2019-2020 Wild Season

[gopher6]

Who is in net today?

[frozen4champs]

Who is in net today?

Stalock

[fightclub30]

First time in a long time I've seen a goalie get actually checked, and a donnybrook not ensue... Nobody slashed him, cross-checked him, punched him... I don't think I saw a shove. He wasn't leveled by any means, but even that small check usually results in paying a price.

[Slap Shot]

I hope someone curbstomps Myers. No idea how the puck didn't go in before that penalty.

The Wild might move the puck away from the net more than any team in history.

[Bigbeer]

First time in a long time I've seen a goalie get actually checked, and a donnybrook not ensue... Nobody slashed him, cross-checked him, punched him... I don't think I saw a shove. He wasn't leveled by any means, but even that small check usually results in paying a price.

That’s happened twice now

[fightclub30]

If Sutter's hit here is not a CFB (late, after whistle, jumping, into namplate/numbers) then just write the effing rule out of the book.

[Beauner]

So Sutter coming flying in and blasting Fiala into the boards from behind while he's already involved in a scrum with another Canuck after bumping Markstrom, and Fiala gets a double minor but Sutter is not in the box at all? Can someone explain that to me? Sutter's hit was far and away the worst of all of it

[Beauner]

Also, I'm not sure how that was whistled offside in the first place. Sure looked onside to me.

[fightclub30]

ZERO 5-on-5 goals so far in series, and 0-for-13 on PP last 2 games. Goaltending is a problem, no question, but is sure as hell isn't the only problem with this team.

[gopher6]

0/7 on PP get me a whistle give me the keys I’ll lock up

[Bigbeer]

Not much going on with the green team

[fightclub30]

Not much going on with the green team

Sleep-walking through that game. Didn't respond to the goalie getting run (twice), didn't respond to PPs, didn't respond to Goals against... flat out Zero response from the older, veteran team. Looked old, slow, and dis-interested. Took plenty of lazy penalties themselves though, so there's that...

[Bonin21]

ZERO 5-on-5 goals so far in series, and 0-for-13 on PP last 2 games.

This is insane

[fightclub30]

this is certainly a weird situation, and I am not going to put too much stock in it. It just would've been nice to see a little more than what we have.

[Slap Shot]

1. PP - 11.8% (7th worst)
2. PK - 80% (11th worst)
3. GF - 6 (9th worst and some teams have only played 2 games)
4. FOW% - 44.2% (4th worst)
5. SV% middle of the pack

[bearpaw28]

The Wild simply aren’t very good. We want to believe they’re good, but they aren’t. Lots of false hope created by their late season surge. But 5 months later....they are back to being the OLD Wild

[streakygopher]

The Wild simply aren’t very good. We want to believe they’re good, but they aren’t. Lots of false hope created by their late season surge. But 5 months later....they are back to being the OLD Wild

The result of this series wasn't going to change my mind.

They have some decent defensemen, and they have Fiala. After that, it's an unimpressive bunch of aging relics, league-average forwards and a couple of two-bit goalies. The team is a mess, and it's not like there's only one or two pieces needed to fix it.

[Gopher99]

How in the world did Fletcher value Ek over Boeser in the draft?

"Brock Boeser — the pride of Burnsville and someone the Canucks drafted 23rd overall in 2015 because Minnesota, a franchise long starved for elite goal-scoring, opted at pick No. 20 to pass up on a sniper who grew up 15 minutes from its downtown St. Paul headquarters..." - Russo leaning into this same thought on the Athletic gamer yesterday

[Snowcool08]

How in the world did Fletcher value Ek over Boeser in the draft?

"Brock Boeser — the pride of Burnsville and someone the Canucks drafted 23rd overall in 2015 because Minnesota, a franchise long starved for elite goal-scoring, opted at pick No. 20 to pass up on a sniper who grew up 15 minutes from its downtown St. Paul headquarters..." - Russo leaning into this same thought on the Athletic gamer yesterday

I’m sure Russo was watching the FSN feed when Lapanta asked Walz if he would rather have Boeser or Ek and Walz said Ek because he plays better defense. A ridiculous statement from Walz.

