Minnesota Wild General Discussion 2024-25

[north21]

We need to make the playoffs this year and next year. NEED to if we want Kaprizov to stick around.

It would certainly help. Chasing cups isn't easy either, I'm just hoping he likes it here, he can see we have a solid future and he is loves the money we can throw at him.

 

[Digitalbooya]

It would certainly help. Chasing cups isn't easy either, I'm just hoping he likes it here, he can see we have a solid future and he is loves the money we can throw at him.

Every report across multiple people has been that he loves it in Minnesota, but he wants to win.

 

[Webster]

Boldy needs a skilled player to get out in transition with. This 2nd line would be a bad fit.

Also I guarantee Kap would rather play with Boldy. He’s due for a new contract soon and his scoring with Boldy is significantly higher. The Zucc bias is nauseating, cmon dude.

That lineup I posted is basically their plan next season, except the 2LW spot. I just put Trenin there for some fresh looks, but we'll more likely see Johansson there again or maybe Ohgren. Training camp will tell them who should play there.

Guerin said on the radio they'll probably start with Kaprizov-Hartman-Zuccarello on the top line. We heard Hynes mentioned the same thing. You should listen to Russo's last podcast, he'll give you an idea there from 40:00 into the "development camp recap" pod.

Worst Seats in the House w/ Michael Russo & Anthony LaPanta - Minnesota Wild Podcast | Talk North Podcast Network

Michael Russo and Anthony LaPanta talk Minnesota Wild and the rest of the NHL

worstseats.podbean.com

 

[Digitalbooya]

That lineup I posted is basically their plan next season, except the 2LW spot. I just put Trenin there for some fresh looks, but we'll more likely see Johansson there again or maybe Ohgren. Training camp will tell them who should play there.

Guerin said on the radio they'll probably start with Kaprizov-Hartman-Zuccarello on the top line. We heard Hynes mentioned the same thing. You should listen to Russo's last podcast, he'll give you an idea there from 40:00 into the "development camp recap" pod.

Worst Seats in the House w/ Michael Russo & Anthony LaPanta - Minnesota Wild Podcast | Talk North Podcast Network

Michael Russo and Anthony LaPanta talk Minnesota Wild and the rest of the NHL

worstseats.podbean.com

Russo is saying that they need to put Boldy and Eriksson Ek on the 2nd line to create balance in the forward lineup. This is because when Kap-Ek-Boldy were together, there was minimal production from the rest of the forwards. This falls primarily on the Johansson-Rossi-Zucc combo as they were the second line and had just atrocious 5v5 numbers together.

Kaprizov can carry Hartman and Zucc on the 1st line and then you have the second (Ek) and third (Boldy) best forwards on the second line with perhaps contract year Johansson or the rookie Ohgren. Opposing teams can't send out their top defensive line for both of those lines.

This is basically what Dean did with Kaprizov/Boldy and Kaprizov/Fiala before that.

 

[57special]

Now that we've seen how dominant Boldy and Kaprizov can be together, Hynes has to hold Zucc's feet to the fire if he starts to overpass, and giveaway pucks, while playing with Kap. I don't expect Zucc to be as good as Boldy, but he can be a good player if he doesn't get careless. Also needs to shoot the puck more if playing with Kap, at least until they stop playing the pass when the puck is on his stick. Reminds me of early Granlund at times, even though he has a better shot.

Having Rossi and Ohgren play well this year would certainly give us more lineup options. Just hope that Hynes will give them a legit chance, rather than an odd game or two, then go back to a rotation of Freddy, Foligno, Hartman, MarJo, Trenin(?)

