Minnesota Wild General Discussion - 2022-23

[AKL]

Last year Boldy had 29 even strength points in 47 games, Caufield had 30 even strength points in 67 games and Digitalbooya was silent about Caufield > Boldy. Interesting.

 

[AKL]

When Caufield is better at even strength his linemates are irrelevant because he's just that good, he would put up 65-70 points regardless of who he plays with. When Boldy is better at even strength he's propped up by Fiala. When Caufield is a worse PP producer it's because he doesn't have Kaprizov to play with. When Boldy is a better PP producer, it's because he gets to play with Kaprizov. Hmm, very weird indeed.

It's almost like someone is just gonna come up with any excuse to favor Caufield, whether he's actually better or not.

 

[AKL]

Point being, you can go back and forth with reasons and explanations that each are better than the other, and it all equals out to neither of them being better than the other at this point in their careers. Anyone who says otherwise is probably biased.

 

[Digitalbooya]

He's putting up the points. I don't care where he does it.

Kaprizov's even strength production has dropped significantly too, yet you're not talking about that? I wonder if there's an agenda.

With Fiala gone and serious regression from Greenway and Foligno, there is almost zero threat from the other three forward lines. When you're a one line team, you are easier to defend.

Last year Boldy had 29 even strength points in 47 games, Caufield had 30 even strength points in 67 games and Digitalbooya was silent about Caufield > Boldy. Interesting.

You really thought you did something with this, didn't you? And when you take the 100+ point per 82 game guy (when paired with him) away, Boldy dramatically regresses back to the mean.

When Caufield is better at even strength his linemates are irrelevant because he's just that good, he would put up 65-70 points regardless of who he plays with. When Boldy is better at even strength he's propped up by Fiala. When Caufield is a worse PP producer it's because he doesn't have Kaprizov to play with. When Boldy is a better PP producer, it's because he gets to play with Kaprizov. Hmm, very weird indeed.

It's almost like someone is just gonna come up with any excuse to favor Caufield, whether he's actually better or not.

I feel like you think these are great points, but they dramatically backfire if you are seriously taking the opposite opinion:

1. Are you really trying to say that Boldy wasn't propped up by Fiala last year? When they were put together, Fiala DRAMATICALLY outproduced Boldy by about a 40 point per 82 game. That is a MASSIVE difference between the two players. If anything, that just showed that Fiala didn't need a star to unlock his potential, just a competent NHL player.

2. Are you really going to say that Caufield's power play numbers wouldn't increase if he had Kaprizov and Zucc with him on the power play? Really? That's your argument? Are you sure you want to stick with that? Crazy...

3. Are you really going to say that Boldy's power play numbers wouldn't decrease away from Kaprizov and Zucc? Really? Are you seriously that naive?

Perhaps people should consider this a Guerin error: choosing to sign Boldy long term instead of Fiala.

 

[f7ben]

With Fiala gone and serious regression from Greenway and Foligno, there is almost zero threat from the other three forward lines. When you're a one line team, you are easier to defend.

You really thought you did something with this, didn't you? And when you take the 100+ point per 82 game guy (when paired with him) away, Boldy dramatically regresses back to the mean.

I feel like you think these are great points, but they dramatically backfire if you are seriously taking the opposite opinion:

1. Are you really trying to say that Boldy wasn't propped up by Fiala last year? When they were put together, Fiala DRAMATICALLY outproduced Boldy by about a 40 point per 82 game. That is a MASSIVE difference between the two players. If anything, that just showed that Fiala didn't need a star to unlock his potential, just a competent NHL player.

2. Are you really going to say that Caufield's power play numbers wouldn't increase if he had Kaprizov and Zucc with him on the power play? Really? That's your argument? Are you sure you want to stick with that? Crazy...

3. Are you really going to say that Boldy's power play numbers wouldn't decrease away from Kaprizov and Zucc? Really? Are you seriously that naive?

Perhaps people should consider this a Guerin error: choosing to sign Boldy long term instead of Fiala.

I would have chosen to sign Fiala long term over Boldy based on our window with both he and Kap as core pieces.

 

[TaLoN]

Evason postgame comments last night....

