Minnesota Wild General Discussion 2024-25

[AKL]

Havent read the entire thread but how do you expect the goalie situation to play out this year with 3 capable netminders?

Ride whichever of Gus or Fleury is better, Wallstedt may get spot starts here and there, especially with injuries or if either are underperforming. Possible Gus trade at the deadline, but I wouldn't say that's likely unless 1) Fleury is the better goaltender, and 2) Wallstedt looks good in his spot starts up to that point.

You think Fleury gets the bulk because its his final season?

Because it's his final season? No. If he's better than Gus? Yes.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Havent read the entire thread but how do you expect the goalie situation to play out this year with 3 capable netminders?

You think Fleury gets the bulk because its his final season?

Fleury getting the bulk of the starts would be the least likely scenario IMO, the coaching staff tends to run the hot hand so its going to be very performance reliant on how it actually works out. I would project Gus for 40, then Wallstedt and Fleury split the rest 20/20, but lots of wiggle room within that spread.

Fleury's comments on his contracts have both confirmed his willingness to play a more mentor and backup role.

 

[Wabit]

Havent read the entire thread but how do you expect the goalie situation to play out this year with 3 capable netminders?

You think Fleury gets the bulk because its his final season?

Tandem of MAF and Gus to start the season with a short leash for both. The better goalie gets the majority of the starts until he falls off then back to tandem until one of them gets hot,

Wally is in Iowa until injuries or both MAF/Gus look like lost causes.

 

[Sweetnut]

Let Gus play something like 50 games, Flower can get 20 B2B's and Wall can get some sweetspots here and there.

 

[57special]

It's really all up to the goalies. the ones who play better will get more games.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

What do you do if Gus sucks the first few weeks again? Ride it out? Play Fleury? Punt? My worry is they will be playing for last place with no realistic shot of showing Kaprizov a path forward until after 25-26' and that is too late.

imo

 

[57special]

What do you do if Gus sucks the first few weeks again? Ride it out? Play Fleury? Punt? My worry is they will be playing for last place with no realistic shot of showing Kaprizov a path forward until after 25-26' and that is too late.

imo

Wallstedt.

This organization has proven time and again that they will not tank, nor, given their present roster, do i see them being able to tank, barring a rash of injuries to their best players.

More than likely we will be a team that barely makes it into, then struggles in, the playoffs. I do think our D should be better. A healthy Spurgeon, even one that is declining somewhat, is better than no Spurgeon, and his presence will allow players like Chisholm and Bogo to play in their right spots. Also have some hope that at least one Dman from Iowa will be able to come up and play well enough to beat Merrill, at least, out of a spot.

 

[Wabit]

What do you do if Gus sucks the first few weeks again? Ride it out? Play Fleury? Punt? My worry is they will be playing for last place with no realistic shot of showing Kaprizov a path forward until after 25-26' and that is too late.

imo

1. If both MAF and Gus are good, then it's a tandem. 1:1 (ish) starters
2. If Gus sucks, then MAF is the starter and Gus is the backup. 3:1 starter/backup
3. If MAF sucks, then Gus is the starter and MAF the backup. 3:1 starter/backup
4. If they both suck. Carry 3 goalies and tandem Wally with half the starts and the other 2 tandem for the other half the starts. 1:0.5:0.5. If MAF is the weakest link then ride out the season with him on the roster (NMC) and he retires. If Gus is the weakest link trade or waive him.

 

[DigitalBoldy]

Wallstedt.

This organization has proven time and again that they will not tank, nor, given their present roster, do i see them being able to tank, barring a rash of injuries to their best players.

More than likely we will be a team that barely makes it into, then struggles in, the playoffs. I do think our D should be better. A healthy Spurgeon, even one that is declining somewhat, is better than no Spurgeon, and his presence will allow players like Chisholm and Bogo to play in their right spots. Also have some hope that at least one Dman from Iowa will be able to come up and play well enough to beat Merrill, at least, out of a spot.

