Minnesota Wild General Discussion XVII

[BagHead]

Those were the days......don't forget Daigle!

How could we ever forget the guy that was drafted 1st overall? It's the guy drafted 2nd that nobody remembers.

 

[Nsjohnson]

I swear we seem like the 2010-ish era Preds. No super stars but good D and a deepish forward group.

The only reason they didn't go to the SC around then was because of the Hawks if my memory serves me correctly?

 

[BagHead]

Guys? What in the dickens is going on with Hartman right now? Is this sustainable?

I had a discussion about this with another member of this board recently. He's getting a lot more shots on net than he has historically, but is also scoring on a higher percentage of his shots. He does appear to have turned a bit of a corner offensively, but maybe not quite to the degree his current totals say. I would say that instead of 12 goals, he should probably be around 9 or 10.

He isn't a 40-50 goal scorer, but he does appear to be a 25-35 goal scorer if he continues playing the way he is right now. Short sample size, so I'm not sure if he will or not. We've seen him play like this for short bursts at times in his career, but I've never seen him string so many games of this caliber together before.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

I had a discussion about this with another member of this board recently. He's getting a lot more shots on net than he has historically, but is also scoring on a higher percentage of his shots. He does appear to have turned a bit of a corner offensively, but maybe not quite to the degree his current totals say. I would say that instead of 12 goals, he should probably be around 9 or 10.

He isn't a 40-50 goal scorer, but he does appear to be a 25-35 goal scorer if he continues playing the way he is right now. Short sample size, so I'm not sure if he will or not. We've seen him play like this for short bursts at times in his career, but I've never seen him string so many games of this caliber together before.

maybe he was always supposed to be a C in the league because it suits his style so well?

 

[57special]

I don't know that Hartman has ever had this opportunity before. Seems to me that he was always in a bottom six grinder role.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

I don't know that Hartman has ever had this opportunity before. Seems to me that he was always in a bottom six grinder role.

didnt he play with Kane his first or second year in the league? i believe in a recent interview he talked about it on a podcast with Russo or something.

 

[ThatGuy22]

didnt he play with Kane his first or second year in the league? i believe in a recent interview he talked about it on a podcast with Russo or something.

The year they traded him is really the only time he saw some consitent minutes with Kane. Kane was his most common linemate that season, but he was only Kane's 4th most common.

 

[guitarhunterdude]

I don't know that Hartman has ever had this opportunity before. Seems to me that he was always in a bottom six grinder role.

I thought I remembered him on Toews' wing in Chicago, at least occasionally. Might have been because Saad was out for a game or something though.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

The year they traded him is really the only time he saw some consitent minutes with Kane. Kane was his most common linemate that season, but he was only Kane's 4th most common.

well there you go, i knew it was to an extent i just didnt know how much.

 

[Olcoach]

So with Gaudreau out will Boldy get a call up?

 

[Bazeek]

So with Gaudreau out will Boldy get a call up?

I'd assume Addison gets sent down and they call up a depth-ier defenseman along with a forward. Would not surprise me if the forward is someone like Dewar instead of Boldy, but we shall see.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I can see Beckman instead of Boldy, since he's already had his NHL taste, and it's probably not going to lead to being there there entire season.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

2 topics I want to talk about.

1. Can Kaprizov break the single-season franchise point record. Additionally, how good is he if he’s got a legit center?

2. How much credit does Guerin get for this team’s success? If they make a fairytale-type run this year, are we still going to be able to argue that Guerin’s an idiot?

 

[guitarhunterdude]

2 topics I want to talk about.

1. Can Kaprizov break the single-season franchise point record. Additionally, how good is he if he’s got a legit center?

2. How much credit does Guerin get for this team’s success? If they make a fairytale-type run this year, are we still going to be able to argue that Guerin’s an idiot?

1) where there's a will there's a way. Additionally, pretty darn good
2) I certainly will, if only to be a contrarian asshole. Not maximizing returns on Fiala etc. and still no 1C or plethora of draft picks with which to acquire one. I'll still be pretty happy if we luck or "culture" our way into a WCF run or something though.

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

I get the idea that it’s not worth it to call up Boldy to play a checking role but we are currently in the position where we are playing our second best offensive player with AHLers. What gives? This is a no brainer.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

2 topics I want to talk about.

1. Can Kaprizov break the single-season franchise point record. Additionally, how good is he if he’s got a legit center?

2. How much credit does Guerin get for this team’s success? If they make a fairytale-type run this year, are we still going to be able to argue that Guerin’s an idiot?

1: yes he can, if he had someone like Miller as his C he would be close to 100 points i believe. his creativity is showing again.
2: without much knowledge its hard to give him a whole lot more than Evason. i do think he should of got some picks for trade deadline sales but if it somehow bought everyone into a team effort and is producing this that will continue it will be hard to argue how much a culture change helped.

 

[AKL]

I get the idea that it’s not worth it to call up Boldy to play a checking role but we are currently in the position where we are playing our second best offensive player with AHLers. What gives? This is a no brainer.

