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Minnesota Wild General Discussion - 2022-23

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Dr Jan Itor said:
Would be surprising, imo.
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Outside of Colorado, the West is pretty weak. I'm guessing that plays a part.

Wasted Talent said:
Their analytical model just really likes Wild. Didn't it give us 75% odds of beating St. Louis in the playoffs?

I guess it's not that outlandish since Wild did place top 5 in the actual standings last year. But one would think losing Fiala would at least knock us a few spots further down.
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Having Fleury instead of Talbot probably offsets that
 
Webster said:
I agree, we know Evason. Rossi will not replace Hartman or Ek if things go well up there. Rossi may have a chance on the 3rd line if Steel slows down.

Guerin also made it clear that no player will be given anything for free around here, you will have to earn your ice time. Depth chart is very deep, and that's a good thing for the competition between players.
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Oh yes , our center depth chart is super deep :lol: gimme a f***ing break
 
TaLoN said:
When talking about Rossi playing center, center depth is more relevant than defense or wing depth.
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I wouldn’t think something this rudimentary would even need to be stated.

Minnewildsota said:
Why are you so angry? Genuinely curious.

OVERALL Our depth is quite deep. Doesn’t mean all positions are deep
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Well currently it’s our trash 35 million dollar QB playing like garbage that’s making me angry lol
 
TaLoN said:
Having the pulse of someone who generally does nothing isn't all that tough.
That still doesn't mean Dean saying "sure" means anything... and Russo's track record of speculation is still pretty terrible.
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Which is why I generally agree with Russo lineup predictions (should note I had not listen to any podcasts, only written form). They are easy to predict, especially, as you said, from a coach who does nothing at all or make drastic line changes.

Not saying I give him credit for having great future readings but I give him credit for having a good relationship with Evason and can give him insight on a guys who's pretty straight forward and stubborn.

Example, I wouldn't have known they were going to switch up the d pairings this season, wouldn't know they were going to try the JEE 1C experiment last season, or Gaudreau was Evasons boy when he signed (which informs me he was going to be more than a 4C) without the good and indepth reporting.

EDIT: As extra clarification - I do think he is missing some of his insider scoops he used to have before. He sometimes was the go to guy for non-Wild trades which was nice. But now, I still rely on him for insights in the lockerroom which I think he's got a good handle on via good relationships with Evanson and BG - and both aren't very volatile with their moves
 
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It’s only preseason but it’s hard to find much to be upset about with this team. Pretty much everyone has looked good, and special teams are night and day. We have more shorties in 4 games than we had the entire last season. The organizational depth is showing and at minimum this seems like a well coached group, guys are all in game shape and playing with intensity.

Boldy looks set to be a monster this year, Hartman looks like he is ready to prove last year wasn’t a fluke. Duhaime has really stood out in a positive way to me, I really feel comfortable that every single forward can win their expected matchup, that’s a huge advantage. D looks good, Fleury has had much better rebound control so far, though he hasn’t been tested much.

Very excited for this season, if we can stay healthy with the top tier guys and the goaltending holds up, this is a team that will win a lot of games.
 
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Kshahdoo said:
Hartman scored 34 goals in the previous season and looks good this preseason. EEK is a solid top6 center. So the depth doesn't look that terrible.
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I like Hartman as a player and he is serviceable next to Kap but let’s not pretend his point total were anything other than playing with the best wing in hockey.
 
Kshahdoo said:
Hartman scored 34 goals in the previous season and looks good this preseason. EEK is a solid top6 center. So the depth doesn't look that terrible.
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Hartman is a middle 6 winger playing top line center because we have nobody else to do it yet.

He clearly gets outmatched by opposition top centers, but the fact that he plays next to Kap really inflates his numbers making him serviceable for now.
 
TaLoN said:
Hartman is a middle 6 winger playing top line center because we have nobody else to do it yet.

He clearly gets outmatched by opposition top centers, but the fact that he plays next to Kap really inflates his numbers making him serviceable for now.
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Once we get Horvat he could slide back down the lineup.
 
Kshahdoo said:
Hartman scored 34 goals in the previous season and looks good this preseason. EEK is a solid top6 center. So the depth doesn't look that terrible.
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*Hartman played with Kaprizov in the previous season and Ek is a solid middle-six defensive center who can have a big impact playing a certain type of style, albeit one-dimensional.
 
TaLoN said:
Hartman is a middle 6 winger playing top line center because we have nobody else to do it yet.

