Minnesota Wild General Discussion 2024-25

[DigitalBoldy]

Öhgren - Rossi - Zucc
Boldy - Ek - Khus
Foligno - Freddy - Trenin

Ohgren - Rossi - Zucc
Boldy - Khusnutdinov - Hartman
Trenin - Ek - Foligno
Lauko - Gaudreau - Shore

Ahhh yes, let's put Ohgren (15pts per 82 game pace) and Khusnutdinov (8pts per 82 game pace) in the top 6. That seems like a great idea.

 

[DigitalBoldy]

The point is that this shouldn't happen

Those should all be virtually 0

Yesterday he started on a line with Foligno and Hartman, and Trenin was moved there in the third period. That should never happen.

FFS, we should have kept Evason if this is the line of thinking. He loved keeping the top line together while we all pissed and moaned that the line was stale and never changed. Now we have a coach that changes the line and we have people pissing and moaning that they aren't keeping the top line intact every game. This board needs to pick a lane.

 

[AKL]

FFS, we should have kept Evason if this is the line of thinking. He loved keeping the top line together while we all pissed and moaned that the line was stale and never changed. Now we have a coach that changes the line and we have people pissing and moaning that they aren't keeping the top line intact. This board needs to pick a lane.

It just takes a little bit of critical thought. Just a tiny bit.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

FFS, we should have kept Evason if this is the line of thinking. He loved keeping the top line together while we all pissed and moaned that the line was stale and never changed. Now we have a coach that changes the line and we have people pissing and moaning that they aren't keeping the top line intact every game. This board needs to pick a lane.

We don't deserve good offensive centers if it's this controversial to say that you think they should always play with other good offensive players. That's my lane, I picked it a while ago, and I don't think I've strayed.

 

[Prior]

We don't deserve good offensive centers if it's this controversial to say that you think they should always play with other good offensive players. That's my lane, I picked it a while ago, and I don't think I've strayed.

When do we get see these good offensive centers? That seems like it would be fun.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

When do we get see these good offensive centers? That seems like it would be fun.

Rossi is good.

 

[Spurgeon]

Ahhh yes, let's put Ohgren (15pts per 82 game pace) and Khusnutdinov (8pts per 82 game pace) in the top 6. That seems like a great idea.

They’re comfortably in a playoff spot, mixing up lines for a few games isn’t going to hurt them. It’d be nice to get an idea of what could potentially work as an alternative in a playoff series.

Do you think they’ve been an offensively good team with what they’ve been trying?

 

[north21]

Ahhh yes, let's put Ohgren (15pts per 82 game pace) and Khusnutdinov (8pts per 82 game pace) in the top 6. That seems like a great idea.

Does anyone other than ohgren deserve a shot in the top 6 right now? At least he is showing some flashes.

 

[NHL1674]

Lines today.....not to beat a dead horse, but Trenin gets moved up, and........we're just gonna keep going with what hasn't worked?

Now Rossi gets to deal with Mojo on the 3rd line. Make it make sense.

 

[MNRube]

Lines today.....not to beat a dead horse, but Trenin gets moved up, and........we're just gonna keep going with what hasn't worked?

Now Rossi gets to deal with Mojo on the 3rd line. Make it make sense.

Should be

Boldy-Rossi-Ohgren
Foligno-JEE-Trenin
Mojo-Freddy-Zucc

 

[BagHead]

I'm not sure I view that as Trenin getting moved up. The order he has those lines in is suspect.

 

[NHL1674]

Should be

Boldy-Rossi-Ohgren
Foligno-JEE-Trenin
Mojo-Freddy-Zucc

It's certainly an improvement.

 

[DigitalBoldy]

They’re comfortably in a playoff spot, mixing up lines for a few games isn’t going to hurt them. It’d be nice to get an idea of what could potentially work as an alternative in a playoff series.

Do you think they’ve been an offensively good team with what they’ve been trying?

No no no, haven’t you heard? Any variation that doesn’t start with Boldy-Rossi-Zucc is simply outrageous.

If you disagree, then I will insult you with “lacking critical thought” and that you “don’t deserve offensive centers.”

Excuse me while I go back to delete old posts about irrelevant things like stale lines and how Zucc is terrible.

 

[NHL1674]

No no no, haven’t you heard? Any variation that doesn’t start with Boldy-Rossi-Zucc is simply outrageous.

If you disagree, then I will insult you with “lacking critical thought” and that you “don’t deserve offensive centers.”

Excuse me while I go back to delete old posts about irrelevant things like stale lines and how Zucc is terrible.

I don't want Zucc in that equation or even on the top line, honey.

 

[NHL1674]

 

[Webster]

I don't want Zucc in that equation or even on the top line, honey.

What's your issue with Zuccarello? 36 points in 40 games, plays like a 7M guy gets paid 4M.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Johansson is a step up from Trenin, at least.

Still doesn't make Eriksson Ek's spot any more deserved.

 

[AKL]

I'm not sure I view that as Trenin getting moved up. The order he has those lines in is suspect.

I don't know why they keep doing that. The writer on the Wild website does it too.

 

[AKL]

If you disagree, then I will insult you with “lacking critical thought”

I didn't say you lack it, I said you just need to use it. You're capable of it, you just enjoy being the contrarian.

 

[AKL]

 

[Webster]

Lines at practice with Johansson and Brodin in, Hartman out.
What is Rossi doing down there? He had success on the top line with Zucc and Boldy.