[frozen4champs]

I say let the misery end and hope they draw the #1 pick. But, my guess is if the Pens or Hawks are in the drawing, one of those teams will win it.

[Gopher99]

Even if we win the lottery, history suggests we'd go with the defensive-first W or D (okay, my cynicism is done for the day now and obviously Guerin deserves his chance to show he can draft well)

[Bonin21]

There is only one choice for #1 this year and not even the Wild would mess that up.

[gopherhockeyfan7]

How in the world did Fletcher value Ek over Boeser in the draft?

"Brock Boeser — the pride of Burnsville and someone the Canucks drafted 23rd overall in 2015 because Minnesota, a franchise long starved for elite goal-scoring, opted at pick No. 20 to pass up on a sniper who grew up 15 minutes from its downtown St. Paul headquarters..." - Russo leaning into this same thought on the Athletic gamer yesterday

I’m sure Russo was watching the FSN feed when Lapanta asked Walz if he would rather have Boeser or Ek and Walz said Ek because he plays better defense. A ridiculous statement from Walz.

Russo said later in that article that pretty much every NHL front office had Ek ahead of Boeser at the time, so it's not like this was some monumental failure. Kind of just what happens with drafting. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you don't. Players develop at different rates and projections won't be an exact science.

In hindsight you'd rather have Boeser, but it's not like they went off the board like they did with Johanssen.

[Jupiter]

I’m sure Russo was watching the FSN feed when Lapanta asked Walz if he would rather have Boeser or Ek and Walz said Ek because he plays better defense. A ridiculous statement from Walz.

I heard that and then yelled at the TV scream calling him a moron.

[Gopher99]

In Ek's draft year he had 15 points in 41 games. I know the SweHL is super competitive though.

Boeser had 68 points in 57 games in the USHL.

I do think Ek has a role in this league - nothing wrong with a defensive forward. Just stings exponentially more when a franchise starved for snipers or goal scoring, passes on one that was born and raised 15 minutes down the road and played his draft season in Waterloo - and despite what scouting reports there were, I feel you had to view their ceilings differently. Just seems like Ek was never destined to have a "high ceiling" as a Top 6 guy and I don't think you could say the same about Boeser.

It is what it is now.

[J22]

In Ek's draft year he had 15 points in 41 games. I know the SweHL is super competitive though.

Boeser had 68 points in 57 games in the USHL.

I do think Ek has a role in this league - nothing wrong with a defensive forward. Just stings exponentially more when a franchise starved for snipers or goal scoring, passes on one that was born and raised 15 minutes down the road and played his draft season in Waterloo - and despite what scouting reports there were, I feel you had to view their ceilings differently. Just seems like Ek was never destined to have a "high ceiling" as a Top 6 guy and I don't think you could say the same about Boeser.

It is what it is now.

Ek was the much better prospect at the time.

[fightclub30]

In Ek's draft year he had 15 points in 41 games. I know the SweHL is super competitive though.

Boeser had 68 points in 57 games in the USHL.

I do think Ek has a role in this league - nothing wrong with a defensive forward. Just stings exponentially more when a franchise starved for snipers or goal scoring, passes on one that was born and raised 15 minutes down the road and played his draft season in Waterloo - and despite what scouting reports there were, I feel you had to view their ceilings differently. Just seems like Ek was never destined to have a "high ceiling" as a Top 6 guy and I don't think you could say the same about Boeser.

It is what it is now.

The Swedish Elite League is Professional hockey against Men. The USHL is all 16-20 year olds, with some over-agers sprinkled in (21). Different leagues, hard to compare stats from one to the other.

Yes one player has turned out better and was available so that's a drag. But the whole #oneofus thing makes it worse for us, including me.

Taylor Cammaratta put up some pretty big USHL numbers at Waterloo. A guy by the name of Peter Kreiger from Oakdale put up bigger numbers than Boeser the year before him at Waterloo, played a marginal role at Fairbanks and has never sniffed an NHL lineup. USHL stats aren't and end-all-be-all.

[bearpaw28]

How in the world did Fletcher value Ek over Boeser in the draft?

