Mike Yeo's Time Is Running Out

[Screaming Buffalo]

Goaltending is problem one. Center play is two.

The only way Vanek might be a problem is if it's an off-ice issue. I'm not suggesting there is any problem with him but it does seem like there is something going on off the ice with some player/s.

 

[Nsjohnson]

I doubt he gets fired this year. I believe they will make a splash for a goalie in hopes of making a push for the playoffs. If they don't, they will build accordingly. Then if this trend continues into next season, he will be gone by November.

If you guys wanna make a trade, Nino and Coyle would be of high interest in Pittsburgh with several defenders capable of coming back.

Jesus we don't need defenders. We need a goalie. Or Malkin.

 

[CH25]

We might hit a record with coach firings this year

 

[Stickpucker]

Lots of goalies available. Why are the Wild hesitant to trade for one?

 

[Vashanesh]

Lots of goalies available. Why are the Wild hesitant to trade for one?

Asking price is too high and/or they've settled on just tanking.

 

[Human]

Yeo ran a sad ass powerplay in Pittsburgh. I don't miss him. Felt bad for Minnesota getting him.

good thing the one that Tocchet is running today is way better...

 

[melinko]

Lots of goalies available. Why are the Wild hesitant to trade for one?

I think its debatable that the season is even salvageable right now and the goalies out there are all the kind you say "this will do for now, but isn't the answer long term."

Right now I think it would be a mistake to give up more than a 3rd for the goalies out there.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

His team just isn't that good. People bought into the hype; it's an average team with some sprinkled in star talent.

 

[Malkin4Top6Wingerz]

Firing Yeo would be a mistake. He has the Wild dominating possession in almost every game, which is really all you can ask for from your coach. When your goaltending is simply horrid you don't stand much of a chance, and a new coach won't make any difference.

That said, I fully expect him to get canned because that's how these deals usually go. Fletcher should be the fall guy however. Aside from poor goaltending, their center depth really sucks and I never saw Vanek as a good fit for the makeup of that team. But realistically they'd be in a playoff position with even average goaltending, so they should look to upgrade the position well before they get rid of the guy who has them playing pretty solid hockey otherwise.

 

[janecky]

They were planning on beginning the season with Kuemper, Harding, and Backstrom. Nobody could have predicted they would all get sick/injured and be terrible when they were healthy.

What kind of team carries 3 healthy NHL-caliber starting goaltenders all the time?

I think you are too generous in your assessment.

1. Bäckström was past his shelf life already when he re-signed in 2013. And not only did he get three years but even a no-trade clause on top.
2. Harding missed most of last year because of MS-related complications.
3. Kuemper had a limited track record.

If you intend to win, this is not a goalie trio you bank on. It's a cross your fingers and hope for the best situation. Nothing reliable, just question marks.

 

[10coach*]

His team just isn't that good. People bought into the hype; it's an average team with some sprinkled in star talent.

What? Last handful of games they haven't been finishing but the issue the whole season has been goaltending and still continues to be.

 

[chunkylover53]

But Minny's Corsi is actually pretty damn good....

 

[Vashanesh]

I think you are too generous in your assessment.

1. Bäckström was past his shelf life already when he re-signed in 2013. And not only did he get three years but even a no-trade clause on top.
2. Harding missed most of last year because of MS-related complications.
3. Kuemper had a limited track record.

If you intend to win, this is not a goalie trio you bank on. It's a cross your fingers and hope for the best situation. Nothing reliable, just question marks.

1. Backstrom was supposed to be a backup
2. Harding was coming into training camp reportedly healthy, you can't plan on your supposedly healthy goalie kicking a wall hard enough to break his foot
3. Kuemper was supposed to start in the AHL and hopefully steal some games for what was (and is) shaping up to be an awful team. Kuemper has always had the physical tools, but he needs more seasoning.

It's unreasonable to say Fletcher should have done something about the goalie situation. We were told Harding was healthy, Backstrom wasn't supposed to have the pressure of not knowing what the hell is going on from one day to the next and Kuemper wasn't supposed to be in the NHL.

We also assumed Granlund would take the next step rather than regressing hard. We also assumed Haula would build on a great last 3rd of a season + playoffs to at least be a steady 3rd liner.

Instead, we have Harding's career likely over, Backstrom being told to play Russian Roulette for the last 20 games, Kuemper's confidence completely destroyed because he wasn't mentally prepared for the NHL, Granlund struggling with his play and then experiencing a relatively long-term injury, and Haula just recently showing he actually belongs on an NHL roster as a 4th line/PK specialist.

Other fanbases can look at things from the outside and say what they want... But it's not completely unreasonable to assume that a goalie that was playing Vezina level hockey less than a year prior would continue to do so, a former "best player not in the NHL" in Granlund progressing.... etc...

 

[melinko]

I think you are too generous in your assessment.

1. Bäckström was past his shelf life already when he re-signed in 2013. And not only did he get three years but even a no-trade clause on top.
2. Harding missed most of last year because of MS-related complications.
3. Kuemper had a limited track record.

