Management Bill Guerin

[MuckOG]

This is sort of approach that also puts Minnesota in a position to draft a guy like Luke Kunin instead of a guy like Tkachuk or Dubois.

...or draft Jakob Chyrum or Alex DeBrincat instead of Luke Kunin.

 

[57special]

Luke Kunin appeared to be a sound pick. Captain of the WJC team, record as a sniper in lower levels of hockey, zero character concerns. I can't blame the wild for picking him. His scoring simply hasn't transferred to the NHL ...so far. I can see him having a couple of 40+ point seasons.

 

[57special]

I think Iowa is going to be really good this year.

Intriguing, at least. Khovanov, Lodnia, Shaw, Swaney, Dewar, Beckman, ROR, Addison, Jones(?), Rossi. I think I might sign up to watch AHL games again.

 

[DeagleJenkins]

I think we are back to where we started. Is waiting a better plan than trying? I agree that Wennberg/Suter types might not move the needle....but they also might when compared to guys like Rask/Bjugstad/Gaudreau.

So are the Wild (Guerin) waiting or trying?

Waiting this year

 

[Sota Popinski]

You're saying that Suter/Wennberg isn't any better than Rask?

Wennberg at 3 x 4.5M is gross to me

 

[thestonedkoala]

Wennberg at 3 x 4.5M is gross to me

And Dvorak at 3 x 4.45 is better? Who is better that the Wild could have gotten in FA?

 

[Sota Popinski]

And Dvorak at 3 x 4.45 is better? Who is better that the Wild could have gotten in FA?

Yes, Dvorak would be better. Not that it's a high bar to clear. Just because Wennberg was one of the better C options on the free agent market doesn't mean he is worth that contract or that he is an improvement on what we have. If the options are Wennberg at 3 x 4.5 or do nothing, I choose do nothing.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Yes, Dvorak would be better. Not that it's a high bar to clear. Just because Wennberg was one of the better C options on the free agent market doesn't mean he is worth that contract or that he is an improvement on what we have. If the options are Wennberg at 3 x 4.5 or do nothing, I choose do nothing.

How is Dvorak better? He's never hit more than 38 points in his career, is only a year younger, would cost more in terms of prospects/players, has a similar contract to Wennberg. How is Dvorak worth 4.45 million and Wennberg not worth 4.5 million on an open market?

 

[GuerinUp]

why are we arguing dvorak vs wennberg? They both arent the solution...

 

[Sota Popinski]

How is Dvorak better? He's never hit more than 38 points in his career, is only a year younger, would cost more in terms of prospects/players, has a similar contract to Wennberg. How is Dvorak worth 4.45 million and Wennberg not worth 4.5 million on an open market?

I don't want either guy. But Dvorak has 10 more goals in 169 fewer games. Before resuscitating his career in Florida, Wennberg had been awful the previous two seasons. I just want no part of Wennberg.

 

[north21]

why are we arguing dvorak vs wennberg? They both arent the solution...

Exactly, better centers could be available next year too. It sucks to wait but maybe it was the best move long term, and we will have some cap space next season even with the dead cap issues.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Exactly, better centers could be available next year too. It sucks to wait but maybe it was the best move long term, and we will have some cap space next season even with the dead cap issues.

I think a lot of those centers are going to be signed to extensions.

Bergeron, Carter, Getzlaf, Malkin, Stastny, Brassard, Giroux, Malkin, Pavelski, are all going to be over 32.

You could try to pitch for Barkov, but I assume he's going to be signed to an extension.

Best options are Hertl (hope he doesn't break down) , maybe Zibanejad, Trocheck or Strome. They may cost too much as well.

 

[north21]

But they look like better options than Wennberg right? His 4.5 cap it pretty much takes us out of the running for any of them. If we are going for a center we might as well find some quality instead of a patch job. Not saying we have a realistic chance at a lot of them but that is a big list and guys looking at their wings this year might find Kap and Zuc as an upgrade, Fiala too.

 

[thestonedkoala]

But they look like better options than Wennberg right? His 4.5 cap it pretty much takes us out of the running for any of them. If we are going for a center we might as well find some quality instead of a patch job. Not saying we have a realistic chance at a lot of them but that is a big list and guys looking at their wings this year might find Kap and Zuc as an upgrade, Fiala too.

Possibly, but it's a long year. We'll see who signs extensions or not. As well, most of them don't really fit the timeline. I think Hertl and Barkov are the best, but they are going to be signed to pretty heavy contracts that Minnesota may not be able to fit in.

 

[Wabit]

How's the poll results holding up now that the we've had a look at the team?

 

[AKL]

How's the poll results holding up now that the we've had a look at the team?

My opinion of him had very little to do with how I expected the on ice product to perform, and more to do with how I knew the on ice product wasn't going to be very good, and that he should be working harder to deepen the prospect pool, which he hasn't done much of, all things considered.

So I voted 2, but if he wastes another year without doing more to stock the prospect cupboards, he's going to move to a 1.

We've got four long years ahead of us. If he sticks with just the picks/prospects he's given by default while icing a mediocre on ice product, he doesn't deserve to be a GM.

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

How's the poll results holding up now that the we've had a look at the team?

I made it abundantly clear that I thought we would bad. Needless to say, my expectations were low but this may be worse than I expected

This:

 

[2Pair]

Too early to tell

 

[Prior]

Teams don’t often get a lot of aspects that come together like the team had last year.

He sat on his hands and didn’t give them an opportunity to make a run by making any sort of add to the team especially up the middle.

He then compounds what will likely be the best chance he ever has at a cup run in this organization by overpaying for every bit of the good that went on during the year. And still doesn’t address anything.

There isn’t really any one redeeming quality about this man in this position beyond he seems to have chosen the right guy to run his draft table.

 

[AKL]

There isn’t really any one redeeming quality about this man in this position beyond he seems to have chosen the right guy to run his draft table.

And the jury is still out on this one too, even if early results seem promising.

 

[57special]

Guerin is praying that Rossi, Lambos, and Boldy are top line players. Hopeful that Marat, ROR, and someone else are top 4 or top 6. Otherwise, we are f***ed. 6 years of mediocrity.

 

[thestonedkoala]

It's amazing that so many centers have been traded and yet Guerin decides that Gaudreau is the best one of the lot.

 

[Wild11MN]

It's amazing that so many centers have been traded and yet Guerin decides that Gaudreau is the best one of the lot.

Not wanting to pay the price for a center =/= thinking Gaudreau is the best of them. I don't know how that's not an obvious statement.

It's not an excuse for not acquiring a center at some point, all I'm saying is your statement makes no sense.

 

[57special]

Gaudreau is fine, for what he is, a bottom six C. What I object to is Guerin and Evason trying to sell us on a succession of players such as Rask, Johansson, Hartman, and Gaudreau, pretending that they are top 6 C's. C'mon, we aren't that stupid.

Guerin is not getting the job done. He signed Spurgeon and Kaprizov to too much money, and bought out Suter(we've barely begun to feel the pain from that)prematurely. We are now left with next to no cap space to get a C on the market.

 

[Webster]

Guerin is an emotional guy who could make some serious decisions based on his feelings, and maybe not what's best for the team. He has Leipold in his pocket and can do whatever he wants, and this could become a problem going forward.