Minnesota Wild General Discussion - 2023-24

[AKL]

I think it's a good thing that Rossi isn't playing today? Looks like a lot of guys who are either guaranteed bottom six or long shots to make the team.

Well lets see how good my stream is for today's game. I didn't make a GDT because I'll just end up talking to myself.

I'll talk to you if you want

 

[AKL]

Deflected pass of Goligoski's skate goes to an Av who gets it by Wallstedt, can't tell if Petan got in Wallstedt's way or not.

Slightly interesting that Walker is wearing 18. Is that just because he's a "veteran" of camp now, or does it indicate some degree of being on the team?

Not a good start for Walker. PP turnover that leads to a 2 on 1, Addison defended it pretty well and Wallstedt makes the save, Walker takes a penalty in the process.

 

[Wabit]

I think it's a good thing that Rossi isn't playing today? Looks like a lot of guys who are either guaranteed bottom six or long shots to make the team.



I'll talk to you if you want

This is ugly to start. Wallstedt doing dumb things, Walker being dumb on the PP.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Walker got completely burned by Miles Wood on the PP and took a penalty while showing lots of frustration. Addison made a good defensive play on the 2 on 1 with Wallstedt coming up big on two rebounds. Wild already down 1 though.

 

[AKL]

This is ugly to start. Wallstedt doing dumb things, Walker being dumb on the PP.

I pretended not to see the Wallstedt play because it didn't lead to a goal (barely) and he's still the sweet prince.

 

[Wabit]

made a quick GDT and it's live

 

[EXTRAS]

Any guys coming over from Europe pro's potentially gonna make the team?

 

[AKL]

Any guys coming over from Europe pro's potentially gonna make the team?

I don't think there's going to be any surprises this year, looking at some iteration of

Kaprizov-Hartman-Zuccarello
Johansson-Eriksson Ek-Boldy
Foligno-Rossi-Gaudreau
Maroon-Dewar-Duhaime
Khaira

Middleton-Spurgeon
Brodin-Faber
Merrill-Addison
Goligoski

Gustavsson
Fleury


Next year, guys like Khusnutdinov and Yurov should come over, maybe Ohgren too? Kumpulainen could be a dark horse to be in the bottom six next year too. I think those are the only notable Europeans at this time, but again, they're all next year at the earliest.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Any guys coming over from Europe pro's potentially gonna make the team?

No, roster is pretty set due to cap, shouldn't be any surprises to start the season, especially with the Sweden series.

 

[AKL]

Anyone know the cap implications of Walker starting in Minnesota and Khaira starting in Iowa?

 

[Wabit]

Anyone know the cap implications of Walker starting in Minnesota and Khaira starting in Iowa?

It won't work without playing cap games on a daily basis.

 

[57special]

Anyone know the cap implications of Walker starting in Minnesota and Khaira starting in Iowa?

If Rossi makes it then Walker can't. Lettieri, and a couple of other AHL forwards(Milne?) make less so they could be the 13th forward.

Really surprised that Milne and Beckman didn't get any play. I mean, i like Milne, but it's not like he was amazing in the AHL and too good for this. Beckman is a different story.... he clearly wasn't as good as Walker/Rossi last year... I'd hate to think that he is getting preferential treatment just because he is 2-3" taller than Walker. It's not like he plays a physical game, unless he had one hell of a summer of training.

 

[MuckOG]

 

[Webster]

The Wild and Zuccarello have started contract talks, according to Russo, who thinks Guerin may offer him a 3 yr contract in exchange for a little haircut. How's 3.5M AAV?

 

[Circulartheory]

The Wild and Zuccarello have started contract talks, according to Russo, who thinks Guerin may offer him a 3 yr contract in exchange for a little haircut. How's 3.5M AAV?

I tend to want to let him go but only if we have a clear plan to take over his expected 50 pts at similar or cheaper AAV. If we want to let him go just because he's old, that isn't good enough for me.

So either Yurov has a very good year in the KHL to give us options, or the free agent market has decent options of a replacement. Last thing I think we need is to let Zucc go, our prospects aren't ready for the top line role yet, then we just end up paying $6mil on the open market for the same amount of points.