If you intend to win, this is not a goalie trio you bank on. It's a cross your fingers and hope for the best situation. Nothing reliable, just question marks.

The only issue I think is fair to criticize there is the Backstrom signing in 2013. Every year after we couldn't buyout either Backstrom or Harding because they have been injured at the buyout period. So unless they were comfortable having 3 goalies on the roster there was nothing Fletcher could do unless someone was dumb enough to trade for either Harding or Backstrom.

To be fair there were a bunch of signs that Backstrom was done before Fletcher re-signed him though.

1. Backstrom was supposed to be a backup
2. Harding was coming into training camp reportedly healthy, you can't plan on your supposedly healthy goalie kicking a wall hard enough to break his foot
3. Kuemper was supposed to start in the AHL and hopefully steal some games for what was (and is) shaping up to be an awful team. Kuemper has always had the physical tools, but he needs more seasoning.

It's unreasonable to say Fletcher should have done something about the goalie situation. We were told Harding was healthy, Backstrom wasn't supposed to have the pressure of not knowing what the hell is going on from one day to the next and Kuemper wasn't supposed to be in the NHL.

We also assumed Granlund would take the next step rather than regressing hard. We also assumed Haula would build on a great last 3rd of a season + playoffs to at least be a steady 3rd liner.

Instead, we have Harding's career likely over, Backstrom being told to play Russian Roulette for the last 20 games, Kuemper's confidence completely destroyed because he wasn't mentally prepared for the NHL, Granlund struggling with his play and then experiencing a relatively long-term injury, and Haula just recently showing he actually belongs on an NHL roster as a 4th line/PK specialist.

Other fanbases can look at things from the outside and say what they want... But it's not completely unreasonable to assume that a goalie that was playing Vezina level hockey less than a year prior would continue to do so, a former "best player not in the NHL" in Granlund progressing.... etc...

We didn't have a choice about having both Harding and Backstrom on the roster. Both of them have been ineligible to be bought out during the buyout window the past couple years.

 

[janecky]

It's unreasonable to say Fletcher should have done something about the goalie situation.

Unreasonable? You argued your case well in general, but I have to strongly disagree with that statement. Harding broke his foot in a freak incident, OK, but he was also shut down in the AHL because of MS-related complications again. So going into the season with Harding as your starter is what's unreasonable in my view. They had only question marks in net, in different sizes and shapes. If Fletcher was serious about competing, he needed to stabilize the goaltending no matter how tough the decisions he had to make. He chose to hope for the best, and chickens came home to roost.

I don't pretend it's an easy situation, but something needed to be done about it.

I wonder what the Wild's internal evaluation about Granlund's struggles is. It seems like many forwards on the team produce less than they should.

So unless they were comfortable having 3 goalies on the roster there was nothing Fletcher could do unless someone was dumb enough to trade for either Harding or Backstrom.

They should have signed or traded for an NHL goaltender and figured out how to dump Bäckström somewhere. Try to trade an asset with him to Buffalo, although I guess Bäckström would have blocked it because he would've just ended up in Rochester in that scenario. It all goes back to the decision to re-sign Bäckström long term. It's a 35+ contract so the cap hit stays even if the player is in the minors, which makes signing him long term even less defensible. But it was Fletcher's boo-boo, so he needed to clean it up. Fletcher did nothing. In the evenings, Fletcher kneels in a chapel somewhere asking for divine intervention so that a goalie goes on a hot streak ASAP.

You hate to see coaches being killed by goaltending. A coach can quickly lose buy-in when he doesn't get goaltending because losses drag down the morale of the whole team. It seems like the team would have to be at its best to get wins at the moment, and you really need to be able to win games even with a solid routine performance to make the playoffs. Yeo is probably in the other corner of the same chapel with Fletcher...

 

[Iceman]

Here... there Nabokov!

 

[Dave is a killer]

But Minny's Corsi is actually pretty damn good....

How is there Fenwick Close?

 

[Prins Filip]

Blaming someone else than Yeo in this point is pointless, as the system he coaches is very effective in creating certain statistical illusions. The offensive zone play focuses on posession so much that they systematically out-number the defensive players on boards.

- Because the out-numbered puck in the boards, MIN struggles to create built scoring chances from posession and rely too much on just delivering the puck to the net.
- Probably due the team's strenghts being wingers, the centers need to contribute to the out-numbering from the less risky direction, which usually is at the boards, about 10 ft from the blue line.
- With so many men on the puck from MIN, the defensive side naturally has more people between the puck and the net, making it easier to block the shots and dangerous passes.
- Usually the puck ends up for the center playing between the blue line and the scrum, who really does not have other choices than playing it to the net from bad angle or making an easy pass for the d-man, as other wingers are either in too risky positions or right next to you.
- The player delivering the puck from the bad angle or blue line rarely has a scoring chance by themselves, requiring the wingers to attack on the bounces or rebounds the puck may take and continue the posession game in the corners or whack the rebound to the net.
- As a team relying so much on posession, it becomes harder to be the team trailing, as with time running out of the clock the benefits of the pure posession began to decrease compared to more offensively orientated play.
- With strong posession creating penalties the PP should be the weapon number one. For MIN it surely isn't.
- This leaves the counter attacks as the only viable way to create scoring by skill, with usually the wingers breaking the puck trough from the boards.

