Minnesota Wild General Discussion V

[gphr513]

I've been following Pronman's 2018-19 NHL farm system rankings on The Athletic, he's at #20 now and he still hasn't gotten to us yet. I thought the general thinking was that our cupboards were kind of bare. But at least according to one outside observer, there are plenty other worse off than us. Curious to see where we'll end up.

 

[Wabit]

I've been following Pronman's 2018-19 NHL farm system rankings on The Athletic, he's at #20 now and he still hasn't gotten to us yet. I thought the general thinking was that our cupboards were kind of bare. But at least according to one outside observer, there are plenty other worse off than us. Curious to see where we'll end up.

I'm not that surprised, we had before the draft:
- 3 future NHL d-men in Belpedio, Seeler, and Soucy.
- 3 at least middle-6 FWDs with 1st line ceilings in Greenway, Kaprizov, and Kunin.
- A goalie in Kahkonen who has a 50/50 chance of being a NHLer.
- A few potential diamonds in the rough in Ana, Kloos, Sokolov, Menell, Ladonia, and Shaw.

Then the draft added:
- 2 Johanssons as potential NHL RD's.
- Mcbain, who I think Pronman called a steal as top-6 upside.
- Khovanov, who could also be a steal with top-6 upside.
- Dewar has a chance to become a pesky bottom-6 center.

This is easily the deepest prospect pool the Wild have had since they moved to Iowa, and double digit potential NHL players. The very top end prospects are lacking. But there is a lot of depth/fillers already around to supplement any top end players the Wild might acquire, or a couple of the prospects exceed their projected ceiling.

Remember these rankings are usually done with rose colored glasses and everyone still can/will hit their ceilings.

 

[Wild11MN]

I've been following Pronman's 2018-19 NHL farm system rankings on The Athletic, he's at #20 now and he still hasn't gotten to us yet. I thought the general thinking was that our cupboards were kind of bare. But at least according to one outside observer, there are plenty other worse off than us. Curious to see where we'll end up.

Just came in at 18. It's an improvement for sure.

Wait... it says he had us at 6 last year. That seems odd. I guess JEE was included and Kunin wasn't coming off an ACL tear.

 

[gphr513]

Just came in at 18. It's an improvement for sure.

Wait... it says he had us at 6 last year. That seems odd. I guess JEE was included and Kunin wasn't coming off an ACL tear.

I admittedly have not been paying as much attention to prospects as I have in the past, but yeah I'm surprised that we were at 6th. I guess I thought after the Zucker/Granlund/Dumba generation, and trading away draft picks for rentals, we were kind of hurting in that department. But that's getting to be quite a few years since they've broken into the first team I suppose, so we've had time to reload.

 

[ThatGuy22]

I admittedly have not been paying as much attention to prospects as I have in the past, but yeah I'm surprised that we were at 6th. I guess I thought after the Zucker/Granlund/Dumba generation, and trading away draft picks for rentals, we were kind of hurting in that department. But that's getting to be quite a few years since they've broken into the first team I suppose, so we've had time to reload.

JEE, Kaprizov, Kunin and Greenway were just coming off basically starring roles in the WJC last year, which certainly helped the over-all ranking.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

in b4 ".....what does Pronman know.....just another analyst that has never seen these guys play.....".

 

[nickschultzfan]

Pronman under-values players with low-offensive ceilings. Johansson, Seeler, and Soucy are all going to be quality NHL Dmen, but they were listed lower than some guys who are never going to see the NHL.

 

[2Pair]

in b4 ".....what does Pronman know.....just another analyst that has never seen these guys play.....".

I respect that he sticks to his own opinions, and enjoy reading his stuff, but he had an article on the Athletic a while back about what his drafts would've looked like had he been running things. It was pretty brutal.

 

[Binister]

So the Wild were on headlines of NHL. Basically the trend is the same as it has been for five years now. Bubble team with first round exit.

 

[BagHead]

I respect that he sticks to his own opinions, and enjoy reading his stuff, but he had an article on the Athletic a while back about what his drafts would've looked like had he been running things. It was pretty brutal.

That he'd put that out to the public in spite of it being brutal actually makes me respect him more. Also makes people hopefully realize that they should take his rankings with a grain of salt.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

That he'd put that out to the public in spite of it being brutal actually makes me respect him more. Also makes people hopefully realize that they should take his rankings with a grain of salt.

You should take everybody’s rankings with a grain of salt.

 

[nickschultzfan]

So the Wild were on headlines of NHL. Basically the trend is the same as it has been for five years now. Bubble team with first round exit.

Well it is going to be hard for the Wild when they are looking at Winnipeg or Nashville in the first round.

Wild just really need to become a pesky defensive juggernaut. We need a healthy Suter, and Seeler and Pateryn fortifying the blueline where last year we had guys like Olofsson, Reilly, and Quincey opening it up. We need JEE, Coyle, or Greenway to grab the bull by the horns and be that responsible 3rd center who wins lots of faceoffs. We need Dubnyk to be good enough to win a series.

If we can do that, then the offense can have the space to find goals in a tight series.

 

[Nharris31]

So the Wild were on headlines of NHL. Basically the trend is the same as it has been for five years now. Bubble team with first round exit.