Please try to keep in mind that this is the same GM/coach who called up Addison to scratch him for 5 games so Benn could play, then put him at wing. Stupid moves and not using a brain is kind of a specialty.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

2 topics I want to talk about.

1. Can Kaprizov break the single-season franchise point record. Additionally, how good is he if he’s got a legit center?

2. How much credit does Guerin get for this team’s success? If they make a fairytale-type run this year, are we still going to be able to argue that Guerin’s an idiot?

#1. I was hoping he'd do the goal + points record in the same season, but he'll really have to pick up the scoring to do so. Pacing 93 as of now so he actually has some cushion to go cold for a quick spell. I think he'll do it (points at least).

#2. So much goes into this. Montreal had their fairy tale run and look where their GM is right now. I don't think Guerin is in any danger of that, though. I haven't gone through everything, but I'd guess that he'd be sitting maybe 60/40 or 65/35 as fair as positives vs. negatives, IMO.

 

[Bazeek]

2 topics I want to talk about.

1. Can Kaprizov break the single-season franchise point record. Additionally, how good is he if he’s got a legit center?

2. How much credit does Guerin get for this team’s success? If they make a fairytale-type run this year, are we still going to be able to argue that Guerin’s an idiot?

1.) Yes. For whatever reason I struggle to see Kaprizov eclipsing 100 points, but I can see him hitting 90. I guess it depends on what a "legit center" would be, but I'd assume that he'll always be the best player on his line unless something really crazy falls into our laps.

2.) Personally I'll give him plenty of credit for it, because I'd damn sure rag on him if they sucked. Of course it's only December and there's still plenty of time for them to suck, but there doesn't seem to be any serious risk of that right now.

It's weird because Guerin's biggest moves so far have either been subtractions or moves he didn't make, but if you can do that and still come out with a winning team it's fair to credit him for his restraint and eye for the bigger picture. The current team hasn't been built so much as assembled, but it's been assembled while building a strong prospect pool underneath it. That's a hard thing to pull off.

My main concern with him right now is really about opportunity costs. We're going into 3 years of cap deadzone, which also correspond to the team's best player's prime years, which is a big problem. If this team keeps on like it has he's going to have to make a real choice about whether or not to burn some assets on a rental center to try for one last hurrah before the cold settles in, or just keep letting it ride with the group he's got.

 

[GuerinUp]

1.) Yes. For whatever reason I struggle to see Kaprizov eclipsing 100 points, but I can see him hitting 90. I guess it depends on what a "legit center" would be, but I'd assume that he'll always be the best player on his line unless something really crazy falls into our laps.

2.) Personally I'll give him plenty of credit for it, because I'd damn sure rag on him if they sucked. Of course it's only December and there's still plenty of time for them to suck, but there doesn't seem to be any serious risk of that right now.

It's weird because Guerin's biggest moves so far have either been subtractions or moves he didn't make, but if you can do that and still come out with a winning team it's fair to credit him for his restraint and eye for the bigger picture. The current team hasn't been built so much as assembled, but it's been assembled while building a strong prospect pool underneath it. That's a hard thing to pull off.

My main concern with him right now is really about opportunity costs. We're going into 3 years of cap deadzone, which also correspond to the team's best player's prime years, which is a big problem. If this team keeps on like it has he's going to have to make a real choice about whether or not to burn some assets on a rental center to try for one last hurrah before the cold settles in, or just keep letting it ride with the group he's got.

theres always a chance he sweet talks a veteran ufa that still has some juice to sign for a year here at minimal cost to try to "go for it"

 

[Bazeek]

theres always a chance he sweet talks a veteran ufa that still has some juice to sign for a year here at minimal cost to try to "go for it"

I'm not sure there are enough honeyed words in the English language to convince a decent UFA to "go for it" on a team with $10m+ in dead cap space. They could do the same thing with any number of teams that don't have that handicap.

 

[GuerinUp]

I'm not sure there are enough honeyed words in the English language to convince a decent UFA to "go for it" on a team with $10m+ in dead cap space. They could do the same thing with any number of teams that don't have that handicap.

ya, but have those teams done what we have so far this season without a center? thats the selling point.

 

[Bazeek]

ya, but have those teams done what we have so far this season without a center? thats the selling point.

Are we talking about signing a UFA in-season this year? I assumed we were talking about signing someone over the summer. They've been very good this year but it's been on the back of team depth that's going to get kicked in the knees this summer. Any UFA would not be committing to the same team that's having success right now.

 

[GuerinUp]

Are we talking about signing a UFA in-season this year? I assumed we were talking about signing someone over the summer. They've been very good this year but it's been on the back of team depth that's going to get kicked in the knees this summer. Any UFA would not be committing to the same team that's having success right now.

no i meant over the summer. the team will lose a couple pieces but by and large would be the same it is now.

 

[Bazeek]

no i meant over the summer. the team will lose a couple pieces but by and large would be the same it is now.

I guess we'll see. I could see Bjugstad back on a similar deal and maybe Sturm pulls a Hartman to stick around. We'll still be relying on Addison, Boldy and Rossi to step into substantial roles all at once next year, though. It'd be a really weird team to pick to go Cup hunting with, but who knows.