Should Minnesota begin a full rebuild?

After creating a trade thread for Jonas Brodin I came across some Minnesota fans who explained to me the direction Minnesota’s GM Fenton is likely headed and it had me wondering:

Shouldn’t Minnesota be going into a full rebuild? Well lets take a closer look:

Their top three point producers last year are 34 years old in Parise Staal and Suter (since they traded Granlund). Obviously I think Dumba could have contested if he stayed healthy. Then Koivu whos 35 was their sixth highest producer.

Minnesota has some nice young pieces on the NHL offense like Fiala, Greenway, Kunin, Donato, and Eriksson-Ek. But nothing in the higher end category and some of these guys are very young and will take a few years or so to develop properly.

Then on defense: great defense with some nice young pieces. Dumba, Brodin, and Spurgeon although hes 29 (and is rumored to be available). Suter obviously isnt getting any younger but can mentor the youth coming up for a while longer.

Goaltending - Dubnyk and Stalock are both over 31 years old. Prospect wise I cannot attest to what they have but its not common for a starting goaltender to bloom immediately when he hits the league. Granted Dubnyk is only 32 turning 33 - if they have a prospext coming up he’d have to start getting some sheltered time in the next year or two.

I cannot speak to the prospects Minnesota has so Im sure they have a few guys who may compete to step up next year. However, unless their prospect pool is overflowing with tons of middle to high end talent just waiting to hit the NHL.... even then that would takes 2-3 years to develop to a level where youd likely see results befitting of their status.

For a team who has not passed the first round in quite some time - as well as missing entirely last year - their GM seems to be content with making some moves to be competitive next year (according to the fans I spoke to here on HF). So to that I ask:

What gives? A roster thats up there in the top 5-7 oldest teams with barely any success to show for it. And unless their prospect pool is packed with high-end talent to replace three of their best players and then some over the next few years...

Do you think Minnesota should blow it up? Have they been mediocre for too long to begin a sustainable run of success? Is their prospect pool in line with their roster’s current age?

Curious to hear other teams’ opinions on the matter as to me it seems like Minnesota is a team who should be moving on to a new direction when the last hasn’t worked for the majority of this decade.

 

Parise and Suter are untradeable with their contracts. They're stuck like Detroit was with Zetterberg/Datsyuk until they're off the books.

 

Dont we all think Detroit wasted some years not beginning the rebuild?

Wouldnt be the end of the world to keep these guys as mentors for the young ones coming in. Problem is if the owners want to pay that much for it.

 

1 or 2 pieces, good health and who knows.

 

Do they really have a choice?

 

Parise’s I get but is Suter’s really that bad that it couldnt be moved?

 

They signed the same year for the same length and dollars. They're both on 13 year contracts that started in 2011-12.

 

They have already started it. Fenton is throwing all value-guys out for futures.

 

suter is a much better player, and defensemen age better than forwards

 

He's also attempting to come back from a career threatening injury that cost him this past season, IIRC.

 

That was Brandon Sutter. Ryan Suter has played 82 games in 3 of the last 4 seasons.

As for Suter, I don't know many teams that are interested in acquiring a 34 year old D making $7.5m for the next 6 years. He's still worth it now, but the last 2-4 years of that contract could be ugly.

 

Ryan Suter had an injury prior to last year's playoffs. We played against Winnipeg shorthanded without him. I do not know how bad the injury was, but I know his quality of play this season was in question.

 

Yes, he broke his ankle, and there was some question about whether he'd be ready for the season. But, at the end of the season, he still played all 82 games, still averaged 26+ minutes per game, and was 4 points off from his career high in scoring.

 

They already are. They moved on from Granlund, Niederreiter, Coyle; almost did the same with Zucker; and might be doing so with Spurgeon.

 

Yes they should, and they should fire BB and get a new coach to lead the rebuild.....


so we can hire him........

 

I dont get this. They are in a rebuild. They are not trading Parise and Suter because they cannot find buyers that wont send crap returns, or ask for a lot of retention most likely. This isnt EA NHL where you can trick the opposing franchises into taking your expensive contracts. Similar to Detroit, they are handcuffed by some contracts signed under previous CBA.

 

Parise and Suter are still worth their contracts. Parise had a good year.

Kaprizov is probably coming after next season. Add a pick at #12 like Newhook

Greenway, Kunin, Kaprizov, Newhook, Eriksson Ek, Fiala, Donato is a decent young group of forwards.

Blueline will stay good for awhile so dont have to worry too much there.

 

Hard cap league. There's no diving head first into a full rebuild anymore. Unless all your big contracts are expiring at the same time. Any real rebuilding project today is a multi-year slow bleed.

 

Well, they are doing a rebuild of sorts. They're just keeping a handful of highly paid underperforming veterans on the team as well, because trading them isnt an option for one reason or another. There's the contracts, especially of Parise, and getting rid of Koivu could be a PR nightmare.

Trading Niederreiter for Rask was a quality tank commander move, but Fenton needs to do more. The team still looks mediocre, and that's not good enough for a top pick, so to speak. And boy do they need that top pick bad, I'd say they need it the most in the league..

 

I was told by a 3-4 Minnesota fans over in the Trade section that Fenton plans on only moving players for better assets and doesnt want to stockpile picks and prospects. Apparently Fenton will try to be competitive for a playoff spot again next year instead of just sell sell sell

 

So why keep Zucker, Spurgeon, Brodin, Staal, etc.?

And again I was told Minnesota plans on being competitive next year. That doesnt scream rebuild to me when they havent had any playoff success for over five years.

 

That’s why Fenton has been trading our underperforming playoff performers for younger players with upside. Well, minus Rask. You can still be competitive well retooling.

 

But does that really make much sense?

Im not saying tank tank tank, but youll be picking 12-17 over and over if you keep trying to be competitive. Look at Detroit, they did this and now theyre falling off hard for a few years and are getting high picks for it.

Why extend how long it takes to rebuild when you can just bite the bullet and move some of your better guys for better assets and speed it up - even if the falloff is quick and harsh?

 

We still have one of the better defensive groups in the league. It doesn’t make sense to go full rebuild mode with that group intact.

You seem to think that a rebuild guarantees success. It doesn’t, that can be seen with many teams in this league. At this point, I’d much rather try a retool than a full rebuild.

 

I think they're in a similar situation as Anaheim.

The veteran core isn't worth trading as their value is low compared to what it used to be either because of regression in performance or contract.

For the Wild, Zucker-Spurgeon-Dubnyk is the big trio from value perspective and 2 of those guys have modified NTC's. Are the assets you get back really worth sucking for many years to come ?

Maybe you get something for Staal but he just signed there and also has a M-NTC, perhaps Pateryn can get you a pick.

But i don't think there's enough to make it worth it. It would be a different story if Parise and Suter got them big hauls. Just like with the Ducks if they could trade Perry and Kesler.

Re-tool just makes the most sense in the current situation if you're looking for change. You have the veteran core, might as well do what you can with it. It's inevitable the bad years will come anyway.