Correction six years.

 

[PuckInTheNards]

So, why did we let Fletcher go again? I understand the logic of not making a trade just to make a trade but here we are - nearing preseason and the roster looks pretty much identical to last years'. What was the point of changing GMs?

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

So, why did we let Fletcher go again? I understand the logic of not making a trade just to make a trade but here we are - nearing preseason and the roster looks pretty much identical to last years'. What was the point of changing GMs?

Because we all demanded for it to happen, thinking that the grass is always greener, and such.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

So, why did we let Fletcher go again? I understand the logic of not making a trade just to make a trade but here we are - nearing preseason and the roster looks pretty much identical to last years'. What was the point of changing GMs?

Leo wanted someone with a different view on the team without a biased opinion on drafting this player and giving them money for something they did in the past or for one year. The trade will come, everyone knows it. Just a matter of time. Bad contracts is what as f***ed this team so we cant do much to get better right now.

 

[nickschultzfan]

I think Fletcher went because of his mistakes over the last final year or so of his tenure, rather than immediate change. Leopold watching Wild get bounced, and then watching Haula and Tuch do well for Vegas. Or Scandella become a top Dman for Buffalo. Or not having the assets to do anything going into the draft. Something had to give.

 

[nickschultzfan]

I just think Leopold thought the team took a step back when it should have been taking a step forward. Yes, the injuries were massive.

But virtually every depth player brought in or promoted by Fletcher over the past season didn't have much if any impact. JEE. Ennis. Cullen. Foligno. Olofsson. Reilly. Quincey. Even Kunin (although that was due to injury). It was only after these guys failed and guys like Seeler, Greenway, and Soucy stepped in did the team get some stability back, but by then it was too little, too late.

 

[BigT2002]

I just think Leopold thought the team took a step back when it should have been taking a step forward. Yes, the injuries were massive.

But virtually every depth player brought in or promoted by Fletcher over the past season didn't have much if any impact. JEE. Ennis. Cullen. Foligno. Olofsson. Reilly. Quincey. Even Kunin (although that was due to injury). It was only after these guys failed and guys like Seeler, Greenway, and Soucy stepped in did the team get some stability back, but by then it was too little, too late.

I still think trades played just as big of a role as any. Trading away picks and prospects to bring in players who didn't do much of anything to the team but cost the owner money probably didn't sit too well with him. Tie in losing so many 1st rounders or solid mid round picks to get someone who actually may have hurt the team more than helped. Feel like Fletcher really couldn't handle the trade deadline too well. Draft day he seemed to know what he was doing.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

2 major rumors...

1. Zucker + Nino for Domi + Dvorak... would've been a disaster

2. Something involving Carolina... trading players that can't get passed the 1st (or 2nd round) for players that can't get their team into the playoffs... why?

 

[PuckInTheNards]

I think Fletcher went because of his mistakes over the last final year or so of his tenure, rather than immediate change. Leopold watching Wild get bounced, and then watching Haula and Tuch do well for Vegas. Or Scandella become a top Dman for Buffalo. Or not having the assets to do anything going into the draft. Something had to give.

I think that's a reasonable take. If I'm honest, I don't think Fletch won any trades except Nino. Pomminville maybe? But the draft pick turned into Zadorov, so...

I was as frustrated as anyone at the end of last season - I guess I was just hoping for some kind of shake up this off season.

 

[Aurinko]

I think Fletcher went because of his mistakes over the last final year or so of his tenure, rather than immediate change. Leopold watching Wild get bounced, and then watching Haula and Tuch do well for Vegas. Or Scandella become a top Dman for Buffalo. Or not having the assets to do anything going into the draft. Something had to give.

I think it was more a "political" move, it had been over 8 years since they revealed their "5 year" plan (which obviously failed)... I don´t see any of those trades being of any importance in influencing the final decision. Just a move that was to be done due to the results.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

2 major rumors...

1. Zucker + Nino for Domi + Dvorak... would've been a disaster

2. Something involving Carolina... trading players that can't get passed the 1st (or 2nd round) for players that can't get their team into the playoffs... why?

i think trade 1 was more so getting some quality back in Dvorak along with a decent LW2 in Domi, but also freeing up some cap to go bigger after the trade. Possibly a trade to jump into a bigger trade with the proper cap space.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

i think trade 1 was more so getting some quality back in Dvorak along with a decent LW2 in Domi, but also freeing up some cap to go bigger after the trade. Possibly a trade to jump into a bigger trade with the proper cap space.

Well, we're not just trading cap space in a hypothetical bigger trade, so now we're losing a trade with Arizona to be able to trade a player (or players) like Coyle, Brodin, Dumba and/or Spurgeon for a name that nobody knew was being shopped when all of this was happening? I guess you can consider me skeptical about the whole thing.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

Well, we're not just trading cap space in a hypothetical bigger trade, so now we're losing a trade with Arizona to be able to trade a player (or players) like Coyle, Brodin, Dumba and/or Spurgeon for a name that nobody knew was being shopped when all of this was happening? I guess you can consider me skeptical about the whole thing.

Im not saying i approve of it, just something about the way it was going about, i believe prior to the draft(?), just seemed like something bigger would follow.