He clearly gets outmatched by opposition top centers, but the fact that he plays next to Kap really inflates his numbers making him serviceable for now.
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Chemistry means way more than what line center player is. There are have been tons of examples when star players suck on the same line.
 
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Kshahdoo said:
Chemistry means way more than what line center player is. There are have been tons of examples when star players suck on the same line.
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No doubt, but I'm not even talking star players, I'm talking actual centers, not middle 6 wingers. Hartman is a winger playing out of position and gets beat regu;arly by opposition centers. The goal should be to eventually improve the position, not be satisfied because he seems serviceable next to Kap.

The goal is to win the Cup. This team will never do that with Hartman as the top line center.
 
Wild cut more players today..

D Daemon Hunt, Simon Johansson
F Sammy Walker
G Jesper Wallstedt

Waived: F Joseph Cramarossa and D Joe Hicketts

34 players in camp after this, 25 players on the final roster incl the two injured guys?
 
Kshahdoo said:
Chemistry means way more than what line center player is. There are have been tons of examples when star players suck on the same line.
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I don't understand all the complaints about Zuccarello and Hartman as Kap's linemates. Zuccarello has been terrific...very smart, very productive, and he and 97 are completely on the same page, both on and off the ice. Hartman, while obviously not an elite #1C(like they are easy to find), has also been smart enough to figure out that he can't play with the same skill as his linemates, but he sure as hell can shoot. Him also being able to jump in and if Kap is getting harassed, and do some of the grunt work, all for 1.7M/yr.
 
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57special said:
I don't understand all the complaints about Zuccarello and Hartman as Kap's linemates. Zuccarello has been terrific...very smart, very productive, and he and 97 are completely on the same page, both on and off the ice. Hartman, while obviously not an elite #1C(like they are easy to find), has also been smart enough to figure out that he can't play with the same skill as his linemates, but he sure as hell can shoot. Him also being able to jump in and if Kap is getting harassed, and do some of the grunt work, all for 1.7M/yr.
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It's not complaint, it's about wanting to see what else we have. A good coach will experiment to know his options. Dean fixes in far too much, then never changes them because he doesn't know what other combos may even work due to the lack of experimentation.

His idea in the playoffs of making a change to fix lines that clearly weren't working? Swap in Goligoski for Kulikov on D and vice versa... cause, you know... that will get the forward lines working. Meanwhile, the Blues coach put the lines he trusted into a blender, came out with something completely different... and went from getting dominated to completely dominating. He knew his options though as he mixed and matched previously to know who could and couldn't play together in the first place.
 
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Wasted Talent said:
I don't think they spent enough time together to conclusively say they sucked.
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Debatable. If they showed even a hint of having chemistry, don't you think Fiala would've gotten a longer look than he did?

As an aside, why do so many fans want to stack all the top players on a single line? During Chicago's run, Kane, Toews and Hossa were rarely on the same line unless it was end of the game or power play. I have no issues with trying Boldy with Kaprizov, but if Boldy shows that he can drive a line on his own, I think it would be a waste to team him up with #97. Spread out the scoring across multiple lines vs concentrate the scoring on one line.
 
Webster said:
Wild cut more players today..

D Daemon Hunt, Simon Johansson
F Sammy Walker
G Jesper Wallstedt

Waived: F Joseph Cramarossa and D Joe Hicketts

34 players in camp after this, 25 players on the final roster incl the two injured guys?
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This is the only one that somewhat surprises me. Thought they would want him with the big team for a bit longer. If he's going to get more looks, in the preseason, in Iowa, I understand the move.
 
MuckOG said:
Debatable. If they showed even a hint of having chemistry, don't you think Fiala would've gotten a longer look than he did?

As an aside, why do so many fans want to stack all the top players on a single line? During Chicago's run, Kane, Toews and Hossa were rarely on the same line unless it was end of the game or power play. I have no issues with trying Boldy with Kaprizov, but if Boldy shows that he can drive a line on his own, I think it would be a waste to team him up with #97. Spread out the scoring across multiple lines vs concentrate the scoring on one line.
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Why do so many period think wanting to see line experimentation means we want to see fixed stacked lines? Or want to see changes made permanently at all?

Wanting to see Boldy play for a bit with Kap, does that automatically mean they should ONLY play on the same line? Why is it so bad wanting to see what he have there?

They can always change back you know.

It goes back to what Dean himself said going into the playoffs. The guys played where they did all season. He wasn't about to change it as they haven't played elsewhere all year. He didn't want to disrupt things in the lineup.

That was purely on him. He didn't experiment when he had the chance, so he was afraid of the result because he had no clue what his other options even were.
 
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