True, but also a lot of interest might also mean a lot of GMs kicking the tires and seeing what Fenton is their value.
Minnesota Wild General Discussion VI
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True, but also a lot of interest might also mean a lot of GMs kicking the tires and seeing what Fenton is their value.
I don't see that the Wild have to make a trade if there's no value there. Simply make Staal 1C, Coyle 2C, Ek 3C, Fehr 4C. Granlund, Parise, Nino, Zucker, are the top wingers. Greenway, Brown, Foligno, and some unholy combo of Hendricks/Read/Iowa dude make up the bottom half wings.
Sure, we'll miss Mikko, but it's not like we're lighting it up with him. He's been sort of an enabler to this team for years....this next 3-4 weeks will allow some players *cough* Coyle/Nino to step up.
Koivu has been having a good year. Sucks that this injury screws it up due to a filthy hit by Giordano.
Sure, we'll miss Mikko, but it's not like we're lighting it up with him. He's been sort of an enabler to this team for years....this next 3-4 weeks will allow some players *cough* Coyle/Nino to step up.
Koivu has been having a good year. Sucks that this injury screws it up due to a filthy hit by Giordano.
SupremeNachos
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Which was the most exciting things since waiting for a decent trade around the expansion and player drafts the prior year.
- Aug 9, 2011
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He's still the best in terms of possession metrics but the margin between him and the rest is smaller.
Dr Jan Itor
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Feel like ever since they moved spurge back with Sutter to "help suters psyche" the team has been in free fall. Anyone confirm this?
They were headed in the free fall direction even before the d-man swap. The Caps game was the start of it and the d-man swap happened 4 or 5 (OTT) games after that.
Edit: I was thinking along a similar line until I looked back at everything.
I think Suter doesn't look right. I know he is still scoring points, but either his foot is hampering him, or the lack of a summer of off ice training is showing. He is not the defensive stalwart he has been in the past.
Ironic that when Parise finally gets healthy and starts to play well, Suter starts to look his age.
Ironic that when Parise finally gets healthy and starts to play well, Suter starts to look his age.
Maybe he's just not getting enough ToI and it's affecting his game. Too much time on the bench and his mind is wandering...
Yeah, agree. It feels that sometimes he looked just fine and thought it was just rust, lack of skating and sure some soreness too.
But then, again sometines not that good. Especially defensively, like backward skating and turns, in the corners..
Hopefully nothing / just in our heads.
He also used to be so good at riding guys off into the boards. He'd just envelop people, then use his strength to trap them. His transitions from backwards to forwards were very under the radar, but fabulous. Now there seems to be a lag, and players are making him look slow.
Hoping it's just a temporary, or a group hallucination thing on our part.
We are still in the Central and not in the Pacific, right? It feels like a month since we've played anyone from the Central.
I think they intentionally stacked the inter-divisional games up in the second half of the season.
Dee Oh Cee
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I'm coming dangerously close to becoming a full-on Coyle apologist, but I wonder: if this Parise-Coyle-Nino line continues to click while Koivu is out, what do we do when he gets back? I've generally been in the "Coyle is a RW" camp, but if he can be a reliable middle-6 center it'd solve a sticky problem for us now and going forward. Especially if it also helps to elevate Nino's game. Staal - Koivu - Coyle - Fehr as our centers this year isn't awful.
The question would be what to do with Eriksson-Ek, but if Kunin plays well and can hang on the 3rd line with Greenway I think you just send him down for the year. Where he plays next season is also up in the air, but a lot can (and probably will) happen over the summer. Boosting the value of your top two trade candidates while solving your biggest immediate problem internally and only having to send down a waivers-exempt player to do it seems like a pretty easy call.
We'll have to see how the next few weeks go, but if the team looks close to how they looked last night I'd lean toward this for the rest of the year:
Zucker - Staal - Granlund
Parise - Coyle - Nino
Greenway - Koivu - Kunin
Maybe flip Coyle and Koivu, but I like keeping that 2nd line intact and giving the rookies a veteran center to play with. I'm not sure if they can keep up with the defensive responsibilities that Koivu's line tends to carry, but neither have been slouches defensively.
Edit: I would write all that out right as it comes out that Koivu's practicing today.
The question would be what to do with Eriksson-Ek, but if Kunin plays well and can hang on the 3rd line with Greenway I think you just send him down for the year. Where he plays next season is also up in the air, but a lot can (and probably will) happen over the summer. Boosting the value of your top two trade candidates while solving your biggest immediate problem internally and only having to send down a waivers-exempt player to do it seems like a pretty easy call.
We'll have to see how the next few weeks go, but if the team looks close to how they looked last night I'd lean toward this for the rest of the year:
Zucker - Staal - Granlund
Parise - Coyle - Nino
Greenway - Koivu - Kunin
Maybe flip Coyle and Koivu, but I like keeping that 2nd line intact and giving the rookies a veteran center to play with. I'm not sure if they can keep up with the defensive responsibilities that Koivu's line tends to carry, but neither have been slouches defensively.
Edit: I would write all that out right as it comes out that Koivu's practicing today.
I'd hold off on Coyle replacing Koivu as the 2C. It was one blowout win at home against a bad backup goalie, with 5 of the 7 goals coming on special teams. I would need to see sustained success from that Coyle line before I'd consider putting Koivu on the 3rd line.
I guess I'm thinking less in terms of line numbers and more in terms of which line combinations are working. Coyle down with the rookies might end up making more sense regardless though, just because Koivu's line is inevitably going to get a lot of hard defensive minutes.
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