Wild 2014/2015 Regular Season

[bbfenatic]

2nd rounder in 2017 for Stewart...Wild going all in? Sure are giving up some nice picks to stay relevant this year...good for Fletch!

[Bear55]

Whoa didn't see that coming, where the heck are we going to put all these guys? We already have a quality 5th line of Cooke Carter & Zucker once they get backfrom injury.

[bbfenatic]

Whoa didn't see that coming, where the heck are we going to put all these guys? We already have a quality 5th line of Cooke Carter & Zucker once they get backfrom injury.

Like I have said before....only as good as your weakest link...plus it gives them options if the kids get to greedy on upcoming contract negotiations if they like what they get out of these acquisitions. Stewart is pegged as a rental but we'll see. I know if I have a goalie as hot as Dubs right now and guys responding in front of him why not give it your best shot....plus Fletch loves "wheeling and dealing"...great moves IMO.

[BartmanMN]

It will be nice to have a real face puncher in the line up when they need him. Can't say I've seen Stewart play, but he has 11 goals and 14 assists this year or something like that.

[Bear55]

We have crazy depth now that is for sure, just imagine if Zucker was healthy right now. Just did a little digging on Stewart, sounds like he has been playing better the 2nd half of the season and isn't affraid to drop the gloves so there is that.

[CaptainMusky]

He's got some size too. That is a nice pickup.

[O.T.C.]

He handles himself pretty well usually, will he take McCleod on in a few days, they were Lanche teammates in 2011 ? Bring up Bickell, I'm no Patrick Roy fan, glad Osgood bloodied him up in that goalie brawl years back, Roy figured he had a cakewalk fight and ate a few. Not to mention Andrew Brunnette finished that series with him in the twine, nice.

[fishersofmen]

Exactly. Stewart is a big dude at 6'2 231 and loves to fight. Cant wait for him to pound the snot out of McLeod this coming weekend and you know they will get into it.

[bobberineyes]

They had to do something, but then again carter was supposed to be a scrapper but the few duke's I've seen him in was all one sided...with him being the loser.

[10,000 Casts]

Holy cow! Both questionable pick ups IMO.. Leupold could be washed up and giving up a 2nd for Stewart is a lot. Both are complete rentals. I guess Fletch wants to make a run this year. Maybe he wants the inside track on signing Stewart this off season, who knows.

[fishing tech]

Carter is a middle weight, Stewart is a heavy weight. The Wild need to send a message that if you go after our stars, ie Granlund we will go after yours. Not to mention maybe clear a puck into the Av's bench at Roy. Mcloser is a hack and only out there for one thing. And Berrie's elbow to Prosser's head. Roy Rogers wants Bergie fined and suspended for the hit on McKinnon when it was McKinnon's own stick that did the damage.

[bobberineyes]

Carter is a middle weight, Stewart is a heavy weight. Like I said something needed to be done. I understand nothing will stop the cheap shots at players but we had really nobody to stand up to it. And here I was going to sell my tickets for sunday....

[schmitty3]

Gonna be interesting to see who gets the boot with Stewart here. Schroeder? Then who's going to get the time when Carter and Cooke come back, and Zucker if we make it that far. We're certainty not lacking in depth now.

[OnAFly]

Holy cow! Both questionable pick ups IMO.. Leupold could be washed up and giving up a 2nd for Stewart is a lot. Both are complete rentals. I guess Fletch wants to make a run this year. Maybe he wants the inside track on signing Stewart this off season, who knows.

I don't like the Stewart trade for that 2nd rounder. Some issues with Stewart and his effort on the ice and man how many 2nds do we have left in the next 3 years? At some point, we need draft picks or prospects.

[bobberineyes]

Giving up a 2nd rounder is tough to swallow considering Stewart is a -3o. But you never know, hopefully fletch makes us all believers.

[CaptainMusky]

He is -30 on a terrible team. Granted, I don't think he is defensive player of the year worthy, but take some of those stats with a grain of salt.

Was he worth a 2nd rounder? I guess time will tell. I believe we still have our 1st and 2nd round picks this year, but next year we do not have a 2nd (or maybe that is mixed around) due to Pominville trade.

There is such an age gap on this team it is important to get some guys in between. We are either under 22 or over 28. These last two moves make sense from that standpoint.

