Series Talk: Playoff Qualifier Series: Minnesota Wild vs Vancouver Canucks (VAN wins 3-1)

[2Pair]

Never said Parise was better in every category. His individual possession metrics are significantly better than the difference in production stats.

Also, giveaway/takeaways are largely regarded as an unreliable statistic.

So basically, you want to use Corsi? Yeah, using Corsi to compare a skilled playmaker to a guy that does nothing but throw pucks at the net, sounds like a good idea.

Parise was given the better linemates and better usage and Zuccarello still destroyed him in production. But yes, Parise is much better at crossing the blue line and throwing a weak wrister at the net.

 

[Webster]

Never said Parise was better in every category. His individual possession metrics are significantly better than the difference in production stats.

Also, giveaway/takeaways are largely regarded as an unreliable statistic.

Well those takeaway stats is what Fenton talked about, Zucc's long stick stealing pucks everywhere..

 

[Spurgeon]

So basically, you want to use Corsi? Yeah, using Corsi to compare a skilled playmaker to a guy that does nothing but throw pucks at the net, sounds like a good idea.

Parise was given the better linemates and better usage and Zuccarello still destroyed him in production. But yes, Parise is much better at crossing the blue line and throwing a weak wrister at the net.

Zuccarello had a 54% offensive zone start compared to Parise's 51.9%. Also, those stats I posted weren't just Corsi. They accounted for shot quality and Parise's HDCF was much higher in that category.

Zuccarello is a better offensive player, but Parise is miles ahead of him defensively.

 

[2Pair]

Zuccarello had a 54% offensive zone start compared to Parise's 51.9%. Also, those stats I posted weren't just Corsi. They accounted for shot quality and Parise's HDCF was much higher in that category.

Zuccarello is a better offensive player, but Parise is miles ahead of him defensively.

They're both terrible defensively. 54% compared to 52% is nothing and I would bet that a large part of Parise's HDCF can be attributed to playing a month with Fiala.

Zuccarello was the better player this year

 

[Spurgeon]

They're both terrible defensively. 54% compared to 52% is nothing and I would bet that a large part of Parise's HDCF can be attributed to playing a month with Fiala.

Zuccarello was the better player this year

It still shows that Parise wasn't used in more favorable situations. However, him playing with Fiala could definitely boost some of his other metrics. I would have liked to see Zuccarello with Fiala & it is odd that it was something that wasn't really tried.

However, overall, I didn't see anything in Zuccarello's game that made me confident in paying him $6M for the next 4 years. I'd be a lot more comfortable w/ that $6M in cap space going into this offseason (and the protection spot for the ED next season).

 

[fentonsbrainchild]

 

[Webster]

I really don't think that Guerin was happy with Evason's performance after this series, don't be surprised if the Wild have another head coach when next season starts.

Not only did Evason refuse to try Zuccarello and Fiala together, when lack of scoring was a huge problem, but in in game 4 he also started Foligno on the top line...jeez. But the worst blunder...he started the 4th line in OT, in a game like this, in a do or die situation. The rookie Sturm (poor kid) was out there, lost the puck to Tanev who scored. Can you believe this?

Sorry Evason, you're clueless, you have to be replaced. There are some well known and experienced coaches available.

 

[thestonedkoala]

I really don't think that Guerin was happy with Evason's performance after this series, don't be surprised if the Wild have another head coach when next season starts.

Not only did Evason refuse to try Zuccarello and Fiala together, when lack of scoring was a huge problem, but in in game 4 he also started Foligno on the top line...jeez. But the worst blunder...he started the 4th line in OT, in a game like this, in a do or die situation. The rookie Sturm (poor kid) was out there, lost the puck to Tanev who scored. Can you believe this?

Sorry Evason, you're clueless, you have to be replaced. There are some well known and experienced coaches available.

Just stop. Zuccs isn't worth his contract and has been barely functional on this team and will only get worse as he gets older. Guerin seems to be a patient GM and will give Evason a season to work with.

 

[Minnesnota]

Alex Stalock had one shutout and still finished with an .897 save percentage in a four game series.

Wanted to come back to this comment.