And this is how MIN creates the huge amount of shots, which is used as a synonym amongs the stat worshippers not really watching the game. Also the system leaves only small room for a center to succeed statistically, as it is playing defensive and risk-minimizing game in the offensive zone. With better PP it could be more effective given the fact that Wild's winger depth is better than center depth.

TDLR: The posession Yeo's Wild creates in the offensive zone isn't really an offensive number, as it really is just defensive play in the offensive zone valuing puck posession more than offence, forcing the team to take bad angle shots in a fear of loosing the puck while taking riskier pass.

 

[nwaZ*]

Why is Suter playing 30 minutes almost every game? That'll tire anyone in the long run. I thought they had a decent D-core?

Not saying that's the problem, just curious.

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

This team needs John Tortarella. And a new goalie coach.

 

[Nharris31]

Why is Suter playing 30 minutes almost every game? That'll tire anyone in the long run. I thought they had a decent D-core?

Not saying that's the problem, just curious.

They have bad third pair. Also Scandella is injured right now. Wild fans are curious about this as well.

 

[TOML]

Should get it over with already. Everyone knows a mere coaching change coupled with a couple trades will spark an 'amazing turnaround' and they'll go far into the playoffs.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

Any minute now...

Seriously, that team is a mess and it's hard to understand how/why given their depth and talent.

 

[joplin]

Eklund (well, his sources) said Yeo's job is safe for now

 

[Vashanesh]

Unreasonable? You argued your case well in general, but I have to strongly disagree with that statement. Harding broke his foot in a freak incident, OK, but he was also shut down in the AHL because of MS-related complications again. So going into the season with Harding as your starter is what's unreasonable in my view. They had only question marks in net, in different sizes and shapes. If Fletcher was serious about competing, he needed to stabilize the goaltending no matter how tough the decisions he had to make. He chose to hope for the best, and chickens came home to roost.

I don't pretend it's an easy situation, but something needed to be done about it.

I wonder what the Wild's internal evaluation about Granlund's struggles is. It seems like many forwards on the team produce less than they should.


They should have signed or traded for an NHL goaltender and figured out how to dump Bäckström somewhere. Try to trade an asset with him to Buffalo, although I guess Bäckström would have blocked it because he would've just ended up in Rochester in that scenario. It all goes back to the decision to re-sign Bäckström long term. It's a 35+ contract so the cap hit stays even if the player is in the minors, which makes signing him long term even less defensible. But it was Fletcher's boo-boo, so he needed to clean it up. Fletcher did nothing. In the evenings, Fletcher kneels in a chapel somewhere asking for divine intervention so that a goalie goes on a hot streak ASAP.

You hate to see coaches being killed by goaltending. A coach can quickly lose buy-in when he doesn't get goaltending because losses drag down the morale of the whole team. It seems like the team would have to be at its best to get wins at the moment, and you really need to be able to win games even with a solid routine performance to make the playoffs. Yeo is probably in the other corner of the same chapel with Fletcher...

Harding had a clean bill of health prior to the foot + wall incident. While you may think it's unreasonable to consider him a starter, there are a couple of hard and fast facts you're conveniently ignoring.

1. There were no indications Harding was still suffering from any complications with his MS meds and was checked out by multiple specialists and team doctors.
2. Three goalies on 1-way contracts to start the season.
3. The weakest of those goalies, Backstrom, has a NMC.

This meant that Harding would start, Backstrom would backup and Kuemper would be in Iowa.

Starting the season ANY other way, unless you want to argue we should've let Kuemper walk rather than sign him to a 1-way deal? Now that's unreasonable.

Harding gets hurt? Throw Kuemper to the wolves, he starts hot, fresh on a new contract, then when the slightest bit of struggle comes his way, he wilts. Then we're left to turn to an aging and slow backup in Backstrom, who just can't handle a starting load.

Should something have been done at some point earlier this season? I think so, yes. Should something have been done at the start of the season? Nearly impossible to expect that.

Now, if you want to argue Backstrom never should have been signed to his current deal? You'll get no argument from me. I haven't been a fan of Backstrom since Lemaire was coaching the Wild and I always saw Backstrom as a product of that system.

But the fact of the matter is, you can't just "find a way" to move a player with a NMC, just because they're overpaid and bad. Do you throw away a valuable asset that's been made a part of the long-term plans of the team (as almost all of our players that anyone else would be interested in have been)? Or do you acknowledge that there were occurrences out of anyone's control (Harding's injury, Kuemper's inability to step up) and take your lumps? I want this team to improve as much as anyone, but I also see things for what they are.