2013-14 Minnesota Wild Discussion

[nickschultzfan]

Yeah, there really isn't "tanking" for the bottom 2-4 teams. They are already out of the picture by the trade deadline and then just kind of coast to the end of the season.

But if I am being honest I do get annoyed when the Wild go from a #5 pick to a #9-12 pick. Just makes the rebuild more difficult.

 

[Gaps]

My top "tanking teams" for the 2015 draft
3 Washington (I think they trade Ovie for picks and prospects, and begin the rebuild.)

There is just no way the Caps will trade Ovie. It might actually turn out to be a decent enough hockey trade at some point, but it would be an awful business move no matter how you slice it. I don't like Ovie one bit but he's a superstar and the face of the franchise. Even people who aren't hardcore hockey fans have heard of Ovie and I know people who go to see Alex Ovechkin play, not the Washington Capitals. Who would they market if they traded Ovie?

 

[OpRedDawn*]

Koivu for Ovi straight up?

 

[Dampland]

Why Tampa?

Tampa seems to have a "sink or swim" mentality. They either have a great season, or a completly off-the-rails pisspoor season. That is how they got Stamkos and Hedmen.

They also seem to do this every other year. Well this year they are playing great, so next year seems to be due for some major sucknitude.

Also, if Marty St. Louis gets traded, then they really would struggle, plus Ben Bishop is due to come back down to earth with his play.

 

[Dampland]

There is just no way the Caps will trade Ovie. It might actually turn out to be a decent enough hockey trade at some point, but it would be an awful business move no matter how you slice it. I don't like Ovie one bit but he's a superstar and the face of the franchise. Even people who aren't hardcore hockey fans have heard of Ovie and I know people who go to see Alex Ovechkin play, not the Washington Capitals. Who would they market if they traded Ovie?

Washington has a lot of holes to fix on their team, and the return they could get by trading Ovie is even greater than that of Crosby (due to his health concerns)

Can you imagine what a team like Winnipeg would give to get a 40-50 goal scorer?

I'd imagine the return would be something like two 1st round picks, two solid roster players (Kane & Big Buff?), and a couple of high end prospects (Josh Morrissey & Nick Petan?) at minimum.

I do not think it is crazy at all to think about Washington parting ways with Ovie. Backstrom would become their franchise guy then. Look at the Washington Capitals website. You can't even find pictures of Ovie, without searching around. Doesn't look to me like the team is counting on him to be the spotlight guy as it is.

Then if Washington trades away Mike " Ole' " Green, they could rebuild with a base of Carlson, Alnzer, Backstrom, Johansson, Holtby and whatever guys they get in the trade.

Sure, it might hurt their "russian" recruiting, but then again there are not too many new Russians making an impact in the NHL anymore.

 

[Avder]

Tanking does sort of exist, at an organizational level. It's when an organization guts itself for picks and prospects when it realizes it can't buy its way out of the hole its in. It stocks up on picks and prospects to start trying to find pieces of the puzzles it hopes it will solve in 3-5 years.

The result is generally a team that absolutey sucks for a few years, but hopefully crawls out of the hole. Some teams do it. Other teams dont. Eg: the Oilers.

 

[rynryn]

it's called "rebuilding" and the purpose isn't to get as high a draft pick as possible but to build organizational depth by selling off players that have no long-term value to the team. a by-products are sucking and good free agents avoiding you until you've proven you've come out of the nose-dive.

 

[Jarick]

I have no idea what's wrong with Washington, but it seems like they just don't have the young depth they need. Trading Forsberg was a huge mistake for them. Massive.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Washington's problem was that they never had the secondary scoring that you need in a playoff team. And after years and years of trying the same thing, they stumbling.

 

[Minnesota]

I have no idea what's wrong with Washington, but it seems like they just don't have the young depth they need. Trading Forsberg was a huge mistake for them. Massive.

Agreed. It reminds me a bit of the Clutterbuck trade, actually. Obviously a little different, but similar in a way.

 

[NHL1674]

Russo tweeted that Backstrom is still hurt and not at practice. Honestly, we may be without BOTH Harding and Backstrom the rest of the season. Fletch is gonna have to make a move.

 

[Puhis]

Russo tweeted that Backstrom is still hurt and not at practice. Honestly, we may be without BOTH Harding and Backstrom the rest of the season. Fletch is gonna have to make a move.

Well, John Curry was signed to a two-way contract. Perhaps we play him in case Kuemper can't play?

 

[Dampland]

I really don't think we have the "horses" to make a playoff run this year, so I am very much opposed to trading away assets for a backup goaltender.

However, it is possible that Leipold is leaning very heavily on Fletcher to make an impact in the playoffs this year, even if it is not a realistic demand. Fletch might feel forced to make a trade(s) (Goalies & scorer) just to make it look at face value that he is pulling out all the stops to win. If Fletch was feeling that pressure, and feeling that his job depended on it, then he very well may be willing to gut the team's future for a playoff run this year.

If Papa Leo is indeed turning the screws on Fletcher, it would be both short-sighted and wrong, as this team is not ready yet for such a playoff drive. 2 years from now I think they would be ready, but not now.

Bottom line, I really think trading any assets greater than a 5th round pick for a backup goaltender this season is wasteful. I also think that Vanek is not the answer, and hope like hell we don't trade for him, nor tie him up with a long term overblown contract. I REALLY have a feeling that Vanek's next contract will become a Scott Gomez situation.

 

[MuckOG]

I really don't think we have the "horses" to make a playoff run this year, so I am very much opposed to trading away assets for a backup goaltender.

