Wild Offseason

[BartmanMN]

Did you stream it with Wiziwig?

[OnAFly]

hockeystreams.com

I was pretty surprised to see it on there. It was a re-broadcast of Gamecenter...which just puts up a still message instead of having any commercials or intermission analysis, which I've found to actually be more annoying than just having the commercials.

[PierBridge]

Since its not the off season anylonger. ..somebody should start an official 2014/15 Wild thread.

Well in the next 14 days anyway...

[bbfenatic]

Since its not the off season anylonger. ..somebody should start an official 2014/15 Wild thread.

Well in the next 14 days anyway...

Done.....chime in

[Bear55]

Well time for a bump, Dubnyk contract talks not going amazing, sounds like he wants big $$$ and maybe we can't afford him. Backstrom also need elbow surgery and can't be bought out at the moment.

[CaptainMusky]

I believe Backstrom's surgery has been done already. It will boil down to whether or not he can get a Dr to clear him prior to June 30th I believe. If he does, then they can buy him out. That is kinda lame how this all unfolded. To me, if the Wild knew of this issue, they should have sidelined him and then had the surgery done before the end of the season. If they didn't then, what are you gonna do? If Backstrom knew of it and waited this long then that really irritates me because then its like he is sticking it to the team that has paid him Millions to play a game that he hasn't played in half the games the last couple years.

[Bear55]

Cooke on waivers, cap or buyout move, could also mean we reached a deal with Dubs and need the $$$.

[CaptainMusky]

So if the Wild buyout Cooke (assuming no one claims him off waivers) then that is the second buyout allotted the Wild and they will not be able to buyout Backstrom. Is that correct????

[Bear55]

I think it will be a standard buyout, 500K cap hit this year instead of 2.5 and 1M cap hit next year. Cooke makes 2/3rds of his salary. We had two cap relief buyouts from the last lockout but I think we only had two years to use them. One was used on Gilbert and maybe didn't use the other one because we didn't need to last season. Backstom is a 35+ contract so there are even more restrictions with him. Our best bet might be to send him to a cap floor team with an extra draft pick to get some space if needed. The Cooke buyout should get us through next season ok but then Spurgie, Dumba and Zucker need extensions and that will cost us.

[CaptainMusky]

I did some more reading from Russo and it appears that since Backstrom signed an "over 35" contract, the Wild will not get any cap relief by buying him out. The main thing they would be gaining is the roster spot for either an additional forward or defense.

Either way, he cannot be bought out until he is healthy. Maybe they can find a team to trade him to. There were a few rumors about a potential Koivu trade. I am not sure who that would be, but I wouldn't mind seeing him go to free up some money and sign some younger guys.

[Bear55]

Ya maybe this year we don't have to carry 3 or 4 goalies.

Good year to have cap issues, free agent market is kind of meh or way past their prime.

[CaptainMusky]

Well the draft is upon us and Dubnyk is still not signed. I am hopeful something gets done there, but not for $5Mil per year.

I haven't even paid much attention to the draft. I found it funny that Wild.com was doing a "get to know" Jack Eichel and Connor McDavid. Like there is a snowball's chance in Vegas they will end up with the Wild.

[Bear55]

I think in the end we will cough up a little more than we want to for Dubs, he is going to test the market to get some extra $$$ but eventually sign with us for an equal offer or a tiny bit less. Can't blame him for cashing in, only way I don't see it working out is if someone throws him a huge/long deal.

This is suppose to be deep draft so we should be able to pick up some solid talent. No 3rd or 5th rounders this year but I think we have two 7ths.

[Bear55]

Nice to have Mr Reilly in the fold. I have reservations about his NHL defensive capabilities but the kid had mad skills.

[PierBridge]

Yeah and hopefully the selection of  big Swedish C Joel Eriksson Ek pans out!

[ANYFISH2]

Dubs, 6 years 25 mil.  

Now what to do with the other goalies and their starter contracts?

[Bear55]

Like the cap hit, term could be a little scary but it sure beats having no goalie to depend on. Backs gets bought out at some point and we ride Dubs & Kuemper.