Brodz is a FA after this year. We will likely be near the top and have an advantage in re-signing Stewart in the offseason if things work out. He is kind of a beast in front of the net and can bring a real heavy game. Something we don't have.

I guess I would rather give up a pick vs some of our younger prospects. Iowa really doesn't have much right now so I agree we need to fill some depth in there and where will that come from without a bunch of high picks?

[Bear55]

The only thing I don't really like about this move is for now one of Schroeder, Fontaine or Haula might be sitting soon and they all deserve to play. 2015 is suppose to be a deep draft and we hung onto our 2nd there so I'm not going to worry about 2017 for a while.

We have a wicked hard schedule down the stretch. Assuming we hang onto our playoff spot we are going to be in for a huge battle and potentially a 3 month war if we make a run. Guys are going to get hurt and the more depth we have the better.

Another positive is at worst Leopold is insurance in case of an injury, at best he is a upgrade on Prosser. Stewert despite some worries is big and skilled and can throw the mits if needed, kind of exactly what we need. From what I understand his upside is a 2nd line power forward who scores, down side might be we wasted a future 2nd rounder on a rental who doesn't contribute. It all depends on what we can get out of him, time will tell.

[BartmanMN]

Sounds like Schroeder out tonight. Stewart in with Vanek and Koivu.

[fishing tech]

Here is a stat for you. Ovie was a -35 last year and had 79 points. I would take him. Stewert is just what we need. Fletcher kind of made the decision after the Av's game. The pick up will hopefully make every forward step up their game and move this team to the next level. I think Carters deal was only a 1 year. Not sure though. I think Stewert will be here next year.

I am happy with the Leopold pick up. Gives us another Dman that can run the power play.

The Rangers went all in and the Hawks Jets made some deals. The Sharks and Flames bailed.

[bbfenatic]

Sounds like Schroeder out tonight. Stewart in with Vanek and Koivu.

Good move IMO, Schroeder played OK but need to see what we got in Stewart...we know what Schroeder brings...now Vanek just needs to shoot the puck more and let Stewart/Koivu mop things up. Wonder who Leo will replace and be paired with?

Bergenheim with Nino/Coyle should be a solid line...loving our depth and options now...way to go Fletch!

[solbes]

Fletch does seem to be stacking for the near future (This year and next). Not that a second rounder is a cheap aquisistion, its clearly not, but when would a 2017 pick even come up with the team? 2018 at best, likely another year or two after that. The core group of guys we have now will not be getting any younger in those years, so our best chances appear to be this season and possibly two more.

It appears like we have too much depth, as Schroeder clearly has earned a spot in the lineup. But I also remember the playoffs when we had so many guys playing with pretty severe injuries. I'm sure Chuck does too, and you can't have too much depth in those situations.

[Bear55]

It is odd having a gm who makes moves, had to have been a decade with DR and the only trade I remember is Dimetra at the draft. Fletcher sure knows how to make things happen, not to mention put together one heck of a roster.

[bbfenatic]

Too much depth is a good thing of course, and I agree window is closing on this team but with more assets we should be able to get back picks to keep us competitive in the foreseeable future...IMO our success boils down to Dubs and surprised we have not locked him up for a couple years at least....pretty evident he saved our season.

[10,000 Casts]

Quote:

It is odd having a gm who makes moves, had to have been a decade with DR and the only trade I remember is Dimetra at the draft. Fletcher sure knows how to make things happen, not to mention put together one heck of a roster.

Here are the guys we drafted:

-Coyle

-Fontaine

-Granlund

-Haula

-Koivu

-Zucker

-Brodin

-Dumba

-Scandella

-Spurgeon

-Prosser

-Kuemper

-Backstrom

All the other guys are Fletch trades. All the DR junk is gone now from what I can see.

[Bear55]

I think I heard Fletcher say he doesn't want to distract Dubs with contract stuff right now so he is going to let him play out the season. Might be a good move because Dubs will be playing for a nice contract and should remain highly motivated. We should have the inside track to sign him I would imagine.

I'm also not too worried about picks for a while, sure you need them and more is better but we have a lot of young talent and they should remain on our roster for a long time if everything works out. There just aren't a lot of open positions right now so we have plenty of time to fill in any gaps. For now Tuch, Olofsson, Graovac and our top two picks in 2015 will give us a little high end prospect depth. If anyone else turns into a solid NHLer it is gravy.