Minnesota Wild General Discussion XIX

[Dr Jan Itor]

The simple fact is Fiala wins you games on the ice more often than he loses them, and far more often than Dumba does. Dumba may be a great character guy in the locker room, but the one thing Guerin has proven in his time here is you can find those guys anywhere. You can't find talent like Fiala anywhere, however, and we currently have nobody in the entire system who can replace him.

It's a no-brainer to keep Fiala and move Dumba, Goligoski, Greenway, whoever it has to be to keep make the money work. We'll see if Guerin has what it takes to come around when proven wrong. Moving Fiala this summer would be the defining moment in Guerin's tenure, and not in a good way.

It's Dumba + Talbot this summer, and then assess Zuccarello + GREEF line the next summer. Also go fairly bare-boned at the goaltending position.

 

[57special]

The simple fact is Fiala wins you games on the ice more often than he loses them, and far more often than Dumba does. Dumba may be a great character guy in the locker room, but the one thing Guerin has proven in his time here is you can find those guys anywhere. You can't find talent like Fiala anywhere, however, and we currently have nobody in the entire system who can replace him.

It's a no-brainer to keep Fiala and move Dumba, Goligoski, Greenway, whoever it has to be to keep make the money work. We'll see if Guerin has what it takes to come around when proven wrong. Moving Fiala this summer would be the defining moment in Guerin's tenure, and not in a good way.

To me it was more of a no brainer to not sign Goligoski to a NMC contract, or trade for a 2M Jost contract, or re-sign Greenway to a 3M contract. That alone isn't enough to sign fiala and keep Dumba, but it's getting close. Maybe look at trading Kulikov, and one or two other moves, and it's possible.

Is Jost really that much better than Dewar? Is Goligoski better than- anyone? I am so tired of seeing him caught up ice out of position, or losing puck battles, or simply being beaten to pucks because he is slow. what is he going to be like in two years? Is Greenway that much better than Duhaime, or Deslauriers, or Chaffee?

 

[MNRube]

Jost needs an entire off-season dedicated to getting stronger in lower body & core. He can’t win a board battle to save his life

 

[thestonedkoala]

It's Dumba + Talbot this summer, and then assess Zuccarello + GREEF line the next summer. Also go fairly bare-boned at the goaltending position.

If Talbot is gone, do the Wild sign back Fleury and for how much?

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

If Talbot is gone, do the Wild sign back Fleury and for how much?

Possibly, and less than Talbot is making now.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Possibly, and less than Talbot is making now.

Who's the backup? Wallstedt?

 

[Minnewildsota]

Who's the backup? Wallstedt?

Some cheap backup. Problem solved.

 

[AKL]

Possibly, and less than Talbot is making now.

I hope I'm wrong, but I can't see Guerin moving Talbot or Fleury taking less than 3.67M.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Some cheap backup. Problem solved.

Okay, name names on the cheap backup?

 

[Minnewildsota]

Okay, name names on the cheap backup?

2024 NHL Free Agents

Tracking the status and signings of all NHL free agents.

www.spotrac.com

There you go

 

[thestonedkoala]

2024 NHL Free Agents

Tracking the status and signings of all NHL free agents.

www.spotrac.com

There you go

Because that helps; we should sign who? Aaron Dell? Garret Sparks? Scott Wedgewood? Martin Jones?

 

[Minnewildsota]

Because that helps; we should sign who? Aaron Dell? Garret Sparks? Scott Wedgewood? Martin Jones?

Not going to spoon feed you. I provided a list of goaltenders that would be available in the summer. If you're that concerned on who will be the backup goaltender you can go through the list and plot out who will be affordable and for how much.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Not going to spoon feed you. I provided a list of goaltenders that would be available in the summer. If you're that concerned on who will be the backup goaltender you can go through the list and plot out who will be affordable and for how much.

You're the one that said a cheap goaltender is available in the offseason. There are a ton of goaltenders and I provided a couple of them that should come cheap.