As Wild struggle offensively, Dean Evason is done talking about how they can’t score

Living up to his name...

 

[TaLoN]

It’s just as valid as bringing up Fiala every 10 seconds and it’s not even close to a Webster/Zucc thing. Be smarter

Except, Fiala played here less than a year ago, and everyone in the stands wanted him re-signed. Caufield has never played here.

 

[BagHead]

Living up to his name...

"I've done nothing so long, I don't even want to talk about doing nothing or else I'll think I'm doing nothing and nothing will happen."

 

[AKL]

Except, Fiala played here less than a year ago, and everyone in the stands wanted him re-signed. Caufield has never played here.

I think it's totally valid to bring up Caufield if you think he's the better player than Boldy, I just vehemently disagree that he's better than Boldy. It's along the same lines of moves that could have been made that would leave this team looking different.

 

[Digitalbooya]

I think it's totally valid to bring up Caufield if you think he's the better player than Boldy, I just vehemently disagree that he's better than Boldy. It's along the same lines of moves that could have been made that would leave this team looking different.

I didn’t say Caufield is a better player. They are close enough that it makes it an interesting argument. I said/implied Caufield would be a better fit because of his goal scoring. It’s mostly just me bitching because Boldy struggles to score goals.

 

[Soldier13Fox]

The Caulfield v Boldy remains an interesting debate to this day. I'll be honest, if we would have picked Caufield instead of Boldy.... I would have been disappointed at the time. Hindsight is 20/20 though, I'd be neutral in 2023. I'd have been happy with the pick. That said, I'm still extremely happy with Boldy. That kid is going to be a beast, very soon. I think either pick is going to turn out a win when it's all said and done.

 

[57special]

I’m fine with Boldy as our pick over Caufield. Time will tell who has the better career.

Please no with trading our 2nds for rentals. We’ve tried that, and it ultimately kills the prospect pool depth. Marat, Peart, ROR, are all nice prospects that we got in the second round… too early to say about Haight and Lorenz, who aren’t exactly setting the world on fire.
In general, I don’t want to be trading any picks. They are the lifeblood of our franchise. We need a lot of them, just so we can get lucky on the few. You never know, really, who is going to be an important player. Nino was a #5 oa, Granlund a # 9, Dumba a #8…. Decent players, but not important. Meanwhile, Kaprizov was a 5th rounder, Spurgeon 6th.

I am quite happy to revisit the Fiala trade, and argue with anyone who thinks it was a good idea. That Russo blindly accepts that it had to be done, and spouts the party line in print, brings him down a notch in my books, though I like him in general.
There were all sorts of moves that could have been made to make him affordable, but Have Another Beer Billy was too uncreative, incompetent, and lazy to make them. I truly believe that losing Fiala caused us to lose the balanced scoring up front that we needed. His talent was obvious, to me, and he and Boldy together had obvious and immediate chemistry.

Now we have to wait years, struggling through his loss, and hope that Faber and Ohgren eventually make up for it.

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

I like both players, they are both good and have bright futures. If someone see's a Caufield or Boldy WJC autographed jersey anywhere, I want them both so please send so I can place next to my Spencer Knight one.

Thx

 

[Digitalbooya]

So, can we keep Boldy at 1C?

 

[BuiumSaveUs]

So, can we keep Boldy at 1C?

Yeah I would

 

[NHL1674]

What a jack@#! when he lets other guys get away with murder.....prime example being Greenway.

Asked if Addison is coachable — if he “gets it” — Evason responded: “He sat out twice now for the same thing. So we’ll see.”

Russo: If the Wild don't shake things up quickly, it's going to be too late

 

[Wabit]

What a jack@#! when he lets other guys get away with murder.....prime example being Greenway.



Russo: If the Wild don't shake things up quickly, it's going to be too late

Dumba, Greenway, and Hartman have all been scratched this year this year too. For me, Addison getting scratched is no different than Goli, Reaves, Shaw, or Steel getting scratched. These are the bottom of the roster 6D/12 FWD players.

My main issue with it is how it's communicated to Addison (and Rossi). Going from their comments they don't really seem to understand why they got scratched or what they need to do better.

