Wild 18/19

[bear555]

Well lets put another stinker post season behind us, we got stomped by a better team and got a new GM. Draft came and went and we got some new kids in the stable, sounds like we went off the board with our first pick a little bit but the kid sounds like he could still be plenty good. Too many top ten picks bust and later round picks become all starts to get too bent out of shape the year of the draft. Couple of our 3rd rounders sound like they have some potential so at least we are going for skill and not wasting 2nd and 3rd rounders on grinders and fighters like we have seen in the past. 

Free agency on the horizon, maybe a trade, have to sign Zucker and Dumba and fill out the 4th line again. Still we have a very solid team but to be among the elite absolutely everyone has to be at their best and put up career or near numbers like the season before last. That doesn't fix our playoff issues but as the Caps, Sharks, Preds & Vegas has shown a deep run or even a cup can happen when a team gets hot at the right time. Go team? 

[lungdeflator]

So far looks like just adding depth in FA signings, nothing to really get excited about.  I do like Brown and Hendricks coming in and adding some physical play.  

I didn't really understand the draft pick, but then again I don't follow the draft too closely.  Looks like the pick is another little D man, another Spurgeon.  Not a terrible thing, if he plays as well as Spurgeon.  But when it comes to playoff hockey, the little guys just can't hold up and slow down the bigger forwards.  

Hoping they can sign both Dumba and Zucker.  

Only 3-4 more years of Koivu, Parise, and Suter.  If they all stay healthy, its a solid roster, but I'm not holding my breathe. 

[bear555]

Ya I wasn't expecting much, the right D man we got in free agency might be decent. If Seeler can play at a level we saw last year and this new guy comes in and is solid we might look much better on the back end than all of last season. All kinds of ??? up front but we will just have to see how it all plays out. After last season we could use some luck in the health department, you saw what Parise can do when he is healthy vs injured. Will be nice to see if some of these other guys can get back into form with an off season of rest. 

[bear555]

Well we finally signed Zucker and Dumba and have a tiny bit of cap space left for a change, not much else we could do this offseason aside from a big trade but of course you need a trading partner. I doubt we see anything before the season starts so we go into the year about the same, hopefully Suter is healthy and we don't get hammered by injuries again. I think the Pateryn signing might be a great under the radar move for us, we already have one of the best D units in the league and he was playing top 4 minutes for Dallas last year. Throw in a young Seeler who did not look out of place playing top 4 minutes in the playoffs last year and our bottom pairing looks really solid. You also have Oloffsson and Prosser in the mix in case of injuries and if someone doesn't perform.

 

The offense might be better if everyone is healthy but age could be catching up with some of them too, as usual we will win with depth. Time to Ek to step up his game, he was solid last year but needs to contribute more in the o-zone, hopefully he gets some more skilled wingers to play with and makes the most of his minutes. Liked what I saw from Greenway last year too, no doubt he has a lot to learn but nice to have another big body with some skills if he makes the team. 4th line will have a whole new look, hopefully they can find some chemistry. 

The central looks even more brutal than ever, Preds and Jets could still be elite. St Louis made a huge trade and signed some new guys, they could be much improved over last year. Avs made the playoffs and have some elite skills and a lot of great young players but maybe not enough depth. Hard to say what is going to happen with Dallas and Chicago, plenty of skill but hopefully they fall short again. Still none of these games are going to be easy that is for sure, it seems like predicting the central is a dump shoot at best and there are always a ton of surprises. 

[Rick]

Great observations. I will add ... The expansion really hurt the Wild. With the quality depth they had the expansion draft format favored teams with top 1% players and a core they could protect.

 

The central is brutal on paper.

 

Do you think the Wild will get this year into a Stanley Cup team.

[bear555]

Cup team? Outside of a sharks like run after years of failure probably not but it is nice to dream. I think we have the players to pull it off but they need to bring their absolute best every night and I don't know if we are capable of that.

[hoppe56307]

We are less than a week away from the preseason games starting, and players report to camp on Thursday.