 

[BagHead]

Getting a cheap backup is easy. Getting a good cheap backup is difficult. If the idea is to pick up a UFA backup, don't expect quality. For the record, I'm not against the idea outright, because I know sacrifices are going to have to be made, and you're going to lack quality somewhere with so much dead cap.

I think the Wild will probably want to give Wallstedt a year in Iowa, just based on how they've been bringing along prospects slowly in recent years, so having a starter (Talbot or Fleury) and a cheap backup may be the best the Wild can do. I'd love it if Fleury would re-sign cheap and the Wild could move Talbot, but I don't know if that's in the cards. They'd need both Fleury to want to re-sign cheap, and a team to want to trade for Talbot.

 

[kfan22]

Anyone find it odd the Wild didnt recognize Tom McCarthy last night? Maybe cause he was in prison?

 

[AKL]

Anyone find it odd the Wild didnt recognize Tom McCarthy last night? Maybe cause he was in prison?

Had to Google who this was, then had to add 'hockey' to the end of the search because he wasn't even one of the first few Tom McCarthy's to show up. Respectfully, no I don't think it's weird at all that they didn't honor him.

 

[Prior]

The path to keeping Fiala starts with a Brodin trade.

Dumba is gone regardless if you want to try to retain Fiala. Another larger deal needs to go beyond what’s convenient.

Trying to shave off multiple $2-3m players just leaves the team with more holes to fill and money that needs to be reallocated right back into the positions. They’ve filled this roster and prospect pool of LHD, with many of the prospects starting pro hockey next season. They’d certainly take a massive step back without Brodin and Dumba but a Middleton add will provide some buffer that otherwise wasn’t accounted for. They’d go into next season with something like the below all on contracts for next year with ROR and Hunt pushing on the door.

Middleton - Spurgeon
Kulikov - Addison
Merrill - Goligoski

Thinking this team is going to just be able to throw away Zuccarello on the scrap heap when the need arises isn’t all that realistic. Retaining Fiala ,if they want, is going to take some pain and some type of less than adequate play elsewhere to account for his cap figure given the corner they’ve painted themselves into.

 

[Joseph Nathan]

The path to keeping Fiala starts with a Brodin trade.

Dumba is gone regardless if you want to try to retain Fiala. Another larger deal needs to go beyond what’s convenient.

Trying to shave off multiple $2-3m players just leaves the team with more holes to fill and money that needs to be reallocated right back into the positions. They’ve filled this roster and prospect pool of LHD, with many of the prospects starting pro hockey next season. They’d certainly take a massive step back without Brodin and Dumba but a Middleton add will provide some buffer that otherwise wasn’t accounted for. They’d go into next season with something like the below all on contracts for next year with ROR and Hunt pushing on the door.

Middleton - Spurgeon
Kulikov - Addison
Merrill - Goligoski

Thinking this team is going to just be able to throw away Zuccarello on the scrap heap when the need arises isn’t all that realistic. Retaining Fiala ,if they want, is going to take some pain and some type of less than adequate play elsewhere to account for his cap figure given the corner they’ve painted themselves into.

Brodin is one of the best shutdown dman in NHL. He also has a no trade clause, so he's not getting moved. Minnesota has mo reason to want to trade brodin. You don't trade brodin to keep fiala

 

[BagHead]

The path to keeping Fiala starts with a Brodin trade.

Dumba is gone regardless if you want to try to retain Fiala. Another larger deal needs to go beyond what’s convenient.

Trying to shave off multiple $2-3m players just leaves the team with more holes to fill and money that needs to be reallocated right back into the positions. They’ve filled this roster and prospect pool of LHD, with many of the prospects starting pro hockey next season. They’d certainly take a massive step back without Brodin and Dumba but a Middleton add will provide some buffer that otherwise wasn’t accounted for. They’d go into next season with something like the below all on contracts for next year with ROR and Hunt pushing on the door.

Middleton - Spurgeon
Kulikov - Addison
Merrill - Goligoski

Thinking this team is going to just be able to throw away Zuccarello on the scrap heap when the need arises isn’t all that realistic. Retaining Fiala ,if they want, is going to take some pain and some type of less than adequate play elsewhere to account for his cap figure given the corner they’ve painted themselves into.

