Wild are still underdogs?

[Dee Oh Cee]

I wish Lambert would write a new Unsustainable piece before the season even starts.

I'm definitely getting sick of him...sad because his style that generates clicks will probably always succeed.

 

[Hypno Toad]

The idea of a healthy Wild team is an awesome thought. Not only are the Wild dangerous when they're healthy, but with the additions it's just awesome. I can't wait for Wild hockey.

 

[Northland Wild Man]

I think the Wild will turn a lot of heads this season.

The tools are there for the most part to achieve success. Solid experienced goaltending, stable (for the most part) defense that will have veteran leaders, and what could shape to be a great top 6. I,m not saying they are on top of the league or anything like that, but if they get into the playoffs anything can happen.

There are 2 kinds of people that think the Wild are incapable of success and still label them underdogs.

The first kind are the stat nerds who think games are won with calculators. Last season they came out of the woodwork when the Wild were on top saying the fall from grace was inevitable. The Wild of course would have more than likely made the playoffs had they stayed healthy.

The second type of people are the ones who don't watch the Wild play often enough to know anyone on the team except Parise, Sutter, and Koivu. They think this because the Wild don't get the coverage that a team like the Rangers get. (which is also why I think the Rangers are a bit overrated this year) These type of people also still think the Wild trap and play a boring style of a passive 1-2-2.

Of course this is all old news to the Wild boards.

Let the head turning commence!

 

[Generic User]

Good GIF.

 

[WildisLaw]

I think the only logical question is what half do the Wild finish in.....the top 4 or the bottom 4? Because you don't miss the playoffs with this roster ainec.

 

[613Leafer]

Leafs fan here.

Seeing as I dont have much to cheer for this year, Minnesota is definitely a team Ill be following. I think you guys definitely deserved to get this break with Parise/Suter, one of the best hockey markets in the US, definitely the very best hockey market considering the size of the city when compared to NY, Chicago, etc.

Goaltending looks solid. Heatley/Setoguchi are largely forgotten in discussions, what if they have rebound years? How will Koivu look with Parise on his wing? What about Granlund? He's considered a top prospect. D obviously is pretty thin after Suter, which could be problematic.

Minnesota would definitely be a playoff team in the crapshoot that is the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately the West is a lot deeper. I think youll be in a dog fight, but I hope you get in and make some noise. Edmonton and Colorado are two other dark horse teams IMO to go for lower playoff seeds.

 

[WildisLaw]

Leafs fan here.

Seeing as I dont have much to cheer for this year, Minnesota is definitely a team Ill be following. I think you guys definitely deserved to get this break with Parise/Suter, one of the best hockey markets in the US, definitely the very best hockey market considering the size of the city when compared to NY, Chicago, etc.

Goaltending looks solid. Heatley/Setoguchi are largely forgotten in discussions, what if they have rebound years? How will Koivu look with Parise on his wing? What about Granlund? He's considered a top prospect. D obviously is pretty thin after Suter, which could be problematic.

Minnesota would definitely be a playoff team in the crapshoot that is the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately the West is a lot deeper. I think youll be in a dog fight, but I hope you get in and make some noise. Edmonton and Colorado are two other dark horse teams IMO to go for lower playoff seeds.

I don't get the defense argument, it's pure ignorance. It's like your looking for any excuse for the Wild to fail. Look at the damn stats. We finished top half of league in that category and we added Ryan ****ing Suter. We have a top 10 defense.

 

[613Leafer]

I don't get the defense argument, it's pure ignorance. It's like your looking for any excuse for the Wild to fail. Look at the damn stats. We finished top half of league in that category and we added Ryan ****ing Suter. We have a top 10 defense.

Considering I'm cheering for the Wild in the West, no, I would say it's not because I'm looking for an excuse for them to fail.

And is it ignorance or bias on your part? If most of the league thinks you have a questionable blueline... guess what! They didn't all join together and say "hey! Lets go pick on the Wild fans and pretend they have bad D". More likely is you're just being a biased fan.

Team stats such as GAA and PK are influenced by much more than just the blueline. And guess what? Your goaltending is pretty solid and you have a number of good defensive forwards, not to mention Minnesota is known for having a good defensive team mentality.

And the measurement of a blueline isn't just in it's defensive ability, it's the offensive ability as well. 23 points is what your highest scoring blueliner had last year. Suter will instantly upgrade that, but your still thin when it comes to PMD. Not to mention you have put huge expectations on young guys like Spurgeon and Scandella to play big minutes, if they falter and have a youthful slump, there's not much that can step up to insulate those guys.

Longterm, Brodin/Dumba and others should help round out that group. But at the moment, it could definitely use another Top 4 guy.

 

[Nsjohnson]

I don't get the defense argument, it's pure ignorance. It's like your looking for any excuse for the Wild to fail. Look at the damn stats. We finished top half of league in that category and we added Ryan ****ing Suter. We have a top 10 defense.

You need to chill because our defense is suspect right now.

 

[TZM]

The defensemen aren't top material, excluding Suter, but the team can play great defensive game. You play well together and hence become a better individual.

Individual skill, atm, is thin in D tho.

E: I may sound incoherent.

 

[BusQuets]

Our very solid two-way forwards will help the D a lot.

 

[nickschultzfan]

You need to chill because our defense is suspect right now.

Defense is just the weakest part of our team, so it gets the focus.