 

[squashmaple]

Hello expansion brothers, Jackets fan here. With McLellan likely not going to happen, our attention turns to your recently-ish departed coach, Evason. I am aware he had a strange fixation with Freddy Gaudreau, but what else can you tell me about him? I look at the results he got with the Wild and am encouraged, especially when considering the Wild have been operating under a 15-million-dollar handicap. I know he's got warts as well as strengths, but I'm curious to see what fans have to say.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Hello expansion brothers, Jackets fan here. With McLellan likely not going to happen, our attention turns to your recently-ish departed coach, Evason. I am aware he had a strange fixation with Freddy Gaudreau, but what else can you tell me about him? I look at the results he got with the Wild and am encouraged, especially when considering the Wild have been operating under a 15-million-dollar handicap. I know he's got warts as well as strengths, but I'm curious to see what fans have to say.

Was not as bad as you are probably going to hear about on here, he got the team to play extremely motivated hockey, found some good cohesion even into the depth part of our lineup, and enforced very good structure, while still unlocking our most talented players.

A lot of people complained about his line combos, not enough adjustments in the playoffs, and his goalie decisions. I think those are results based complaints rather than process issues that he had personally. I think a team like the Jackets could be a good fit for him, he holds players accountable, but pushes them to be better, for your skilled youth, that could be a very good thing. His Special Teams were horrific with us, but that's more on those specific coaches IMO.

 

[Wabit]

Hello expansion brothers, Jackets fan here. With McLellan likely not going to happen, our attention turns to your recently-ish departed coach, Evason. I am aware he had a strange fixation with Freddy Gaudreau, but what else can you tell me about him? I look at the results he got with the Wild and am encouraged, especially when considering the Wild have been operating under a 15-million-dollar handicap. I know he's got warts as well as strengths, but I'm curious to see what fans have to say.

Evason is everything you want in a bench/assistant coach. He's really good at getting the most out of his players. MN made the Playoffs because of this.

He has nothing you want for a head coach. He can't/won't make adjustments to things that a head coach needs to be able to do. MN lost in the Playoffs because of this.

 

[BagHead]

Hello expansion brothers, Jackets fan here. With McLellan likely not going to happen, our attention turns to your recently-ish departed coach, Evason. I am aware he had a strange fixation with Freddy Gaudreau, but what else can you tell me about him? I look at the results he got with the Wild and am encouraged, especially when considering the Wild have been operating under a 15-million-dollar handicap. I know he's got warts as well as strengths, but I'm curious to see what fans have to say.

He seemed like a good motivator while here, but a poor X's and O's coach. I think players want to battle for him, he's just got something about him that most of them love, but he appears inflexible in his lineup decisions and game plans. Not just on the fly, but even over the course of multiple games. That works in the regular season, but became an issue in the playoffs. When you're facing the same team over and over, and they're making adjustments and you're not, you either need to be the vastly superior team, or you're going to lose.

I disagree to some extent with Obvious Fabertism on this. Some stuff people talk about is probably hindsight thinking, but people here were also noticing this as it was happening, and calling for adjustments in real time. Adjustments that either never came, or came in the elimination game of the series.

He was sort of the anti-Lemaire. Not all players liked Lemaire, and sometimes he got too adjustment-happy, but you knew he was going to coach and coach well during the games.

 

[57special]

Hello expansion brothers, Jackets fan here. With McLellan likely not going to happen, our attention turns to your recently-ish departed coach, Evason. I am aware he had a strange fixation with Freddy Gaudreau, but what else can you tell me about him? I look at the results he got with the Wild and am encouraged, especially when considering the Wild have been operating under a 15-million-dollar handicap. I know he's got warts as well as strengths, but I'm curious to see what fans have to say.

I think he's a decent coach. Tough as nails, players seem to play for him, and respect him. No genius, but a pro. Hope he gets another chance as a HC.

 

[57special]

Evason is everything you want in a bench/assistant coach. He's really good at getting the most out of his players. MN made the Playoffs because of this.

He has nothing you want for a head coach. He can't/won't make adjustments to things that a head coach needs to be able to do. MN lost in the Playoffs because of this.

