Minnesota 2020-2021 Affiliates Thread (Iowa Wild, Allen Americans)

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Saga of the Elk

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They'll need those vets to drag this team into the playoffs. Below .500 at the quarter-mark isn't a great sign for a team that was supposed to be competing this season. It's not the end of the world or anything obviously, but I believe there's a benefit to getting your young guys some pro playoff experience.
 

Wabit

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They'll need those vets to drag this team into the playoffs. Below .500 at the quarter-mark isn't a great sign for a team that was supposed to be competing this season. It's not the end of the world or anything obviously, but I believe there's a benefit to getting your young guys some pro playoff experience.

Just the possibility of making the Playoffs is an improvement. They really need more from their LW's to take the next step.
 

Saga of the Elk

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Iowa is 14-14-2. The dumpster fire appears to have been doused.

...And they just lost three in a row...sitting at .456. Playing the conference-leading Griffins tomorrow night, who also have three games in hand on them.

It's better than dead-last of course but I'm probably not alone in thinking this isn't a huge marker of success. Playoffs should be the goal...maybe they'll get Schroeder back?
 

Saga of the Elk

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How has Stalock looked? Is he the starter or is Michalek? Thanks in advance!

Safe to say he has performed below expectations. He is the starter, but it's more of a 60-40 situation with Steve Michalek. Michalek sports a .915 save percentage and Stalock has a .904. They're not giving up a lot of goals but that number is troubling.

Always cheered for the player but I think the idea was that he would come in and provide solid work, and that hasn't exactly worked out.
 

Saga of the Elk

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Another win last night (2-1 vs. Grand Rapids) puts them over .500. Goal and assist for Lucia, 38 saves for Stalock. Tuch still out. They play a pair against Rockford before the All-Star break, playoffs still a possibility.
 

Dr Jan Itor

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Lucia is having a fairly solid rookie year. I wasn't overly impressed with his skating when I saw Irish games, but at his size he could be an interesting lower line option.
 

57special

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Lucia is having a fairly solid rookie year. I wasn't overly impressed with his skating when I saw Irish games, but at his size he could be an interesting lower line option.

But I never saw him being physical and using that size at ND, either.
 

El Nino22

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What do you guys think of Lucia's season? 8 goals and 20 points in 36 games so far and he's scored in three straight games. Looks like he's starting to figure it out down there and if he could develop into a nice player along with Tuch/Kaprizov/Ek/Greenway/Kunin that would be huge.
 

Dr Jan Itor

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What do you guys think of Lucia's season? 8 goals and 20 points in 36 games so far and he's scored in three straight games. Looks like he's starting to figure it out down there and if he could develop into a nice player along with Tuch/Kaprizov/Ek/Greenway/Kunin that would be huge.

I know he's probably older than a lot of them, but being 31st in rookie scoring is still pretty good.
 

El Nino22

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He is older than most but still only 23 and hopefully that will make his transition to the pro game faster. He's built like a power forward and should be pretty well filled out by now. If he can figure out how to use his size and strength effectively, much like Tuch but obviously Lucia isn't on his level potential wise, he could be a dominant player in Iowa and maybe a call-up when it's needed.
 

57special

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I think he's a player who is going to have to figure out his role in the NHL. Sort of like Haula, but Haula was a much better college player.
 

El Nino22

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I think he's a player who is going to have to figure out his role in the NHL. Sort of like Haula, but Haula was a much better college player.

I agree he'll need to adapt his game to serve a more bottom 6 role but his physical skills should allow him to do that. I think he can score in the NHL though. He's got a big slap shot and good finishing in tight spaces/traffic.

I would have been curious to see how he would have finished out had he stayed healthy. Haula obviously was the better college player but Lucia's 21 goal junior season was impressive and I was hoping he'd turn pro then. Getting hurt and going back for his senior season really hurt his stock.
 

57special

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I agree he'll need to adapt his game to serve a more bottom 6 role but his physical skills should allow him to do that. I think he can score in the NHL though. He's got a big slap shot and good finishing in tight spaces/traffic.

I would have been curious to see how he would have finished out had he stayed healthy. Haula obviously was the better college player but Lucia's 21 goal junior season was impressive and I was hoping he'd turn pro then. Getting hurt and going back for his senior season really hurt his stock.

I thought he was hurt in his first year...was it even just before his first year?

The times I've seen him play he wasn't very physical.

Oh, and slap shots are seldom used by forwards now. Simply not enough time to get them off.
 
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