Holy buckets that defense corps is terrible. If moving both Dumba and Brodin is necessary to keep Fiala, you've just solidified moving Fiala for me.

 

[Prior]

Brodin is one of the best shutdown dman in NHL. He also has a no trade clause, so he's not getting moved. Minnesota has mo reason to want to trade brodin. You don't trade brodin to keep fiala

Being one of the best shutdown defenders means nothing if you feel you are trying to retain a franchise altering player. Just like being a supposed shutdown defender has meant nothing for Brodin when playoffs roll around. Players have and will continue to be traded with NMCs.

Holy buckets that defense corps is terrible. If moving both Dumba and Brodin is necessary to keep Fiala, you've just solidified moving Fiala for me.

That’s the reality if you’re trying to keep Fiala. Moving off several deck chairs only to still need to replace them isn’t feasible to clear the money year after year. Especially when you are staring down new deals for the likes of Boldy. Some area of this team is going to be far below what we’ve become accustomed to with this team if they are going to keep Fiala.

 

[AKL]

Holy buckets that defense corps is terrible. If moving both Dumba and Brodin is necessary to keep Fiala, you've just solidified moving Fiala for me.

That's not the only way to keep Fiala. There are probably dozens of ways to keep Fiala without trading Brodin. I have no idea why one would think "the path to keeping Fiala starts with trading Brodin."

 

[57special]

Spurgeon and Brodin have NMC's. They get those things included in their contracts for a reason. They are not moving, nor should they be moved. Trading your best Dmen rather than moving replaceable bottom six forwards and a bottom pairing Dmen, is not an idea that makes any sense, unless you think that retaining plodding, untalented players are the direction we should be moving in.

 

[NHL1674]

I hope I'm wrong, but I can't see Guerin moving Talbot or Fleury taking less than 3.67M.

Yep. I would LOVE to keep Fleury, but I don't think we could afford him. Gut feeling he goes back to the Penguins.

 

[NHL1674]

The path to keeping Fiala starts with a Brodin trade.

Dumba is gone regardless if you want to try to retain Fiala. Another larger deal needs to go beyond what’s convenient.

Trying to shave off multiple $2-3m players just leaves the team with more holes to fill and money that needs to be reallocated right back into the positions. They’ve filled this roster and prospect pool of LHD, with many of the prospects starting pro hockey next season. They’d certainly take a massive step back without Brodin and Dumba but a Middleton add will provide some buffer that otherwise wasn’t accounted for. They’d go into next season with something like the below all on contracts for next year with ROR and Hunt pushing on the door.

Middleton - Spurgeon
Kulikov - Addison
Merrill - Goligoski

Thinking this team is going to just be able to throw away Zuccarello on the scrap heap when the need arises isn’t all that realistic. Retaining Fiala ,if they want, is going to take some pain and some type of less than adequate play elsewhere to account for his cap figure given the corner they’ve painted themselves into.

Keeping Fiala would be absolutely pointless with that defensive lineup. He's important, but not THAT important to gut the hell out of the D.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

The path to keeping Fiala starts with a Brodin trade.

Dumba is gone regardless if you want to try to retain Fiala. Another larger deal needs to go beyond what’s convenient.

Trying to shave off multiple $2-3m players just leaves the team with more holes to fill and money that needs to be reallocated right back into the positions. They’ve filled this roster and prospect pool of LHD, with many of the prospects starting pro hockey next season. They’d certainly take a massive step back without Brodin and Dumba but a Middleton add will provide some buffer that otherwise wasn’t accounted for. They’d go into next season with something like the below all on contracts for next year with ROR and Hunt pushing on the door.

Middleton - Spurgeon
Kulikov - Addison
Merrill - Goligoski

Thinking this team is going to just be able to throw away Zuccarello on the scrap heap when the need arises isn’t all that realistic. Retaining Fiala ,if they want, is going to take some pain and some type of less than adequate play elsewhere to account for his cap figure given the corner they’ve painted themselves into.

GDT nonsense filtering into other threads.