MN lost in the playoffs with all sorts of other coaches. By your reasoning, Mike Yeo is a good coach because he won a series or two. There is no guarantee that another coach would've gotten the Wild to win a series... we've been losers in the playoffs long before he came around.

 

[Wasted Talent]

MN lost in the playoffs with all sorts of other coaches. By your reasoning, Mike Yeo is a good coach because he won a series or two. There is no guarantee that another coach would've gotten the Wild to win a series... we've been losers in the playoffs long before he came around.

Mike Yeo made it out of the 1st round 3 times in 4 attempts (including his time in St. Louis), and his team was the lower seed every time. He also coached the Houston Aeros for one season and won 3 series.

Dean Evason is 0-3 or 0-4 in the first round (depends on if you count the bubble play-in). He was also 0-5 as an AHL head coach for Nashville.

I wouldn't call Yeo a good coach, but he definitely seems like a better playoff coach than Evason.

 

[57special]

Mike Yeo is also a better coach than Boudreau, then?

I think coaches are way less important than most think, and players far more. We have a bunch of underachievers in MN, and have for years.

 

[BagHead]

Mike Yeo is also a better coach than Boudreau, then?

He did say playoff coach. That doesn't mean he's better overall. I think Evason's an alright coach overall, but his playoff woes are prolific enough that they warrant some consideration. His playoff record is far worse than Boudreau's.

 

[AKL]

I think coaches are way less important than most think, and players far more. We have a bunch of underachievers in MN, and have for years.

I generally agree, but when Evason refuses to make any changes to his "plan" when the team is getting blown out? That's one thing the coach does have responsibility over, and Evason's biggest flaw. He was too rigid. On the other hand, the one change he did make was sitting Gus after singlehandedly winning game 1 just so they could keep Fleury's streak alive? Try to get another record? I don't know what it was, but that wasn't smart coaching either.

But obviously even if Evason was a good coach, the teams he had weren't going to win the Cup. But that doesn't mean he was a good coach.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

Hello expansion brothers, Jackets fan here. With McLellan likely not going to happen, our attention turns to your recently-ish departed coach, Evason. I am aware he had a strange fixation with Freddy Gaudreau, but what else can you tell me about him? I look at the results he got with the Wild and am encouraged, especially when considering the Wild have been operating under a 15-million-dollar handicap. I know he's got warts as well as strengths, but I'm curious to see what fans have to say.

As you can see from the posts above, there are a lot of split opinions on Evason. I personally liked him as a coach but it was clear he had one way of doing things. I recall reading a management/coaching book when I was young that said that one of the most important things a good leader can possess is the ability to say the same message but in a different way if the first way is not getting through.

Evason is a "first way is the only way" kinda guy. Which seems to mean his style has a short experation date.

 

[Luceni]

Herber Rückschlag für ÖEHV! Marco Rossi fehlt bei Olympia-Quali

Ende August spielt das Eishockey-Nationalteam um einen Platz bei den Olympischen Spielen 2026. Der NHL-Star wird nicht dabei sein.

www.laola1.at

Marco Rossi will miss the olimpic-qualifying games of Austria starting late august. Instead he wants to work in St. Paul on his weaknesses, starting in August. The Article says he wants to improve his shot thats why he switched onto a harder stick.

Also his contract situation is a reason: Rossi is going into his last contract year and thats why he really wants to succeed for the wild this year to get his first big contract in the league.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Herber Rückschlag für ÖEHV! Marco Rossi fehlt bei Olympia-Quali

Ende August spielt das Eishockey-Nationalteam um einen Platz bei den Olympischen Spielen 2026. Der NHL-Star wird nicht dabei sein.

www.laola1.at

Marco Rossi will miss the olimpic-qualifying games of Austria starting late august. Instead he wants to work in St. Paul on his weaknesses, starting in August. The Article says he wants to improve his shot thats why he switched onto a harder stick.

Also his contract situation is a reason: Rossi is going into his last contract year and thats why he really wants to succeed for the wild this year to get his first big contract in the league.