Our defense is the problem in the playoffs. Need to get rid of some soft players in that department.

 

[AKL]

1. If both MAF and Gus are good, then it's a tandem. 1:1 (ish) starters
2. If Gus sucks, then MAF is the starter and Gus is the backup. 3:1 starter/backup
3. If MAF sucks, then Gus is the starter and MAF the backup. 3:1 starter/backup
4. If they both suck. Carry 3 goalies and tandem Wally with half the starts and the other 2 tandem for the other half the starts. 1:0.5:0.5. If MAF is the weakest link then ride out the season with him on the roster (NMC) and he retires. If Gus is the weakest link trade or waive him.

And if all three suck we trade Wallstedt for Knies

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Our defense is the problem in the playoffs. Need to get rid of some soft players in that department.

Not that the defense is perfect, or even good, but in the last 3 years we've been in the playoffs, we've scored 2.3, 2.7 and 1.9 goals per game (and the 2.7 was basically Kaprizov scoring half of them). Regular season scoring in those seasons were 2.9, 3.7 and 3.2 goals per game.

A number of things ain't great.

 

[Sweetnut]

I'm feeling the positive vibes going on in here today.
So here's my prediction:
Gus is having a good year, in between his last two years here. Improving his trade value or getting a long term deal.
Freddy is going to double his goal scoring total to 10 goals.
Contract year Johansson is outperforming 50 yo Zuke.
Spurge plays 82 games and is a top 20 D-man.
Faber is a top 5 Norris candidate.
Ek gets 35 goals, Kap 50.
Rossi is improving his game even further.
Hartman scores 30.
Öhgren scores 15+20 in his rookie season.

And Merrill gets traded to Chicago for a AHL defenseman and a bag of pucks.

 

[DigitalBoldy]

Not that the defense is perfect, or even good, but in the last 3 years we've been in the playoffs, we've scored 2.3, 2.7 and 1.9 goals per game (and the 2.7 was basically Kaprizov scoring half of them). Regular season scoring in those seasons were 2.9, 3.7 and 3.2 goals per game.

A number of things ain't great.

Here’s a nice list of forwards to point the finger at. Forwards with .5ppg or less in the last 3 playoffs (in aggregate):

Sam Steel .40
Kevin Fiala .38
Jordan Greenway .38
Frederick Gaudreau .33
Matt Boldy .33
Nico Sturm .29
Marcus Foligno .26
Marcus Johansson .22
Nick Bjugstad .17

Shout out to our $7M guy having the same ppg as Freddy Gaudreau. In fact, shout out to Gaudreau for having double the goals of Fiala AND Boldy combined.

Shout out to the forgotten trio of Nyquist, Klingberg and Sundqvist, whom sit atop the list for point per game.

Shout out to Evason for only playing Sundqvist in 1 game, in which he scored, and then sitting him the rest of the series.

Shout out to Guerin for re-signing Johansson instead of Nyquist. Really great job on this one.

Shout out to the -10 or worse club, Spurgeon and Fiala.

Oh, and how could I forget, shout out to Dean Evason going from Gus standing on his head to Fleury shitting the bed and giving away the momentum.

 

[f7ben]

Here’s a nice list of forwards to point the finger at. Forwards with .5ppg or less in the last 3 playoffs (in aggregate):

Sam Steel .40
Kevin Fiala .38
Jordan Greenway .38
Frederick Gaudreau .33
Matt Boldy .33
Nico Sturm .29
Marcus Foligno .26
Marcus Johansson .22
Nick Bjugstad .17

Shout out to our $7M guy having the same ppg as Freddy Gaudreau. In fact, shout out to Gaudreau for having double the goals of Fiala AND Boldy combined.

Shout out to the forgotten trio of Nyquist, Klingberg and Sundqvist, whom sit atop the list for point per game.

Shout out to Evason for only playing Sundqvist in 1 game, in which he scored, and then sitting him the rest of the series.