 

[Wasted Talent]

The Wild and Zuccarello have started contract talks, according to Russo, who thinks Guerin may offer him a 3 yr contract in exchange for a little haircut. How's 3.5M AAV?

Where did you hear they started contract talks? That Athletic article from today seems like pure speculation on if they should be signed without any actual insider info.

 

[57special]

Where did you hear they started contract talks? That Athletic article from today seems like pure speculation on if they should be signed without any actual insider info.

The Wild and Zuccarello have started contract talks, according to Russo, who thinks Guerin may offer him a 3 yr contract in exchange for a little haircut. How's 3.5M AAV?

Where does Russo say they have started talks?

 

[Webster]

Where did you hear they started contract talks? That Athletic article from today seems like pure speculation on if they should be signed without any actual insider info.

From the article...

"While a few weeks ago it felt like the Wild planned to wait, in reading the tea leaves now, it feels like the Wild have had initial conversations"

Russo being careful...like he should be. Would be no point in this article if nothing is going on, as just speculation about re-signing the top UFA guys is old news.

 

[Wasted Talent]

From the article...

"While a few weeks ago it felt like the Wild planned to wait, in reading the tea leaves now, it feels like the Wild have had initial conversations"

Russo being careful...like he should be.

The full quote ends with "...Wild have had initial conversations with some of the Big Three", which could also refer to Foligno and/or Hartman.

 

[Webster]

The full quote ends with "...Wild have had initial conversations with some of the Big Three", which could also refer to Foligno and/or Hartman.

Yes, but it's more important to re-sign a 70 point player for a nice price who'll get at least 5M on the open market...than a 20 point player in Foligno. And Hartman, as Russo suggests, will most likely be a trade candidate.

 

[AKL]

Yes, but it's more important to re-sign a 70 point player for a nice price who'll get at least 5M on the open market...than a 20 point player in Foligno. And Hartman, as Russo suggests, will most likely be a trade candidate.

That's also not what Russo said. You really do have a way with twisting his words don't you.

 

[Webster]

That's also not what Russo said. You really do have a way with twisting his words don't you.

And I didn't say those are Russo's words, when it comes to who's most important to re-sign. He did say the same about Hartman though, could be traded to make room for prospects coming up.

 

[AKL]

And I didn't say those are Russo's words, when it comes to who's most important to re-sign. He did say the same about Hartman though, could be traded to make room for prospects coming up.

Yes he also said that about Zuccarello

 

[AKL]

At no point did Russo ever separate Zuccarello, Hartman and Foligno from each other in terms of importance:

Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman are the big pending unrestricted free agents with Brandon Duhaime, who signed a one-year deal this summer, a close second.

The first three are obviously the pressing players and there are two avenues to go: be patient and see how this season plays out or begin contract talks and see if you can extend their contracts now, if the term and money are comfortable.

In one sense, it makes perfect sense to wait. What’s the rush? See how each player plays this season and, just as importantly, see how the team performs. If the Wild regress in what should be an improved Central Division, they could be in prime position to sell at the deadline and get valuable assets for players who should be wanted by any playoff team.

Now, if the Wild can’t re-sign him, like Foligno and Zuccarello — and Duhaime and Maroon, for that matter — he’d be extremely valuable at the March 8 trade deadline.

So we’ll see what happens in the coming days and weeks. But again, while both avenues — being patient vs. signing them now — make sense, we do get the feeling the Wild are at least starting conversations to see what the Big Three would cost and would be willing to entertain extending them now.

So he goes through each player, lists why they're important to the team, some potential cons of signing them (Foligno- age/play style/injury concerns; Zuccarello- age/blocking young prospects coming up/ "needs to take a haircut"; Hartman- could price himself out), speculates on the type of contract he thinks Guerin could offer each, and then says it could go any way at this point with the options being:

1) Re-sign them now IF the price points and terms are good
2) Wait to see how their seasons go and re-sign them later
3) Trade them at the deadline

At no point does he say or imply any of them are more or less likely to be traded or signed than either of the others, nor does he say or imply any of them are more or less important to get signed.

 

[Webster]

Yes he also said that about Zuccarello

My dear AKL, I'd say it's been in the readings for a long time that they really want to keep Zuccarello. Even when Fiala got traded, and again when they let Dumba go.

Russo, in that article, mentioned all the good reasons for keeping him.