Minnesota Wild General Discussion 2024-25

[thestonedkoala]

Minnesota is 3-0-2, gotta find something to bitch about I guess?

Oh I am happy Minnesota is doing well but history tends to repeat itself. The biggest issue is sustained success or even getting over the hump of a series win and then not sliding back (Twins). Injuries decimated the Wild last year and Gus had his issues that didn't help. I do think Minnesota is more than a bubble team this year but I don't think they are contenders. It's the next few years that worry me.

 

[Digitalbooya]

And yet Merrill could be sent down to the AHL without a lot of issues?

So Hunt can be the press box guy instead of Merrill? Sounds great for his development.

A few bad games? The team that Minnesota has put in front of him two years in a row have been defensive liabilities. More so, Wally should be backing up Gus right now. Finally, goalies can be weird just like QBs. A lot of is mental and when you team sucks at defense and you can't rely on them, you pick up really bad habits. We've seen that with a lot of good goaltending prospects that break down mentally.

So which do you want? The prospects playing for Iowa (made argument for Ohgren/Khusnutdinov) or going to the NHL (made argument for Wallstedt up). There’s a high chance that once all of our forwards are healthy Ohgren is sent down. I doubt Khusnutdinov is sent to Iowa. He probably has an NHL or KHL clause in his contract of some sort for the same reason that Yurov didn’t come over this year… He can make more in the KHL while playing similar competition to the AHL.

We should be expecting them to be contributing to the AHL and growing. It's not like O'Rourke, Bankier, Pillar, Spacek don't have a season (or two) under their belt and should be aware of what they need to do.

If they are developing at a top college or another pro league, I’m not sure why it matters if they play for Iowa or not… Would you rather have Zeev playing for Denver or Iowa? Does Faber get knocked because he went from the gophers straight to the NHL? How about Kaprizov? Should we have sent him to Iowa?

Didn't we hear that excuse last year? The impact prospects aren't here. Then we add more. Oh wait, the impact prospects still aren't here. Oh wait...

Yep, and notice that the defenders didn’t change and none of the impact prospects (except Wallstedt) are playing for Iowa.

 

[saywut]

Iowa should be much better than last year, 4 games is a small sample size. If McLean can't pull out ~7 wins by game ~20 then he should be fired with the current group of players provided. It's unfortunate Clarke/Toporowski are injured and Hunt is in the NHL but that's nothing compared to last year at this point when Mermis/Lettieri/Shaw/Milne/Bankier were not available and half the roster was a year earlier into their professional careers, many of them rookies. Shore/Jones aren't going to end up -100 with 0 goals, they're established as quality AHL players. Wallstedt needs to be better, though the GM hasn't exactly handled that situation correctly either.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Iowa should be much better than last year, 4 games is a small sample size. If McLean can't pull out ~7 wins by game ~20 then he should be fired with the current group of players provided. It's unfortunate Clarke/Toporowski are injured and Hunt is in the NHL but that's nothing compared to last year at this point when Mermis/Lettieri/Shaw/Milne/Bankier were not available and half the roster was a year earlier into their professional careers, many of them rookies. Shore/Jones aren't going to end up -100 with 0 goals, they're established as quality AHL players. Wallstedt needs to be better, though the GM hasn't exactly handled that situation correctly either.

I don't care about the wins or loses. You can lose 20 games 0-1. What is important is the development of the players and how the team works together.

 

[MK9]

FanDuel Sports Network is New Home for Minnesota Wild Games and Programming | Minnesota Wild

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - FanDuel Sports Network is the new television and streaming home for Minnesota Wild hockey. The network has rebranded from Bally Sports, effective today, and will continue to produce and broadcast all Wild games except those selected as national TV exclusives.

www.nhl.com

 

[Waiver Draft]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5861723/2024/10/21/wild-marcus-foligno-yakov-trenin-rhythm/

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848410167794155684

 

[HotDish]

I don't care about the wins or loses. You can lose 20 games 0-1. What is important is the development of the players and how the team works together.

I agree, but getting shutout for 20 games doesn't scream good development to me. I do also think a culture of winning is a good thing to have for younger players. I feel like especially in the pros, there is franchises that develop a culture of being bad and it takes a while to drag themselves out of it.

 

[NHL1674]

Pretty good interview. Loved the comment about how Bruno had to be smart on the ice, because he was slow.....and Backstrom's crazy pregame shuffles.

Good to see Koivu back in Minny even if it's only for a brief time for his wedding. Congrats to him, and props for marrying a Minnesota girl.

 

[57special]

Pretty good interview. Loved the comment about how Bruno had to be smart on the ice, because he was slow.....and Backstrom's crazy pregame shuffles.

Good to see Koivu back in Minny even if it's only for a brief time for his wedding. Congrats to him, and props for marrying a Minnesota girl.

Great discussion about FO's, and FO %'s(around the 40 minute mark), and how the latter doesn't always give the complete picture on how good a player is on the dot.

 

[Northerner]

Starting to believe in this team.

If we can just stay healthy and keep Fleury out of the nets, we should hit our usual 6-8 seed and win a series or two before golfing season starts back up

Through 7 games, are you more optimistic about this team than last year's team?

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Starting to believe in this team.

If we can just stay healthy and keep Fleury out of the nets, we should hit our usual 6-8 seed and win a series or two before golfing season starts back up

Through 7 games, are you more optimistic about this team than last year's team?

Yes, mainly because of Gustavsson's play so far.

I didn't think we were very good tonight though. Tampa missed some point blankers.

Going to need the 3rd and 4th lines to start chipping in sometime soon too, hopefully when Hartman comes back.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Starting to believe in this team.

If we can just stay healthy and keep Fleury out of the nets, we should hit our usual 6-8 seed and win a series or two before golfing season starts back up

Through 7 games, are you more optimistic about this team than last year's team?

For sure. The bottom 6 is so much better than last year's team. Our coach isn't afraid to shake up the lines when necessary. Gus looks fantastic so far. Rossi is him. Boldy is hitting another level. Johansson contract year. Kap and Zucc are looking great together.

 

[ThatGuy22]

Yes, mainly because of Gustavsson's play so far.

I didn't think we were very good tonight though. Tampa missed some point blankers.

Going to need the 3rd and 4th lines to start chipping in sometime soon too, hopefully when Hartman comes back.

Kaprizov also hit like 3 posts... Chances were slim in both ends but I don't think it was lopsided either way

 

[MK9]

Starting to believe in this team.

If we can just stay healthy and keep Fleury out of the nets, we should hit our usual 6-8 seed and win a series or two before golfing season starts back up

Through 7 games, are you more optimistic about this team than last year's team?

No? Yes. Maybe? It's 7 games. Pretty small window into the season. Not sure how you can even get a real feel for the team at this point. Ridiculously early to be forming any insight to how things will play out. Do I think they seem more confident and appear to be a bit above last season. Kinda, sorta, I guess. 'Til the Parise / Suter contracts come off the books, anything that's above whatever they did the season before should be a 'nice surprise'.