonight... JEE.

With Kunin, I love him. He needs to stay up.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I'm sure even Mikko had some growing pains defensively, and he came in a lot older than Ek.

 

[57special]

He wasn't good on the WPG goal tonight... JEE.

With Kunin, I love him. He needs to stay up.

Agreed on JEE tonight, but in general he is very good defensively. Strong, too. Needs to chip in offensively, but there are so many moving pieces on the lower lines right now it's hard for him to get any chemistry going.

 

[Lapa]

Kunin has looked great. He's here to stay, IMO.

 

[Wabit]

Kunin has been good so far. Still need to see how he deals with the grind of an 82 game season. He'll slump at some point, how he deals with it, is yet to be seen. It could end up as a numbers game. Wild have a lot of wings, Iowa playing big minutes at center could be good for development.

 

[Bazeek]

Kunin has been good so far. Still need to see how he deals with the grind of an 82 game season. He'll slump at some point, how he deals with it, is yet to be seen. It could end up as a numbers game. Wild have a lot of wings, Iowa playing big minutes at center could be good for development.

This is my biggest question regarding Kunin: whether or not the Wild have (or ever had) ambitions to develop him as a center instead of a wing. He seems to be able to handle the NHL pretty well as a wing, but having another forward that's at least comfortable at center would be nice. Not sure if it's really in the cards for him or not, though.

 

[ThatGuy22]

This is my biggest question regarding Kunin: whether or not the Wild have (or ever had) ambitions to develop him as a center instead of a wing. He seems to be able to handle the NHL pretty well as a wing, but having another forward that's at least comfortable at center would be nice. Not sure if it's really in the cards for him or not, though.

Every game that goes by affirms my opinion that when Coyle is back, JEE will go down and they'll give Kunin a shot at 3C.

 

[57special]

I don't see Kunin as a C.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I guess the backup plan could always be to move Coyle back to the middle.

 

[ThatGuy22]

I don't see Kunin as a C.

Quotes like this confuse me. There is nothing about his skill set that is obvious not a C territory. He played C at Wisconsin (and some wing), he played C at the WJC. He played C in Iowa, He played C in the preseason a bit. He's played center at every level except NHL regular season, and it's not like he doesn't have the D chops to do it based on everything we know about him.

He's obviously still got to prove that he can do it at the NHL level, but we haven't seen anything that suggests he can't at 19 years old.

 

[Digitalbooya]

I don’t think it’s because he can’t play center but rather he looks better at wing. He definitely looked better on the wing for Wisconsin.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Zucker - Coyle - Granlund
Nino - Eriksson Ek - Kunin

Future?

 

[ThatGuy22]

I don’t think it’s because he can’t play center but rather he looks better at wing. He definitely looked better on the wing for Wisconsin.

I'd venture even the best centers would look better at Wing, because it's an easier position to play with minimal D responsibilities and you can just concentrate on offense.

But that's what makes good Centers valuable, and Kunin looked pretty great to me at C during the WJC. I'd suspect Fletcher/BB view him as a C long term until he shows that he can't do it.