How are people holding the expansion against him? What should he have done? If it's a choice between Haula+Tuch or Dumba, even with the success those guys have had on Vegas I take Dumba no question. The Wild were always going to get screwed. I don't think what they ended up doing was a negative at all.
Will Fletcher be the Wild's GM next year?
- Thread starter Wild11MN
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Exactly, blame the league for effed up expansion draft rules more than anything.
Because it was a lose-lose. And they're mad that we lost.
DC4MVP
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Really?
I thought we were pretty hard up against the cap?
Who's off the books next year that will give us some room? I'm sure Dumba and Zucker will get raises as well....
Marlowe Syn
R-O-C-K-F-O-R-D
- Sep 2, 2008
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I have been a supporter of Fletcher from the beginning. Now not so much. I think his time should be up. That said I do think he'll get a free pass because of the injuries. Every year in the playoffs we seem to come across a "hot" goaltender. This season it's Hellebuyck. Last year was Jake Allen. Lehtonen before that. The common denominator is this Wild squad.
Back to those injuries we had. Yes losing Suter and then Parise does hurt no doubt. I think that is offset by the slate of blueline injuries the Jets had too. When it came right down to it our young core did not step up at all. One good game against a young team with virtually no playoff experience is completely unacceptable in my eyes.
I have given up on this Fletcher built team as it stands. I'll always be a Wild fan, as my loyalties are not fickle. I just think as long as Fletcher is at the reigns and Boudreau as bench boss we will be no more than playoff dabblers. IMO no one in this organization should be safe. I'm ready for a re-tool. I think we have the capabilities to re-tool on the fly like Boston. Just not with Fletcher.
PS- That Scandella trade should carry more weight in his firing. We gave up the better players and managed to not really get any kind of cap space with that stupid Foligno contract.
Back to those injuries we had. Yes losing Suter and then Parise does hurt no doubt. I think that is offset by the slate of blueline injuries the Jets had too. When it came right down to it our young core did not step up at all. One good game against a young team with virtually no playoff experience is completely unacceptable in my eyes.
I have given up on this Fletcher built team as it stands. I'll always be a Wild fan, as my loyalties are not fickle. I just think as long as Fletcher is at the reigns and Boudreau as bench boss we will be no more than playoff dabblers. IMO no one in this organization should be safe. I'm ready for a re-tool. I think we have the capabilities to re-tool on the fly like Boston. Just not with Fletcher.
PS- That Scandella trade should carry more weight in his firing. We gave up the better players and managed to not really get any kind of cap space with that stupid Foligno contract.
Mookie Blaylock
The in between is mine
For me it starts with the Hanzal trade. If we had the 1st we could maybe have signed Haula and Vegas takes Haula or Tuch plus our first.
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I wish the expansion rules were like that when we entered the league and we were given a Cup contender....
I wonder how it would have worked if two teams entered the league at once like we did with Columbus?
DC4MVP
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I actually agree with most of your post except that the Jets' 3rd pair being injured and a 2nd pair defender missing a game is equal to us missing our #1 for the entire series. I'd much rather have Prosser/Seeler miss the series with Dumba or Brodin missing a game than what the Wild had to deal with. Though I agree, until Suter was injured I thought Fletcher's future depended on playoff success. With Suter going down I think he gets another year for his roster to find success.
Marlowe Syn
R-O-C-K-F-O-R-D
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That was poor wording on my part. I didn't mean to say that the injury situation was equal between the two teams. Just that Jets seemed to lose some quality players as well. Agree that losing a #1D is bigger. The way we played though I do not think Suter, and a red hot Parise, would have turned the tide that much. In my eyes this team did not come to play. They talked the talked and said all the right things to the press, but in the end it was just words.
The injuries will likely save Fletcher for another season.
BagHead
Registered User
We got angry at DR when he didn't trade for rentals, and then we get angry at Fletcher when he does and they don't win us the cup. Nevermind that Hanzal was actually pretty good for us. I feel like it's a no-win situation for GMs.
2Pair
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Depending on who they signed, they would probably have to move a contract. But despite some of the thoughts lately, the Wild have a ton of moveable salary.
Yeah, I was in favor of the trade, as it seemed like last year was "our year" and out 1st was a late one due to our good regular season performance. If we had signed Cullen that year it would've been unnecessary, though. White was good for about the first 4 games, and that was it.
Mookie Blaylock
The in between is mine
I think this situation is different as he knew the rules of the expansion draft. Also I remember the consensus on the main board was the Wild paid to much. I understand the reason he did it, it felt like he was the missing piece and if they would have taken a run at the cup history would look different.
Don't see why not; what's better? Missing the playoffs and being a middling team or getting bounced the first round?
Saga of the Elk
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- May 31, 2008
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Of course it is - when you don't win, especially. I know Hanzal wasn't a complete bust but a 1st and 2nd is a lot to give up for the five games that mattered and the one goal he got us.