From an outsiders perspective it really seems like Guerin is saying all the right things but doing none of the right things. I think that's intentional on his part. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this team just doesn't have what it takes to win a cup and has more issues than just shitty goaltending and no 1C.

Kahkonen is pretty clearly the best goalie on the roster and for him to not even be considered for the starting role in the play-in leads me to believe there's a bit more to it. At least I certainly hope so. The alternative is that Evason sucks and if that's the case, we're in for it.

This offseason better go well.

 

[2Pair]

Wanted to come back to this comment.

From an outsiders perspective it really seems like Guerin is saying all the right things but doing none of the right things. I think that's intentional on his part. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this team just doesn't have what it takes to win a cup and has more issues than just shitty goaltending and no 1C.

Kahkonen is pretty clearly the best goalie on the roster and for him to not even be considered for the starting role in the play-in leads me to believe there's a bit more to it. At least I certainly hope so. The alternative is that Evason sucks and if that's the case, we're in for it.

This offseason better go well.

I really wish I had the same amount of confidence in Guerin as you do. I really doubt that he's that smart.

Evason proved that he's just like most coaches. He made the decision that would be least likely to get him fired, not the decisions that gave him the best chance to win.

 

[Webster]

Just stop. Zuccs isn't worth his contract and has been barely functional on this team and will only get worse as he gets older. Guerin seems to be a patient GM and will give Evason a season to work with.

As I've said a thousand times, Zuccarello needs some scoring talent on his line. This hasn't happened yet, maybe except Zucker, who was by far his best linemate.

Guerin needs to act now, he's not done much except signing Spurgeon and what seems to be a terrible coach. There's also pressure on Guerin, Leipold may lose his patience too...

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I really don't think that Guerin was happy with Evason's performance after this series, don't be surprised if the Wild have another head coach when next season starts.

Not only did Evason refuse to try Zuccarello and Fiala together, when lack of scoring was a huge problem, but in in game 4 he also started Foligno on the top line...jeez. But the worst blunder...he started the 4th line in OT, in a game like this, in a do or die situation. The rookie Sturm (poor kid) was out there, lost the puck to Tanev who scored. Can you believe this?

Sorry Evason, you're clueless, you have to be replaced. There are some well known and experienced coaches available.

Not every decision a GM makes revolves around your guy.

 

[fentonsbrainchild]

I really don't think that Guerin was happy with Evason's performance after this series, don't be surprised if the Wild have another head coach when next season starts.

Not only did Evason refuse to try Zuccarello and Fiala together, when lack of scoring was a huge problem, but in in game 4 he also started Foligno on the top line...jeez. But the worst blunder...he started the 4th line in OT, in a game like this, in a do or die situation. The rookie Sturm (poor kid) was out there, lost the puck to Tanev who scored. Can you believe this?

Sorry Evason, you're clueless, you have to be replaced. There are some well known and experienced coaches available.

I don’t think he was given an extension to be terminated after going 1-2-1

 

[BuiumSaveUs]

I really don't think that Guerin was happy with Evason's performance after this series, don't be surprised if the Wild have another head coach when next season starts.

Not only did Evason refuse to try Zuccarello and Fiala together, when lack of scoring was a huge problem, but in in game 4 he also started Foligno on the top line...jeez. But the worst blunder...he started the 4th line in OT, in a game like this, in a do or die situation. The rookie Sturm (poor kid) was out there, lost the puck to Tanev who scored. Can you believe this?

Sorry Evason, you're clueless, you have to be replaced. There are some well known and experienced coaches available.

This is incredible. You have nothing to support this other than you being unhappy with Evason in the series. You’re so delusional that you convinced yourself that the coach who was signed to a 2 year contract less than a month ago will be fired. If Zuccarello get’s played with Staal and Fiala is playing with Galchenyuk and Foligno, you say nothing, and that would be even more of a travesty.

 

[thestonedkoala]

As I've said a thousand times, Zuccarello needs some scoring talent on his line. This hasn't happened yet, maybe except Zucker, who was by far his best linemate.

Or maybe Zuccs is just bad. Minnesota has scorers...or did I misremember Staal's 40+ goal season, Fiala's 23 goal season, Kunin's 15 goal season or Parise's 20+ goal season. What does he need? Ovechkin to succeed?