Another thing that bothers me is the head coach's complete disdain for practices. If it's optional he's not there (according to reports). If things aren't working he just looks angry, shrugs, and gives some dumb comment.

 

[Wasted Talent]

Now we are genuinely out of a playoff spot with no games in hand.

Calgary has an advantage of 1 more regulation win, but it still counts.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Now we are genuinely out of a playoff spot with no games in hand.

Calgary has an advantage of 1 more regulation win, but it still counts.

 

[Minnewildsota]

I still remain completely baffled by this forum.

"We're stuck in mediocracy until we can draft high enough for a legit 1C"
"We lost!? WTF!?

Pick a f***ing lane.

 

[StateofCelly]

I still remain completely baffled by this forum.

"We're stuck in mediocracy until we can draft high enough for a legit 1C"
"We lost!? WTF!?

Pick a f***ing lane.

To be fair this is what it has felt like with our "competitive rebuild" approach and seasonal swoons and 1st round exits. We haven't been good enough to be great, or bad enough to be bad.. so for fans and apparently management it hasn't always been clear if we should push forward or jump on an Abrams and go full tank. I think this year is the first year where the play is actually doing the speaking and portrayal of what the team actually is, yet with management and coaches selling a false bag of goods, it doesn't surprise me one bit that a forum of fans who have followed the team for a decade plus are also torn how to approach it.

 

[Digitalbooya]

I still remain completely baffled by this forum.

"We're stuck in mediocracy until we can draft high enough for a legit 1C"
"We lost!? WTF!?

Pick a f***ing lane.

The fans just take after the team

There’s 28 games left in the season. They either need to make the playoffs or trade all of Foligno, Greenway, Dumba, (Fleury), etc for draft picks and try really hard for a top 10 pick whilst going through the growing pains with younger players on the roster.

Do you guys remember, I believe it was the 19-20 season, the team started out like absolute crap after we had traded a bunch of vets (Granlund, Coyle, Nino). As the season progressed, the younger players who were struggling early (Fiala, Kunin, Donato, Greenway, Eriksson Ek) started to play better and mix with the vets on the team and right before the pandemic started they were on an absolute tear. That’s what I want this team to try and do now:

Trade: Foligno, Greenway, Hartman, Steel, Merrill, Dumba

Call up: Rossi, Walker, Beckman, O’Rourke
Sign: Faber

Kap-Boldy-Zucc
Rossi-Eriksson Ek-Walker
Beckman-Dewar-Gaudreau
Duhaime-Shaw-Reaves

Middleton-Spurgeon
Brodin-Faber
O’Rourke-Addison
Goligoski

Gus
MAF

If they do well, that’s great! If they have a lot of growing pains… fantastic! We just played our way into a top 10 pick while giving our prospects a shot at growth.

 

[Parax]

It's a smaller thing, but I don't know why we'd trade Merrill. He's pretty much a perfect 3rd pair or pressbox defender. Cheap contract with term, good enough to play on the 3rd pair, not flashy but doesn't stick out either. Even last night covered for a few bad Goligoski mistakes well. Don't rush RoR and Hunt, let them take Goligoski's spot in another year and move Middleton if one of them proves to be good enough to play top 4.

 

[57special]

It's a smaller thing, but I don't know why we'd trade Merrill. He's pretty much a perfect 3rd pair or pressbox defender. Cheap contract with term, good enough to play on the 3rd pair, not flashy but doesn't stick out either. Even last night covered for a few bad Goligoski mistakes well. Don't rush RoR and Hunt, let them take Goligoski's spot in another year and move Middleton if one of them proves to be good enough to play top 4.

He has value because of his small cap hit, I’ll agree. I don’t like his game, but as a 6/7 he’s ok. Pushing it a bit to have him as a #5, especially if he is playing RD.
I would like to see Middleton and Addison play as a pair. I think they would compliment one another.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I still remain completely baffled by this forum.

"We're stuck in mediocracy until we can draft high enough for a legit 1C"
"We lost!? WTF!?

Pick a f***ing lane.

Stop trying to make sense of nonsense. Sports is nonsense.