Minnesota Wild General Discussion 2024-25

[AKL]

I would like to see Leipold think long and hard about selling the team, otherwise he's just going to keep hiring GM's like Fletcher and Guerin who tell him their plan is to somehow build a contender while siultaneously making the playoffs every year, because that's what Leipold wants.

A decade and a half of the same mediocrity as long as Leipold gets those 2-3 games of playoff revenue every year.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Not to make excuses, but we currently have nearly 40% of our salary cap on the bench. We should be struggling right now.

 

[AKL]

Not to make excuses, but we currently have nearly 40% of our salary cap on the bench. We should be struggling right now.

Every team is worse without their best player, but we shouldn't be completely inept two-thirds of the time when he's not in. At least, we shouldn't be if we have serious hopes of doing anything of note in the playoffs. I would like a GM to build a team that can still score when its best player is out.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Every team is worse without their best player, but we shouldn't be completely inept two-thirds of the time when he's not in. At least, we shouldn't be if we have serious hopes of doing anything of note in the playoffs. I would like a GM to build a team that can still score when its best player is out.

It's not just Kaprizov. It's Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, Brodin and a $14M player (or 2 $7M players, or a $9M player and a $5M player, etc.)

We have a smaller margin for error/greater degree of difficulty. Just the way it currently is.

 

[Tally Tiger Shark]

I think the main issue is that we might've seen the best of Kaprizov already. His lack of durability during his peak years is concerning. If he loses speed/legs due to injury then he will not be nearly as effective, and he seems to be heading down that path. Durability is a feature of great players - so far, he doesn't seem to have it.

I do agree that an elite'ish #1C would be great. I would consider a Rossi + deal for Barzal, but would be excited about it. Rossi has impressed me with his ability to get on the scoresheet and overcome his lack of size and speed.

I am extremely worried about KK97 and his health. I don’t feel at all comfortable giving him the kind of contract he’s going to want if I have concerns about his ability to stay on the ice AND be 100% healthy. We would be better off trading him and signing two high quality players for what it would take to sign him. I can’t believe I’m even typing this, but I’m seriously questioning if we wouldn’t be better off to move him.

 

[AKL]

It's not just Kaprizov. It's Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, Brodin and a $14M player (or 2 $7M players, or a $9M player and a $5M player, etc.)

We have a smaller margin for error/greater degree of difficulty. Just the way it currently is.

In a vacuum you might be right, but it's not like Brodin or Ek were scoring all that much this season, the lions share is from Kaprizov being out.

And to be frank, we could still have more scoring depth even with those three guys out right now, had we not spent it all on defense first bottom six players who bring very little offense on their own. Lots of money tied up in redundancies like Hartman/Foligno/Trenin/Gaudreau or Zuccarello/Johansson that could have been shaved off to bring in a 5-6M forward instead of Trenin or whoever.

So you mention the dead cap, but I don't have a lot of confidence that that money wouldn't/won't just go to one of the relatively low offense types Guerin likes anyway (Brock Nelson?)

So we're back to me hoping our GM can build a team that can reliably score enough when Kaprizov isn't in the lineup. The moves he's made so far in 6 years don't really indicate that he can. He's had opportunities to, but he's chosen to prioritize other things.