Minnesota Wild General Discussion 2024-25

[north21]

Sounds way too reasonable.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Russo was asked again on his podcast (Worst Seats), this time at a live show, about Rossi and contract extension/trade. He said the following (paraphrasing):
-Brass sees the improvements he has made this year
-Likely waiting till the offseason to see how the cap ceiling situation plays out (planning for Kap extension that would kick in the year after)
-Rossi camp is open to both long term and short term (not sure if this is a gut feeling or actual reporting)
-The only way they trade him is if it is a no brainer deal for the Wild

Breathe easy Rossi Stans. Seems like Rossi will be here at least a few more years.

This also sounds like someone got fed up with Russo’s prior reporting and set him straight.

Ha. Very potentially true.

 

[Waiver Draft]

 

[f7ben]

I really like the decision to have sent Ohgren down. He proved he can be a useful nhl player while he was up. That’s not the question. The question is can he be a useful top 6 player. If you challenge him to go down a level and show that’s what his game is and he does it he will only come back more confident. This is good asset management.

 

[AKL]

Breathe easy Rossi Stans. Seems like Rossi will be here at least a few more years.

Thank you for sharing, I haven't breathed for a year and a half

 

[charger66]

Any word on Darth Faber

 

[NHL1674]

Any word on Darth Faber

Go to message #1298.

 

[Mookie Blaylock]

Found out that Suter is moving to my route(eventually). He purchased a house overlooking Mirror lake and tore it down before I started this route. They haven't started building the new house but rumor is it's going to be a two year project

 

[NHL1674]

Found out that Suter is moving to my route(eventually). He purchased a house overlooking Mirror lake and tore it down before I started this route. They haven't started building the new house but rumor is it's going to be a two year project

Well, he certainly has the money with three different teams paying him right now.

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

Man, how good has Rossi been. And finally he's getting PP time. I feel like his puck possession skills, quick decision making, and net front presence is all perfect for the PP. Rossi is like Parise in that even though he's small he's really good at shielding defenders with his body and has really good hand-eye around the net. Rossi with PP time is a 70+ point per 82 game player. He just needs to get a little bit better in the face off dot.

Side note: I think the Wild need to combine Kaprizov-Rossi-Boldy at least until Ek comes back. I think Boldy drives play in a way that Zucc does not and Rossi does a lot of the things for Kaprizov that Zucc normally does. I like when that line is playing both a possession and rush game. With Zucc, it feels like it's mostly off the rush and Kaprizov is more often in less dangerous areas when they are trying to drive possession.

I would go

Kaprizov-Rossi-Boldy
Johansson-Hartman-Zuccarrello

Zuccarello can play PP time with Kaprizov. Kaprizov can also double shift with the Zucc line.

 

[57special]

I wish

Man, how good has Rossi been. And finally he's getting PP time. I feel like his puck possession skills, quick decision making, and net front presence is all perfect for the PP. Rossi is like Parise in that even though he's small he's really good at shielding defenders with his body and has really good hand-eye around the net. Rossi with PP time is a 70+ point per 82 game player. He just needs to get a little bit better in the face off dot.

Side note: I think the Wild need to combine Kaprizov-Rossi-Boldy at least until Ek comes back. I think Boldy drives play in a way that Zucc does not and Rossi does a lot of the things for Kaprizov that Zucc normally does. I like when that line is playing both a possession and rush game. With Zucc, it feels like it's mostly off the rush and Kaprizov is more often in less dangerous areas when they are trying to drive possession.

I would go

Kaprizov-Rossi-Boldy
Johansson-Hartman-Zuccarrello

Zuccarello can play PP time with Kaprizov. Kaprizov can also double shift with the Zucc line.

Agreed on Rossi. he has put on enough strength, and developed enough technique, so that he is good in and around the net, and isn't a pushover in board battles anymore.

I disagree with putting Boldy on the 1st line, mainly because Zucc is ineffective when he isn't playing with Kap, while Boldy, theoretically, should be able to create some offense on his own. Would be nice if a healthy JEE came back as his C, and they bumped that bum Hartman off his line. I'd just as soon see Freddy, or even Marat, on his line the way Hartman is playing.
Boldy still gets PP time with Kap.

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

I wish

Agreed on Rossi. he has put on enough strength, and developed enough technique, so that he is good in and around the net, and isn't a pushover in board battles anymore.

I disagree with putting Boldy on the 1st line, mainly because Zucc is ineffective when he isn't playing with Kap, while Boldy, theoretically, should be able to create some offense on his own. Would be nice if a healthy JEE came back as his C, and they bumped that bum Hartman off his line. I'd just as soon see Freddy, or even Marat, on his line the way Hartman is playing.
Boldy still gets PP time with Kap.

Agreed, on Rossi like you said. I would also go far to say that similar to Granlund, he's really good at board battles. I rarely see Rossi go into the corner and the end result not being a positive play. I think he's among the best on the team in the corners, whether that's maintaining possession or moving the puck to open areas areas of the offensive zone on the weak side where we have an advantage around maintaining possession.

My position is different than this though on Zucc. I think Boldy is much less effective on the second line as well. And I think Boldy on the first line is a better scoring and more dominant line than with Zucc. If the second line is going to be ineffective I would rather just have a really effective first line and hope the other lines can chip in enough.

Instead of double shifting Boldy/Kaprizov with the bottom 6, I would rather double shift them with the 2nd line, play Johansson more with the bottom 6 lines, and continue to skip whatever bottom 6 wingers we do anyways. With this and with Zucc on the PP, I think you can get enough there while again making the most out of that dominant first line and Boldy.