 

[AKL]

Some interesting parts from Russo's latest article:

For example, Guerin is unsure if the club will continue to spend to the cap. He’s had a brief conversation with owner Craig Leipold about it.

“It’s not, ‘All right, here’s more money, just keep spending it,’” Guerin told The Athletic. “I don’t know if we are. We have to think long and hard. It depends where. For me, it doesn’t change how we operate. You don’t want bad contracts. Bad contracts get us in trouble. You want to be smart. If we do spend to the cap, you want to put the money in the right places to build a championship-caliber team.”

Potentially not spending to the cap would mean that having the space doesn't guarantee we extend Rossi, or sign a UFA, or whatever it may be.

“I don’t care about percentage of the cap,” Guerin said. “I only started hearing that two years ago. Yeah, there’s a market. But we’ve got our own internal structure. We feel players are worth a certain thing. I don’t care about percentage of the cap. Why don’t you just look at how your bank account is growing? Not worry about the percentage of the cap. And how good you’re playing; is your career going the right way?”

I'm curious what he's looking at then with the cap going up. Using Rossi as an example, if what Russo said is true and Guerin doesn't want to commit to him at 8M, he probably still doesn't want to commit to him at 8M, even though 8M in this environment isn't the same as 8M 3 years ago.

Let’s say the Wild propose $120 million on an eight-year deal ($15 million a year) this summer. Is Kaprizov really going to turn down life-changing money and risk a recurrence of the injury next season? If Kaprizov misses a chunk of time again next season, that money may no longer be there from the Wild or any other team.

Kaprizov will have to decide for himself how much is enough. If Theofanous tries to fight for close to 20 percent of the cap, Kaprizov has to know anything close to $20.8 million annually will make it awfully difficult for the Wild to assemble a roster around him that’ll be a Cup contender.

These numbers are ridiculous to me. His agent would be insane to try to ask for 20M AAV.

Beyond free agency, Buffalo could be a team primed for the picking, and the Wild would probably have interest in players like Dylan Cozens, JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch. There’s a reason the Wild have been scouting the Sabres a lot lately.

Peterka or Tuch would be fun, but I would be surprised if Buffalo trades them for anything short of overpayment.

One example? J.T. Miller was just traded from Vancouver to the New York Rangers. Had he made it to the offseason, Miller would have been one player the Wild may have pursued by dangling somebody like Rossi.

I don't know if Russo is the idiot, or if he's actually reporting stuff he's hearing and Guerin is the idiot, but "dangling Rossi for JT Miller" is an idiot move by whoever's suggesting it.

If Rossi’s looking for a long-term deal in the $8 million range, that could be the type of contract Guerin has no appetite in signing him to. Same thing if he’s seeking a Quinton Byfield-like bridge deal (five years at $6.25 million per).

Again, really wondering who's driving the bus behind this boneheaded Rossi speculation. If Guerin is really averse to offering Rossi 5x6.25, we need a new GM asap. If Russo really thinks 5x6.25 is out of line for Rossi, he needs a new career.

 

[DigitalBoldy]

I didn't say you lack it, I said you just need to use it. You're capable of it, you just enjoy being the contrarian.

This team is doing better because Hynes is willing to change the lineup. Doesn’t matter if it’s the 1st line or the 4th line. The idea that one group of 3 players or even 2 players can’t be separated (ever) simply lacks critical thinking. It flies in the face of the people who groaned for years that Kap-Zucc were together all the time.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Some interesting parts from Russo's latest article:



Potentially not spending to the cap would mean that having the space doesn't guarantee we extend Rossi, or sign a UFA, or whatever it may be.



I'm curious what he's looking at then with the cap going up. Using Rossi as an example, if what Russo said is true and Guerin doesn't want to commit to him at 8M, he probably still doesn't want to commit to him at 8M, even though 8M in this environment isn't the same as 8M 3 years ago.





These numbers are ridiculous to me. His agent would be insane to try to ask for 20M AAV.



Peterka or Tuch would be fun, but I would be surprised if Buffalo trades them for anything short of overpayment.



I don't know if Russo is the idiot, or if he's actually reporting stuff he's hearing and Guerin is the idiot, but "dangling Rossi for JT Miller" is an idiot move by whoever's suggesting it.



Again, really wondering who's driving the bus behind this boneheaded Rossi speculation. If Guerin is really averse to offering Rossi 5x6.25, we need a new GM asap. If Russo really thinks 5x6.25 is out of line for Rossi, he needs a new career.

A lot to unpack there, some of it not so great.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

This team is doing better because Hynes is willing to change the lineup. Doesn’t matter if it’s the 1st line or the 4th line. The idea that one group of 3 players or even 2 players can’t be separated (ever) simply lacks critical thinking. It flies in the face of the people who groaned for years that Kap-Zucc were together all the time.

I never said that the lines couldn't be changed. All I said is that the starting point should be to put the 2 best offensive players together, and go from there. Unless they are McDavid/Draisaitl or MacKinnon/Rantanen, I think you risk neutering both of them much more than a prospective "spreading the wealth" benefit. Obviously if the line sucks, or the team sucks, you can adapt.

There is a reason, and what I think is a very compelling reason, why other teams in the league don't jump at the chance to play their best offensive center with guys pacing 31 and 18 points, respectively. At least I don't think so, I guess I haven't looked around the league too much lately.