There is no argument that it is improved from last year. Last year we just focused on the AHL forwards on our 1st line.

 

[Beegoalie]

I don't get the defense argument, it's pure ignorance. It's like your looking for any excuse for the Wild to fail. Look at the damn stats. We finished top half of league in that category and we added Ryan ****ing Suter. We have a top 10 defense.

We finally get a pretty level headed fan from another team to come spark some discussion about our team and you go and freak on the man.

So your saying our defense is fine and we don't need another top 4 defenseman??

Im the biggest homer in the league and think higher of Marco Scandella and Jared Spurgeon than anyone but the fact is the biggest need on this team and the need that keeps us from being elite is depth on the blue line.

 

[Engebretson]

D obviously is pretty thin after Suter, which could be problematic.

The blue line isn't the worst in team history, but it really would make a lot of us feel better if we picked up another Top 4 defensemen to help stabilize our defense. Outside of Suter, Spurgeon and Gilbert, there are a lot of question marks. Scandella and Brodin are two guys who could help fill that space eventually but they're both young and currently injured. Also, I'm beginning to think that Scandella is never going to play at the level we all hope he does. I hope I'm wrong but I'm not content with assuming he's a lock for Top 4 duty.

...and we do appreciate other team's fans coming in and discussing the Wild, so thank you.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Everything has a trade-off. Of course you could always use an upgrade at some place on the time. But the cost of any worthwhile upgrade is going to be too high.
If Brodin or Scandella (or both!) can step up this year, we are in good shape.

Suter is a good #1
Gilbert is a good #3
Spurgeon is a good #4
Stoner is a good #6
Falk is a good #7
Kampfer is a good #8

[Note I'm talking team needs, not pairings].

Yes, if you take out Brodin and Scandella, it's clear that we have holes in the #2 and#5 spots. We need another Dman who can play all situations and log big minutes, and we need another guy who can do a little bit of everything and gap-fill when there is injuries in the top-4.

But if you realize that Brodin and Scandella should NOT be taken out of the equation, since they are both close to returning and in the long-term plans, we are looking a lot better.

 

[OpRedDawn*]

I just hope the injuries don't bite us big time. And if Houston is any indication, they will.

 

[Jarick]

Haven't been in this thread yet, but...

IMO the Wild haven't proven a thing yet. They had a hot start and we all got pumped and then they crapped the bed.

Yes they upgraded massively in three spots, and IMO they can and should be scary good within a year, but they haven't done squat except on paper.

Folks predicting the Wild to be a lottery team aren't paying attention. But I could see them being called a borderline playoff team.

 

[Jaykay]

Folks predicting the Wild to be a lottery team aren't paying attention. But I could see them being called a borderline playoff team.

Under the new lottery format they could be both, isn't it 14 teams now?

 

[HobeyBroten]

Haven't been in this thread yet, but...

IMO the Wild haven't proven a thing yet. They had a hot start and we all got pumped and then they crapped the bed.

Yes they upgraded massively in three spots, and IMO they can and should be scary good within a year, but they haven't done squat except on paper.

Folks predicting the Wild to be a lottery team aren't paying attention. But I could see them being called a borderline playoff team.

Bingo! Our team as a whole is very good defensively but struggles offensively when looking at previous years. A bunch of extremely talented individuals won't make a difference if they don't have chemistry between them.

 

[WildisLaw]

Everything has a trade-off. Of course you could always use an upgrade at some place on the time. But the cost of any worthwhile upgrade is going to be too high.
If Brodin or Scandella (or both!) can step up this year, we are in good shape.

Suter is a good #1
Gilbert is a good #3
Spurgeon is a good #4
Stoner is a good #6
Falk is a good #7
Kampfer is a good #8

[Note I'm talking team needs, not pairings].

Yes, if you take out Brodin and Scandella, it's clear that we have holes in the #2 and#5 spots. We need another Dman who can play all situations and log big minutes, and we need another guy who can do a little bit of everything and gap-fill when there is injuries in the top-4.

But if you realize that Brodin and Scandella should NOT be taken out of the equation, since they are both close to returning and in the long-term plans, we are looking a lot better.

Agreed. All I was saying is that we should be comfortable with our defense. We have no reason to think they can't improve on last year when they did a bit better than average. If we trade for a defenseman it would be at the deadline for more depth IMO.

 

[GrumpyKelly]

I don´t think anyone is expecting Wild to be a contender but if you make it to the playoffs anything can happen, especially in this short season. I think the team is in a good place at the moment.

 

[DANOZ28]

goaltending, (need 2.40gaa or lower), D is still young & chemistry still a ?. after last years hot start with a less talented team im feeling good about our playoff chances.

 

[W75]

Yes Wild are somewhat underdogs, and I like it that way.

Maybe 8th seed in the Western Conference. At least it worked very well last year.

 

[rynryn]

lambert actually was roundabout positive about certain wild-related opinions/predictions.

He thinks Weber will be the one who struggles more now that the Suter/Weber duo is broken up and that Heatley will start to look good again (if you squint).


oh, and we're the worst fans in the league.

 

[rynryn]

what is a "contender"? that's the problem i see here...the definition of that. I think we are a playoff team this year--not a BS 10-8th place cusp team. If we don't make the playoffs, it will be an unwelcome surprise for everyone in the organization. Once in the playoffs, we're a contender.