"Brock Boeser — the pride of Burnsville and someone the Canucks drafted 23rd overall in 2015 because Minnesota, a franchise long starved for elite goal-scoring, opted at pick No. 20 to pass up on a sniper who grew up 15 minutes from its downtown St. Paul headquarters..." - Russo leaning into this same thought on the Athletic gamer yesterday

I’m sure Russo was watching the FSN feed when Lapanta asked Walz if he would rather have Boeser or Ek and Walz said Ek because he plays better defense. A ridiculous statement from Walz.

Russo said later in that article that pretty much every NHL front office had Ek ahead of Boeser at the time, so it's not like this was some monumental failure. Kind of just what happens with drafting. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you don't. Players develop at different rates and projections won't be an exact science.

In hindsight you'd rather have Boeser, but it's not like they went off the board like they did with Johanssen.

Except at the time (2015) the Wild desperately needed a GOAL SCORER. And Chuck LOVED euro players. Call it hindsight, call it whatever U want, the Wild still missed a NHL 75 goal scorer (so far) for a 24 goal scorer, a pretty bad wiff

[fightclub30]

How in the world did Fletcher value Ek over Boeser in the draft?

"Brock Boeser — the pride of Burnsville and someone the Canucks drafted 23rd overall in 2015 because Minnesota, a franchise long starved for elite goal-scoring, opted at pick No. 20 to pass up on a sniper who grew up 15 minutes from its downtown St. Paul headquarters..." - Russo leaning into this same thought on the Athletic gamer yesterday

I’m sure Russo was watching the FSN feed when Lapanta asked Walz if he would rather have Boeser or Ek and Walz said Ek because he plays better defense. A ridiculous statement from Walz.

Russo said later in that article that pretty much every NHL front office had Ek ahead of Boeser at the time, so it's not like this was some monumental failure. Kind of just what happens with drafting. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you don't. Players develop at different rates and projections won't be an exact science.

In hindsight you'd rather have Boeser, but it's not like they went off the board like they did with Johanssen.

Except at the time (2015) the Wild desperately needed a GOAL SCORER. And Chuck LOVED euro players. Call it hindsight, call it whatever U want, the Wild still missed a NHL 75 goal scorer (so far) for a 24 goal scorer, a pretty bad wiff

Boston had 3 picks in a row at 13, 14, 15 and only 1 has played more than 6 games.

Dallas picked a RW with similar point totals to EK, Detroit picked a RW right before the Wild how has only played 20 games.

So those 3 teams missed as well.

However, 2015 is shaping up like the 2003 draft, where it was very hard to miss. Even that, I wouldn't say the Wild missed completely. Sure they missed on Boeser, but still got a capable NHL player. Which sadly is more than we can say about most Wild draft years...

Sebastian Aho was also available. We whiffed on him. Along with every other team except Carolina, as he went early in the 2nd round.

[J22]

How in the world did Fletcher value Ek over Boeser in the draft?

"Brock Boeser — the pride of Burnsville and someone the Canucks drafted 23rd overall in 2015 because Minnesota, a franchise long starved for elite goal-scoring, opted at pick No. 20 to pass up on a sniper who grew up 15 minutes from its downtown St. Paul headquarters..." - Russo leaning into this same thought on the Athletic gamer yesterday

I’m sure Russo was watching the FSN feed when Lapanta asked Walz if he would rather have Boeser or Ek and Walz said Ek because he plays better defense. A ridiculous statement from Walz.

Russo said later in that article that pretty much every NHL front office had Ek ahead of Boeser at the time, so it's not like this was some monumental failure. Kind of just what happens with drafting. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you don't. Players develop at different rates and projections won't be an exact science.

In hindsight you'd rather have Boeser, but it's not like they went off the board like they did with Johanssen.

Except at the time (2015) the Wild desperately needed a GOAL SCORER. And Chuck LOVED euro players. Call it hindsight, call it whatever U want, the Wild still missed a NHL 75 goal scorer (so far) for a 24 goal scorer, a pretty bad wiff

At the time of that draft the Wild had Parise, Pominville, Vanek, a 22 year old Granlund, a 22 year old Coyle, a 22 year old Zucker and a 21 year old Niederreiter. The last thing they needed was a winger that can't play defense and is a poor skater.