[bbfenatic]

IMO this team on paper appears even worse than last year.  The once "young kids" really have not shown they can be go to guys other than maybe Zucker and Granlund and the "new" young kids are so unproven they cannot be considered for big contributions.  Our Contract situation is not good, our available spend is not good and IMO Koivu, Parise, Stall, Suter are all on the way down.  Our off-season signings do not excite me in the least and IMO we will only go as far as our Defense and Dubnyk will take us....which points to a possible Wild Card spot and another early exit.

 

JT will win the Cup he deserves...go Leafs!

[hoppe56307]

Looks like Vegas and the San Jose are adding some serious fire power with the trades they have made.

[bear555]

The Blues loaded up as well. Still no reason we can't compete with any of them, this isn't the wild of old we still have plenty skill. Our biggest weakness seems to be post season scoring, no clue how to fix that. 

If we win it will be with depth, we need 3 scoring lines and the D to contribute in both zones. BB is right the kids are no longer kids and really they have helped with most of the heavy lifting the past couple of years. Nino should bounce back, he was clearly off after his injury. Coyle shows flashes but never seems to find the consistency, he is a strange case. The only kid I'd like to see step up is Ek, a 40-50 point year from him and we get some of our depth back. I liked what I saw from Greenway last year and it sounds like he tore up that prospects tournament last week so anything he can contribute would be great but I'm not going to expect too much. 

Just make the playoffs and get hot at the right time and anything can happen. Caps winning the cup, San Jose making a run a few years back, both of those teams did it after years of failure, no reason we can't do it as well but all the pieces have to come together at the right time. 

The only guy I'm worried is slowing a bit is Koivu, he just seemed a little off last year. Of course we all hope Parise can stay healthy after a big end to the season, was really nice to see him scoring again. Staal has been nothing short of a miracle, hopefully he can keep it up but I'm not expected another 40 goals but another 30 would be nice. Should be another fun season, plenty to look forward to. 

[bear555]

Looks like our opening night roster is in action tonight. 

[bear555]

Another wild season about to open, woo hoo? Pretty much the same team as last year, hopefully Greenway and Ek can contribute a little and Coyle and Nino can get back to form. Health, we need plenty of it, last year we got hammered with injuries and still managed 100 points so overall not bad. We shall see what this year brings. 

Edited October 4, 2018 by bear555

[bear555]

Caught the 2nd game, Dubs was great and Parise looks really good again, need to get the scoring going. Suter looks a little rusty but should be fine in time. Dumba also looking good out there, 3rd line looks a little messy. 

[chaffmj]

Good game against the black hawks. Let's see if they can pull out tonight's game in OT.

[chaffmj]

Ouch, I guess not. Too bad they gave up a goal with a little over a minute left in the game.

[knoppers]

parise looks very slow out there, he was terrible in OT. hopefully the wild can turn this poor play around soon.

[bear555]

I think Parise has been great this year, like his old self,  one of the few bright spots during a slow start. Liking Greenway more and more, he isn't producing yet but he looked good last night, really starting to use his size out there. Need to see more out of Coyle and Nino. 

[Rick]

Parise is starting to look like he did a couple years ago.

 

They have a little more quality depth on the lines.

 

Which players are stepping up?

[chaffmj]

I have this feeling that Granlund and Zucker are going to get hot. 

Who would of thought that the Wild would have the 3rd best record in the NHL. 

[bear555]

Not much to complain about so far, must be why its so quiet in here. From the games I am seeing we don't even look all that great yet but are finding ways to win and Dubs/parise/granlund have been amazing. Will need some depth to kick in to be any kind of real contender, and of course we need to find a way to actually score goals if we make the playoffs, it seems that is always the issue. 

Edited November 12, 2018 by bear555

[chaffmj]

I didn't watch the game last night but seeing the highlights and the score it must not of been too pretty.

[bear555]

I missed it too, the caps always just own us. 

[knoppers]

great bounce back last night, without parise in the lineup.

[chaffmj]

1 hour ago, knoppers said:

great bounce back last night, without parise in the lineup.

 

I just got done watching the highlights and I thought they looked sharp. Next up Buffalo tomorrow.

[chaffmj]

Th Wild losing to Chicago is like the Vikings losing to the Packers. Nothing worse.