However, it is possible that Leipold is leaning very heavily on Fletcher to make an impact in the playoffs this year, even if it is not a realistic demand. Fletch might feel forced to make a trade(s) (Goalies & scorer) just to make it look at face value that he is pulling out all the stops to win. If Fletch was feeling that pressure, and feeling that his job depended on it, then he very well may be willing to gut the team's future for a playoff run this year.

If Papa Leo is indeed turning the screws on Fletcher, it would be both short-sighted and wrong, as this team is not ready yet for such a playoff drive. 2 years from now I think they would be ready, but not now.

Bottom line, I really think trading any assets greater than a 5th round pick for a backup goaltender this season is wasteful. I also think that Vanek is not the answer, and hope like hell we don't trade for him, nor tie him up with a long term overblown contract. I REALLY have a feeling that Vanek's next contract will become a Scott Gomez situation.

I'd be ok with trading away a future 3rd or 4th round selection for a veteran back-up rental to help out this year. We can't seriously entertain the idea of a Kuemper/Curry combo no matter if our "window" is open this year or next.

Then based on Kuemper's play the rest of the way, Fletcher and Co. will need to decide this summer if he will be the guy going forward, and if not, look to sign a #1 and have Kuemper/Backstrom back him up...or possibly buy-out Backstrom and put Harding on LTIR.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

We have plenty of mid-round picks to use to find a competent veteran back up goalie; one 3rd, two 4ths, one 5th and three 6ths.

 

[Jarick]

Well the Wild did JACK and SQUAT last summer in free agency (aside from botch the Gilbert/Ballard situation), so I highly doubt there's much pressure on Fletcher right now.

 

[kfan22]

Well the Wild did JACK and SQUAT last summer in free agency (aside from botch the Gilbert/Ballard situation), so I highly doubt there's much pressure on Fletcher right now.

I think there is a lot of pressure on Fletcher

 

[Jarick]

I guess we'll find out in the next week. If he panics and trades high picks and/or prospects for rentals, then he's in job save mode. I think though he will make maybe one small trade and that there's no pressure on him until next year.

 

[MuckOG]

Well the Wild did JACK and SQUAT last summer in free agency (aside from botch the Gilbert/Ballard situation), so I highly doubt there's much pressure on Fletcher right now.

Last summer our goalie situation was more settled than it is now, plus with the addition of Pominville, the need to keep roster spots open for the kids, and looking forward to this summer to sign Vanek, there really was no real need to be a player in free agency last summer...outside of signing depth defensemen like Ballard.

 

[kfan22]

I guess we'll find out in the next week. If he panics and trades high picks and/or prospects for rentals, then he's in job save mode. I think though he will make maybe one small trade and that there's no pressure on him until next year.

What happens if the Wild fail to make a trade for a Goaltender and Backstrom and Harding are basically shut down the rest of the year and Kuemper struggles down the stretch and the Wild miss the playoffs? Would you fire Fletch then?

 

[Jarick]

Maybe? It's hard to say.

It depends on what moves he is supposed to make. If it's giving up Granlund + 1st for Ryan Miller, I hope he passes! If it's trading a 5th rounder for a Justin Peters type, low risk.

Harding was signed BEFORE he was diagnosed with MS. He was looking like a Vezina candidate this year before going on IR. You can't blame Fletcher for that.

Backstrom was signed AFTER Harding was diagnosed with MS, and we had no idea who would be the starter this year because of Harding's situation. I thought Backstrom got too much money and term, but most people in the media thought it was a savvy move. But Backstrom has been a walking infirmary the last few years and has been slowly losing his game. And it's a 35+ contract.

Now Gustavsson came over this year, which meant that you had two young prospects in the AHL and two goalies with injury issues in the NHL. Hackett was already traded last year, so would you have traded Gustavsson and signed a journeyman to be a backup in the minors? I don't think so.

Really, this is a situation that needs to get resolved next summer, not right now. At least one of the NHL goalies should be bought out.

But for right now, I think the smart move is to see what a journeyman like Peters, Khudobin, Clemmenson, MacDonald, Scrivens, etc would cost. If the team and defense plays well, a decent goalie can look good. Don't give up a lot of assets to fix the issue right now.

But that hinges on my thought that, even if they had a healthy Harding or Backstrom, the team likely won't get out of the first round.

 

[MuckOG]

But that hinges on my thought that, even if they had a healthy Harding or Backstrom, the team likely won't get out of the first round.

If we face St Louis, I agree...but if we end up with either Chicago or Anaheim, I give us a fightin' chance.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Well the Wild did JACK and SQUAT last summer in free agency (aside from botch the Gilbert/Ballard situation), so I highly doubt there's much pressure on Fletcher right now.

Well, that's because just a few days before, this happened:

"On June 30, 2013, Nino Niederreiter was traded to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Cal Clutterbuck and the New Jersey Devils' third-round-pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft"

Looking back, that was a big off-season move.

 

[rafterman]

Really, this is a situation that needs to get resolved next summer, not right now. At least one of the NHL goalies should be bought out.

But for right now, I think the smart move is to see what a journeyman like Peters, Khudobin, Clemmenson, MacDonald, Scrivens, etc would cost. If the team and defense plays well, a decent goalie can look good. Don't give up a lot of assets to fix the issue right now.

Completely agree, just need to cover the back up spot until the end of this season. Fletch should be calling and getting a cost on every pending UFA goalie out there. All the team really needs out of them is to cover games of back-to-backs while not looking like a deer in the headlights (add Montoya, Thomas and yes, even Bryz to your list).

I also agree you can't go into next season with both of the huge health question marks still here.

 

[Bullrun]

There was no room to do anything last summer due to cap reduction.

In fact, fletch had to trade away guchi to help fit due to the heatley situation.