Love it, he made huge strides last year, keep it rolling into this one! I already knew he was focusing shot, agree that its a great area to target at this point, would make a huge difference in his game to be a shooting threat up the middle. He isn't starting from a place that was that far off either, but he can get a little quicker on the release and add a few more placement shots to his repertoire. Would love to see him become a 30+ threat.

 

[AKL]

Herber Rückschlag für ÖEHV! Marco Rossi fehlt bei Olympia-Quali

Ende August spielt das Eishockey-Nationalteam um einen Platz bei den Olympischen Spielen 2026. Der NHL-Star wird nicht dabei sein.

www.laola1.at

Marco Rossi will miss the olimpic-qualifying games of Austria starting late august. Instead he wants to work in St. Paul on his weaknesses, starting in August. The Article says he wants to improve his shot thats why he switched onto a harder stick.

Also his contract situation is a reason: Rossi is going into his last contract year and thats why he really wants to succeed for the wild this year to get his first big contract in the league.

Unfortunate for Austria fans, but stuff like this is how he improved so much last season, and I hope it continues so Guerin has no choice but to keep him around long term.

 

[Wasted Talent]

Herber Rückschlag für ÖEHV! Marco Rossi fehlt bei Olympia-Quali

Ende August spielt das Eishockey-Nationalteam um einen Platz bei den Olympischen Spielen 2026. Der NHL-Star wird nicht dabei sein.

www.laola1.at

Marco Rossi will miss the olimpic-qualifying games of Austria starting late august. Instead he wants to work in St. Paul on his weaknesses, starting in August. The Article says he wants to improve his shot thats why he switched onto a harder stick.

Also his contract situation is a reason: Rossi is going into his last contract year and thats why he really wants to succeed for the wild this year to get his first big contract in the league.

I google translated the article and this caught my eye:

...after talking to Wild coach John Hynes, he decided to fly to St. Paul in mid-August, where a tough preparation camp awaits his team.

Assuming the translation is accurate, what is this "tough preparation camp" happening in mid-August? Or is he just coming a month early to prepare before the training camp?

 

[TaLoN]

I google translated the article and this caught my eye:



Assuming the translation is accurate, what is this "tough preparation camp" happening in mid-August? Or is he just coming a month early to prepare before the training camp?

Preparation camp would be training camp. Rossi is just getting here early to get himself ready for it. He's dedicating himself for extra time before camp to improve as a player.

 

[Sweetnut]

Preparation camp would be training camp. Rossi is just getting here early to get himself ready for it. He's dedicating himself for extra time before camp to improve as a player.

That's the kind of player I like. Work hard for it. Don't be the entitled prick that runs back home at the first sign of adversity.

 

[BagHead]

That's the kind of player I like. Work hard for it. Don't be the entitled prick that runs back home at the first sign of adversity.

You don't have anyone specific in mind, surely.

I'm with you though, I love to see his dedication. Always keep the guys who improve each year, because they won't stop doing so until their bodies break down from age or injury. People don't improve every single year, without fail, without working toward it. This kid's a pocket-sized JEE in his work-ethic. Don't trade him, for the love of god.

 

[TaLoN]

You don't have anyone specific in mind, surely.

I'm with you though, I love to see his dedication. Always keep the guys who improve each year, because they won't stop doing so until their bodies break down from age or injury. People don't improve every single year, without fail, without working toward it. This kid's a pocket-sized JEE in his work-ethic. Don't trade him, for the love of god.

Granlund was the same way... then we traded Granlund for Fiala and Fiala for Faber and Ohgren.

 

[BagHead]

Granlund was the same way... then we traded Granlund for Fiala and Fiala for Faber and Ohgren.

I meant this year. If they trade him when he's at his peak for a better, younger player, I'm ok with that, but to do that they'll need to develop him first. That goes for JEE, too, and literally everyone else. I will (probably) always be ok with trading any player for a better, younger player instead.