Saga of the Elk
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When you have Staal-Koivu-Haula down the center would it really have mattered that Graovac or Zac Dalpe or Pat Cannone was the fourth guy? They buried Haula the whole season and traded for a redundant piece at tremendous cost when they really just needed more Marcus Foligno - according to Fletch.
I don't think our cap situation is all that bad outside of Ennis, and that's a one year problem.
Parise may become a problem at some point, but he might legitimately just end up LTIR'ed for the waning years of his contract. He was very good to end this year.
People gripe about Koivu's extension, but frankly I think it's overblown. 2 years at $5.5m for a middle-6 defensive center? If that's our worst problem we're fine.
Suter at $7.5m is a bargain right now; injury aside, this was probably one of his best seasons on this team. The injury throws the future into a little bit of uncertainty, but overall he's the sort of player that's great until he's like 40.
Spurgeon has some sort of NTC, but his AAV is probably under market value. If we really wanted to trade him I doubt it'd be a problem even with a no-trade list.
Staal has some sort of modifed NTC, but anyone that complains about his contract needs medication.
Dubnyk also has a modified NTC, but like Spurgeon it's market value or better and is medium term. Plus we have no replacement for him.
Literally every other player on the team outside of Ennis is completely moveable, even Foligno. There is plenty of room to make whatever moves need to be made here. Even a full-blown tear-it-down rebuild would be fine. You can't trade off Suter/Parise/Koivu for draft picks, but that's not the problem that some make it out to be. Frankly, having a few veterans like that around to shelter young guys and set an example is an asset that teams like Buffalo and Edmonton haven't had for their rebuilds, and they've probably suffered dearly for it.
Anyway, the point is that there's very little about the state of the team that would prevent a good manager from doing almost whatever they wanted with it. Whether that's Fletcher or someone else. The idea (mentioned by someone else) that potential GM's would actually be leery of taking on that project is hilarious. "Be the GM for a team with numerous resources to work with, a rich owner that spends to the cap, and a loyal fanbase that has surprisingly low standards? Ew, yuck!"
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All I know is this:
A 33 year old center producing far more than typically seen for other players of his age is making this team look better than it really is, and potentially, keeping Fletcher's job safe.
I have a love/hate relationship with Staal. I love his production, but I know that at any moment, he is due to regress. This isn't some prospect on the upswing.
We're all geniuses after the fact, but I get this empty feeling knowing that, had Staal been even half of what he is today, we'd be a lower-mid tier team AT BEST.
Part of the apathy I feel towards this team is for this very reason. We are old, we don't have a promising future, and we are about as predictable as is the sun rising everyday. No one in their right mind will go into 2018-2019 expecting Staal to put up 40+ again. We'll take it if he does, obviously... but it certainly isn't something that I personally will get excited about.
A 33 year old center producing far more than typically seen for other players of his age is making this team look better than it really is, and potentially, keeping Fletcher's job safe.
I have a love/hate relationship with Staal. I love his production, but I know that at any moment, he is due to regress. This isn't some prospect on the upswing.
We're all geniuses after the fact, but I get this empty feeling knowing that, had Staal been even half of what he is today, we'd be a lower-mid tier team AT BEST.
Part of the apathy I feel towards this team is for this very reason. We are old, we don't have a promising future, and we are about as predictable as is the sun rising everyday. No one in their right mind will go into 2018-2019 expecting Staal to put up 40+ again. We'll take it if he does, obviously... but it certainly isn't something that I personally will get excited about.
I think fletchers future depends on if ownership is ready to sit through a few bad seasons for the purpose of a proper rebuild, or if ownership thinks they can find a gm who is better at the "retool and keep trying" approach fletcher has been taking since he started.
If the answer to either of those questions is yes, fletcher is done.
If the answer to either of those questions is yes, fletcher is done.
Dr Jan Itor
Registered User
People forgot how much he struggled last year. They just see what he's doing for someone else and remember that he used to have a Wild sweater.
Why did we lose to the Hawks in '13? (2nd NW Division)
Why did we lose to the Hawks in '14? (4th Central)
Why did we lose to the Hawks in '15? (4th Central)
Why did we lose to the Stars in '16? (5th Central)
Why did we lose to the Blues in '17? (2nd Central)
Why did we lose to the Jets in '18? (3rd Central)
In the Parise-Suter era we've never won a division title, only advanced to the second round twice, no individual awards for a player/coach, and have only picked in the first two rounds five times since 2013.
At some point folks you'll realize we were never as good as Fletcher made you believe. Expect more.
Why did we lose to the Hawks in '14? (4th Central)
Why did we lose to the Hawks in '15? (4th Central)
Why did we lose to the Stars in '16? (5th Central)
Why did we lose to the Blues in '17? (2nd Central)
Why did we lose to the Jets in '18? (3rd Central)
In the Parise-Suter era we've never won a division title, only advanced to the second round twice, no individual awards for a player/coach, and have only picked in the first two rounds five times since 2013.
At some point folks you'll realize we were never as good as Fletcher made you believe. Expect more.
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