Shout out to Guerin for re-signing Johansson instead of Nyquist. Really great job on this one.

Shout out to the -10 or worse club, Spurgeon and Fiala.

Oh, and how could I forget, shout out to Dean Evason going from Gus standing on his head to Fleury shitting the bed and giving away the momentum.

Do we know Guerin didn’t have a hand in the Fleury start for game 2?

 

[Wasted Talent]

Shout out to our $7M guy having the same ppg as Freddy Gaudreau. In fact, shout out to Gaudreau for having double the goals of Fiala AND Boldy combined.

Technically Boldy was still an ELC guy the last time they made the playoffs. We'll have to wait and see how he does as a $7M guy.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Technically Boldy was still an ELC guy the last time they made the playoffs. We'll have to wait and see how he does as a $7M guy.

Yeah, I have leeway with young players, but he is most definitely on the clock now.

 

[DigitalBoldy]

I don’t think Boldy should get leeway. You don’t get to put up 60+ (pace and actual) in the regular season, proving you are a legit top 6 player, then go missing when the games really matter and not receive/deserve criticism.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I don’t think Boldy should get leeway. You don’t get to put up 60+ (pace and actual) in the regular season, proving you are a legit top 6 player, then go missing when the games really matter and not receive/deserve criticism.

There's varying degrees of criticism, I guess.

 

[DigitalBoldy]

There's varying degrees of criticism, I guess.

Sharp criticism was/is deserved when he could not outscore Freddy Gaudreau. I feel like that should be the bare minimum.

 

[AKL]

He may not have outscored Gaudreau, but he did outscore Kaprizov, so I guess we don't need to criticize him that much

 

[DigitalBoldy]

He may not have outscored Gaudreau, but he did outscore Kaprizov, so I guess we don't need to criticize him that much

How do you figure? In that same time frame Kaprizov had 8 goals 1 assist 9 points in 12 games.

 

[Wasted Talent]

How do you figure? In that same time frame Kaprizov had 8 goals 1 assist 9 points in 12 games.

I assume he means the last year's series against Dallas.

Take away that good series against Blues and Kaprizov's playoff scoring drops down to 4 points in 13 games. Not all that different from Boldy's 4 points in 12 games.

I don't hold it against Kaprizov yet, since I can chalk the first series on him being a rookie, and the third one on a clear injury. But the expectations will be very high for the next series.

Meanwhile Boldy will be the same age next season as Kaprizov was for his rookie season. If Boldy gets criticism, Kaprizov probably should too.

 

[DigitalBoldy]

I assume he means the last year's series against Dallas.

Take away that good series against Blues and Kaprizov's playoff scoring drops down to 4 points in 13 games. Not all that different from Boldy's 4 points in 12 games.

I don't hold it against Kaprizov yet, since I can chalk the first series on him being a rookie, and the third one on a clear injury. But the expectations will be very high for the next series.

Meanwhile Boldy will be the same age next season as Kaprizov was for his rookie season. If Boldy gets criticism, Kaprizov probably should too.

Kaprizov came back from an injury way too soon for the 22-23 playoffs (like you said). It took him half of this past season to return to normalcy. I guess we can criticize Kaprizov for Stanley folding him up?

Compare Boldy to Dach and Caufield from his draft class. Dach had 6 points in 9 games as a 19 year old. Caufield had 12 points in 20 games as a 20 year old.

Johnston just had 16 points in 19 games as 21 year old.

Lundell had 17 in 24 games this past year as a 22 year old and 10 in 21 games as 21 year old last year.

Jarvis 9 points in 11 games as a 22 year old, 10 points in 15 games as a 21 year old, and 8 points in 14 games as a 20 year old.

It is not unheard of for young players to score in the playoffs.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Sharp criticism was/is deserved when he could not outscore Freddy Gaudreau. I feel like that should be the bare minimum.

Sure. It’s not like it matters anyway.

 

[north21]

, but he is most definitely on the clock now.

This sums it up well.