Guerin needs to act now, he's not done much except signing Spurgeon and what seems to be a terrible coach. There's also pressure on Guerin, Leipold may lose his patience too...

Guerin doesn't need to act now. Sometimes patience is the key. He traded Zucker, lined up a potential deal with Parise, fired Bruce, he has been very active where he needs to be active.

 

[2Pair]

Or maybe Zuccs is just bad. Minnesota has scorers...or did I misremember Staal's 40+ goal season, Fiala's 23 goal season, Kunin's 15 goal season or Parise's 20+ goal season. What does he need? Ovechkin to succeed?



Guerin doesn't need to act now. Sometimes patience is the key. He traded Zucker, lined up a potential deal with Parise, fired Bruce, he has been very active where he needs to be active.

Couldn't be more wrong

 

[saywut]

I really don't think that Guerin was happy with Evason's performance after this series, don't be surprised if the Wild have another head coach when next season starts.

Not only did Evason refuse to try Zuccarello and Fiala together, when lack of scoring was a huge problem, but in in game 4 he also started Foligno on the top line...jeez. But the worst blunder...he started the 4th line in OT, in a game like this, in a do or die situation. The rookie Sturm (poor kid) was out there, lost the puck to Tanev who scored. Can you believe this?

Sorry Evason, you're clueless, you have to be replaced. There are some well known and experienced coaches available.

Evason's worst blunder in this series was dressing Galchenyuk for 4 games. No reason to stop with Donato if we wanted to play responsible hockey, Galchenyuk (and Hunt) shouldn't have been out there either.

 

[2Pair]

Evason's worst blunder in this series was dressing Galchenyuk for 4 games. No reason to stop with Donato if we wanted to play responsible hockey, Galchenyuk (and Hunt) shouldn't have been out there either.

I have a harder time blaming him too much for Galchenyuk simply because the options were slim, but there was zero reason for Brad Hunt to play a minute of the series.

 

[Interior Cascadian]

Canucks/Kraken fan coming in peace... don’t shoot.

Given Guerin’s comments on Minnesota’s goaltending, do you think Minnesota has interest in going after a guy like Lundquist in the offseason? The stats show he’s still a workhorse behind a shitty NYR defense and would provide a nice veteran mentor for Kahkonen as he gets built up as Minnesota’s eventual starter. With solid goaltending, solid defense, and Kaprizov poised to take some pressure off of Fiala, I think Minnesota is a lot better than what the series with the Canucks suggests. Maybe I’m way off base on this one, but I’m curious what you guys think.

 

[Webster]

This has been suggested before, but I don't think Lundqvist wants to move his family to Minnesota. I believe he wants to live in New York, maybe even after he retires. I can see him taking a job within the Rangers organization.

 

[2Pair]

I would take lundqvist over Stalock or Dubnyk but I would hope that Guerin can find a better option. It would also depend on what the Rangers were offering to take him.

 

[57special]

Lundqvist has no history or connection with MN. Don't see him being at all desirable for MN either in a hockey, or financial sense. In order to get him we'd have to buy out Dubnyk, than pay him almost twice as much. Makes no sense, unless NYR makes it worth our while, and i think it would be a PR disaster in the making for them.

 

[2Pair]

Lundqvist has no history or connection with MN. Don't see him being at all desirable for MN either in a hockey, or financial sense. In order to get him we'd have to buy out Dubnyk, than pay him almost twice as much. Makes no sense, unless NYR makes it worth our while, and i think it would be a PR disaster in the making for them.

You'll never guess who Lundqvist's best buddy is?

 

[Webster]

You'll never guess who Lundqvist's best buddy is?

Poor Hank cried on tv when his best buddy got traded. But he has a full nmc, I'd say even this won't bring him up here.

 

[Minnesnota]

Lundqvist has no history or connection with MN. Don't see him being at all desirable for MN either in a hockey, or financial sense. In order to get him we'd have to buy out Dubnyk, than pay him almost twice as much. Makes no sense, unless NYR makes it worth our while, and i think it would be a PR disaster in the making for them.

If the Rangers retained and NYR weren't on Dubnyk's no-trade list, I'd bet a deal could be had there.