Prospect Info: Wild Prospect Thread 2024-25

[Jbcraig1883]

Kinda expected the Wild to slow down half way through this game as Blues had a day between games and Wild had less than 24 hours.

Some sloppy play in the latter half which led Wutzke out to dry.

Don't think Leskovar getting burned by Bolduc is a big deal - if that was Lambos/Spacek/AHLer, then I'd be worried. He's 18 in his first prospect tourney in back to back and got walked by a guy who played 25 games in the NHL.

Peart has had a rough game - better in second but two bad give aways. Lambos and Spacek have looked solid today.

Heidt/Bankier/Haight pretty obvious - Topo right after them.

Masters' mobility still a bit concerning to me - his offense has never really been an issue. Parker doesn't do anything for me.

 

[57special]

Masters looks to have grown a bit. I am less impressed by Toporowski, and Bankier. I don't see the latter being a first call up. Too bad Milne can't play. Nobody has really impressed me- maybe Heidt, because he has shown some good defensive play, which was reassuring. Beats me how how he wasn't a 1st rounder.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Kinda expected the Wild to slow down half way through this game as Blues had a day between games and Wild had less than 24 hours.

Some sloppy play in the latter half which led Wutzke out to dry.

Don't think Leskovar getting burned by Bolduc is a big deal - if that was Lambos/Spacek/AHLer, then I'd be worried. He's 18 in his first prospect tourney in back to back and got walked by a guy who played 25 games in the NHL.

Peart has had a rough game - better in second but two bad give aways. Lambos and Spacek have looked solid today.

Heidt/Bankier/Haight pretty obvious - Topo right after them.

Masters' mobility still a bit concerning to me - his offense has never really been an issue. Parker doesn't do anything for me.

Agree with literally everything you said here!

 

[Digitalbooya]

Leskovar out for another goal against.

lol our defenders are terrible.

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Brutal PP gives up a shorty, Heidt not really at fault, but skating speed was not enough to prevent that one.

 

[57special]

Brutal PP gives up a shorty, Heidt not really at fault, but skating speed was not enough to prevent that one.

That was on Bankier, who gave away the puck in the O zone, putting his team in a bad spot

In general, the Wild players are losing too many puck battles, are making sloppy passes, and aren't aggressive enough when they have the puck.

 

[Jbcraig1883]

Yep, figured this would happen second half of game today.

 

[Jbcraig1883]

Hodor in the scrum!

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Bankier banks one home on the PP late, back to back strong shifts for him, thought he was a little too casual earlier on, but looks good when he is driving the legs towards the net.

 

[Jbcraig1883]

And that's all she wrote. No one really dominated but don't think any of the higher ranked prospects played terrible. I thought Heidt and Haight looked better last year but they played with Walker and kinda dominated.

As is obvious to everyone at this point (Wild.com interviewed him, his name was mentioned during in-game interviews), Leskovar was the pleasant surprise of the two games. No one is saying he's a top 10 guy or a for-sure player, but given where he was drafted and his stat line, I figured he'd be a #7 guy getting walked every shift, similar to the last 10 minutes of the game. He definitely understood the assignment of a prospect showcase and stood out in a good way when considering all of his shifts.

Let's see how Heidt, Bankier, Haight etc. look at main camp and in a few preseason games. Excited that hockey is back!

 

[BagHead]

I'm glad Leskovar is looking good. He was part of a somewhat amusing interview I watched, and seems like a funny kid, so I hope he develops well. We could use a good guy who plays like a bad guy on this team's blueline.

 

[57special]

Leskovar stood out, mainly for his physical play, but let's face it, his ceiling is probably Clayton Stoner. The more I looked at him, the clunkier his skating looked. He can fix some of that if he works really hard. He is a battler defensively, which you'd expect, but not so sure about his positioning, IQ, and feet.

 

[Digitalbooya]

Wasn’t Leskovar on for a bunch of goals against? I didn’t see anything outside of physicality that I liked.

 

[AKL]

Sounds like this Leskovar guy could become a Dumba-lite-esque player, just gotta teach him how to DJ in the locker room

 

[Obvious Fabertism]

Wasn’t Leskovar on for a bunch of goals against? I didn’t see anything outside of physicality that I liked.

You have to assess the player by situation in something like this. I only remember two GA vs STL and only one was his fault, getting burned by Bolduc, 17th overall 2021, is an expected outcome though. He had a couple shots on net and moved the puck reasonably, for an 18 year old 4th rounder, he stuck out positively with his confidence IMO. All the young guys and invitees seemed to have dead legs in the third yesterday, early in the season, high intensity situation, and less than 24 hours of rest made for a blow up period. Wutzke was not put into a situation to succeed for sure, but he definitely could have done better as well.

 

[57special]

You have to assess the player by situation in something like this. I only remember two GA vs STL and only one was his fault, getting burned by Bolduc, 17th overall 2021, is an expected outcome though. He had a couple shots on net and moved the puck reasonably, for an 18 year old 4th rounder, he stuck out positively with his confidence IMO. All the young guys and invitees seemed to have dead legs in the third yesterday, early in the season, high intensity situation, and less than 24 hours of rest made for a blow up period. Wutzke was not put into a situation to succeed for sure, but he definitely could have done better as well.

Yup, had some timely hits, and good pinches. Bolduc made him look bad, which was on him, but the other goal where he pinched at the blue line never should have gone in. It was a dribbler between the goalies pads on a bad angle shot, with a guy back to prevent him from cutting in the middle.

If he can win puck battles, especially in the d zone, and clear the crease then he will be useful on a team where many of the d prospects are average at best size. Not everyone can be a Buium or Faber. This is the guy who will do the stuff that you don't want those two to be doing. Still early for him. He will be running into some tough guys in the AHL which will test him, nvm the NHL.

 

[BuckifyouKnuck]

Leskovar is (a young) 20 -- drafted as a double overager. So while still young, not quite as much runway as an 18 year old

 

[Jbcraig1883]

Yup, had some timely hits, and good pinches. Bolduc made him look bad, which was on him, but the other goal where he pinched at the blue line never should have gone in. It was a dribbler between the goalies pads on a bad angle shot, with a guy back to prevent him from cutting in the middle.

If he can win puck battles, especially in the d zone, and clear the crease then he will be useful on a team where many of the d prospects are average at best size. Not everyone can be a Buium or Faber. This is the guy who will do the stuff that you don't want those two to be doing. Still early for him. He will be running into some tough guys in the AHL which will test him, nvm the NHL.

Bolduc was probably the second best player in the tournament behind Nazar and it was right around the time the entire team started looking tired. It doesn't deny the fact he got walked.

Overall, if an overaged 20 year old 6th rounder can even help be a physical presence even in the minors and come up and be a Seeler/Stoner in a few years, that's better than most 6th rounders.

 

[BagHead]

Bolduc was probably the second best player in the tournament behind Nazar and it was right around the time the entire team started looking tired. It doesn't deny the fact he got walked.

Overall, if an overaged 20 year old 6th rounder can even help be a physical presence even in the minors and come up and be a Seeler/Stoner in a few years, that's better than most 6th rounders.

Frankly, I'd still consider it a win if he was a Justin Falk or John Scott.