[CaptainMusky]

Like the cap hit, term could be a little scary but it sure beats having no goalie to depend on. Backs gets bought out at some point and we ride Dubs & Kuemper.

​I think that how the contract works its front loaded so the larger dollars are up front so even though the dollars are evenly spread across the term for "cap" reasons, I think if they buy him out say 3 years down the road, its for a minimal amount.

Read something interesting today about Backstrom. He was quoted to having extensive nerve damage and he cannot even make a fist with his one hand. So how on Earth is he going to play? What does this mean for us? Well, the same article was eluding that this could actually be a blessing in disguise. The Wild could put him on Long Term Injured Reserve, they would still have a cap hit BUT it would free up a roster spot. He could also choose to retire because of this injury.

I sure would hope that he doesn't "screw" the Wild and does the right thing here. He has been hurt every year since he signed that last deal. He cannot possibly want to forge through another season of that garbage could he?

[CaptainMusky]

Well Brodziak and now Stewart signed elsewhere. I haven't been a big fan of "enforcers", but this team has no one right now. I don't really consider either of those two and enforcer, but certainly someone who can stand up for a teammate and play physical.

On the plus side I guess Reilly was a beast at the futures scrimmage Saturday. There is another one, open to the public tomorrow night. It will be interesting to see when he lines up with every day NHLers to get a real gauge. There were close to 4,000 at the one on Saturday afternoon which I think is impressive considering the weather was so nice.

Now that Folin is signed to a one-way deal this is going to make things difficult since we have 3 goalies on roster. That whole Backstrom thing is going to cripple this team.

[10,000 Casts]

Folin doesn't need to go through waivers to be sent down so they will be ok on that.

Stewart signed for $1.75m on a 1 yr deal and I think the Ducks got a steal. That guy will be a beast on the 4th line and they didn't have to pay much for him.

[CaptainMusky]

Yeah, I am bummed that we couldn't search the couch cushions for enough to sign Stewart.

[OnAFly]

Well Brodziak and now Stewart signed elsewhere. I haven't been a big fan of "enforcers", but this team has no one right now. I don't really consider either of those two and enforcer, but certainly someone who can stand up for a teammate and play physical.

On the plus side I guess Reilly was a beast at the futures scrimmage Saturday. There is another one, open to the public tomorrow night. It will be interesting to see when he lines up with every day NHLers to get a real gauge. There were close to 4,000 at the one on Saturday afternoon which I think is impressive considering the weather was so nice.

Now that Folin is signed to a one-way deal this is going to make things difficult since we have 3 goalies on roster. That whole Backstrom thing is going to cripple this team.

Wow it's been a while since I've been on here.  Can't say I'm a fan of the color scheme.  It's kind of tough to read, which seems counterproductive to a web forum...

 

I was at the Tuesday scrimmage with my boy.  At 5yo he was only able to sit still and watch about 15 minutes of the game, but I thought it was pretty great.  Reed Duke looked like a stud out there.  By the second half he had a man on him at all times and he still looked like a stud.  Great 2nd round pick so far. 

 

Tuch scored a great SO goal and had an even better celebration sheathing his stick like a sword then marching past the opposing bench.  It was hilarious.  

 

Only 8 more weeks until preseason.  It's gonna be long. 

[Bear55]

Wild might be in the market for a new assistant, Sydor just got arrested for DUI with the kid in the car and high BAC. Ouch.

[Mid-Lake Rock]

I won't be surprised if they keep him.  On the radio today, I heard that he's admitted to a problem and went through treatment last year.  He had the day of his sobriety tattooed between the thumb and forefinger on each hand.  Hopefully, this incident gets him back in treatment and back to a sober life.  I have a good friend that was a hopeless alcoholic and drug addict. He went through treatment several times.  He finally wanted to be sober and found a treatment program that worked for him.  15 years later he is still sober.

[Bear55]

Maybe after a while yes but I thought I read somewhere that he could be looking at some jail time because the kid was with him. Either way I don't expect him to be on the bench this year. Hopefully for his families sake he can kick the booze.