Edit: I guess you can make the same argument about double shifting Kaprizov with the Boldy line and keeping Zucc on the first line and I guess I'm open to that but I would rather start with how do we get Kaprizov and Boldy rolling and then make other decisions from there.

 

[57special]

Agreed, on Rossi like you said. I would also go far to say that similar to Granlund, he's really good at board battles. I rarely see Rossi go into the corner and the end result not being a positive play. I think he's among the best on the team in the corners, whether that's maintaining possession or moving the puck to open areas areas of the offensive zone on the weak side where we have an advantage around maintaining possession.

My position is different than this though on Zucc. I think Boldy is much less effective on the second line as well. And I think Boldy on the first line is a better scoring and more dominant line than with Zucc. If the second line is going to be ineffective I would rather just have a really effective first line and hope the other lines can chip in enough.

Instead of double shifting Boldy/Kaprizov with the bottom 6, I would rather double shift them with the 2nd line, play Johansson more with the bottom 6 lines, and continue to skip whatever bottom 6 wingers we do anyways. With this and with Zucc on the PP, I think you can get enough there while again making the most out of that dominant first line and Boldy.

Edit: I guess you can make the same argument about double shifting Kaprizov with the Boldy line and keeping Zucc on the first line and I guess I'm open to that but I would rather start with how do we get Kaprizov and Boldy rolling and then make other decisions from there.

I think we both see the same things, but disagree on how to solve the problem. My feeling is that Boldy needs to be a line driver by himself, given his talent. JEE's injury has thrown a wrench in the gears as far as having two balanced top lines, but eventually, that is the goal.

Agree 100% on MiG. He and Zucker were a fantastic forechecking duo for a minute there. Just goes to show that size and strength isn't everything when it comes to puck battles. Kap is phenomenal, too.

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

I think we both see the same things, but disagree on how to solve the problem. My feeling is that Boldy needs to be a line driver by himself, given his talent. JEE's injury has thrown a wrench in the gears as far as having two balanced top lines, but eventually, that is the goal.

Agree 100% on MiG. He and Zucker were a fantastic forechecking duo for a minute there. Just goes to show that size and strength isn't everything when it comes to puck battles. Kap is phenomenal, too.

Agreed and that’s fair. Boldy does need to be a line driver himself but the lack of talent on that second line is stark. I guess maybe that’s where the solution might be to put Zucc with Boldy and try another winger with Rossi/Kaprizov (Johansson? Hartman?) Could you get away with Johansson/Boldy combining center duties between the faceoff dot and defensively? Johansson’s skating is certainly good enough.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

Curious to see how they bounce back, that was a fugly loss to the Panthers.

And I agree with you guys. I see a lot of similarities between Granlund’s break out season and Rossi this year. Never underestimate the confidence that comes with toughening up.

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

Curious to see how they bounce back, that was a fugly loss to the Panthers.

And I agree with you guys. I see a lot of similarities between Granlund’s break out season and Rossi this year. Never underestimate the confidence that comes with toughening up.

My eye test says Granlund drove play more than Rossi. Rossi is kind of like a Parise/Zucc hybrid but the difference is Rossi is doing it while playing center and a pretty strong two way game at that. In many ways, Granlund was a mini-Kaprizov although nowhere near as good

 

[north21]

Hoping these losses and light goal production sqashes any future rossi trade talk.

 

[BagHead]

My eye test says Granlund drove play more than Rossi. Rossi is kind of like a Parise/Zucc hybrid but the difference is Rossi is doing it while playing center and a pretty strong two way game at that. In many ways, Granlund was a mini-Kaprizov although nowhere near as good

Funny that you say that, because when Kaprizov was drafted people around here were saying he looks like a "shoot first Granlund." Of course, he's developed substantially more than Granlund since then, but still.

 

[57special]

Our AHL callups have played 49 games, and have yet to score a point. That's pitiful, especially for Shore and Jones, who have played 15 games apiece.

Hartman, Trenin, Marat, and Lauko have 17 pts. in 113 gp.

We are getting nothing from our bottom six.

Frankly, anyone who doesn't play with Kap is crap. He is carrying the team on his back - Gus, too, for a while.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Frankly, anyone who doesn't play with Kap is crap. He is carrying the team on his back - Gus, too, for a while.

That’s why I’m a little weary on signing Rossi long term. Get him signed 3-4 years.

They might want to revamp the whole bottom 6 at the TDL.

 

[Dickie Dunn]

Starting the collapse before March this time.

 

[AKL]

I truly believe in my heart that Johansson, Trenin, Foligno and Khusnutdinov are entirely useless offensively, so it's not surprising to me that lines that rely on those guys to contribute are not succeeding.

Does Hartman get any sort of partial pass for being a new dad? Someone got to play that card last year.

I don't think the team is completely broken, but these injuries have left them struggling to find depth scoring and now the confidence is shot. They'll probably start rolling again once guys come back.

 

[f7ben]

I truly believe in my heart that Johansson, Trenin, Foligno and Khusnutdinov are entirely useless offensively, so it's not surprising to me that lines that rely on those guys to contribute are not succeeding.

Does Hartman get any sort of partial pass for being a new dad? Someone got to play that card last year.

I don't think the team is completely broken, but these injuries have left them struggling to find depth scoring and now the confidence is shot. They'll probably start rolling again once guys come back.

They may start “rolling” again once the schedule gets soft for them. That’s the only way this team rolls