[bearpaw28]

How in the world did Fletcher value Ek over Boeser in the draft?

"Brock Boeser — the pride of Burnsville and someone the Canucks drafted 23rd overall in 2015 because Minnesota, a franchise long starved for elite goal-scoring, opted at pick No. 20 to pass up on a sniper who grew up 15 minutes from its downtown St. Paul headquarters..." - Russo leaning into this same thought on the Athletic gamer yesterday

I’m sure Russo was watching the FSN feed when Lapanta asked Walz if he would rather have Boeser or Ek and Walz said Ek because he plays better defense. A ridiculous statement from Walz.

Russo said later in that article that pretty much every NHL front office had Ek ahead of Boeser at the time, so it's not like this was some monumental failure. Kind of just what happens with drafting. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you don't. Players develop at different rates and projections won't be an exact science.

In hindsight you'd rather have Boeser, but it's not like they went off the board like they did with Johanssen.

Except at the time (2015) the Wild desperately needed a GOAL SCORER. And Chuck LOVED euro players. Call it hindsight, call it whatever U want, the Wild still missed a NHL 75 goal scorer (so far) for a 24 goal scorer, a pretty bad wiff

At the time of that draft the Wild had Parise, Pominville, Vanek, a 22 year old Granlund, a 22 year old Coyle, a 22 year old Zucker and a 21 year old Niederreiter. The last thing they needed was a winger that can't play defense and is a poor skater.

LMAO...so that’s how you’d of described Boeser in 2015. Lucky for the Canucks you were coaching JR Gold and not scouting for Vancouver

[J22]

How in the world did Fletcher value Ek over Boeser in the draft?

"Brock Boeser — the pride of Burnsville and someone the Canucks drafted 23rd overall in 2015 because Minnesota, a franchise long starved for elite goal-scoring, opted at pick No. 20 to pass up on a sniper who grew up 15 minutes from its downtown St. Paul headquarters..." - Russo leaning into this same thought on the Athletic gamer yesterday

I’m sure Russo was watching the FSN feed when Lapanta asked Walz if he would rather have Boeser or Ek and Walz said Ek because he plays better defense. A ridiculous statement from Walz.

Russo said later in that article that pretty much every NHL front office had Ek ahead of Boeser at the time, so it's not like this was some monumental failure. Kind of just what happens with drafting. Sometimes you hit, sometimes you don't. Players develop at different rates and projections won't be an exact science.

In hindsight you'd rather have Boeser, but it's not like they went off the board like they did with Johanssen.

Except at the time (2015) the Wild desperately needed a GOAL SCORER. And Chuck LOVED euro players. Call it hindsight, call it whatever U want, the Wild still missed a NHL 75 goal scorer (so far) for a 24 goal scorer, a pretty bad wiff

At the time of that draft the Wild had Parise, Pominville, Vanek, a 22 year old Granlund, a 22 year old Coyle, a 22 year old Zucker and a 21 year old Niederreiter. The last thing they needed was a winger that can't play defense and is a poor skater.

LMAO...so that’s how you’d of described Boeser in 2015. Lucky for the Canucks you were coaching JR Gold and not scouting for Vancouver

That's what Boeser still is.

[Bonin21]

Boeser is a pure goal scorer. Something the Wild haven't had since Gaborik. And they passed over him and Caufield.

[fightclub30]

Boeser is a pure goal scorer. Something the Wild haven't had since Gaborik. And they passed over him and Caufield.

Caufield has ZERO NHL points. Lets wait on that one a few minutes.

The Wild also missed Aho that same year. Pastrnak, Arvidsson, and Point the year before.

Are we just hung up on Boeser because he is from here?

[Karlsson]

Are we just hung up on Boeser because he is from here?

I get the feeling that you already know the answer to this question.

[frozen4champs]

[Bigbeer]

How are these guys getting from the X to Burnsville in 15 minutes?

[Bertogliat]

Boeser is a pure goal scorer. Something the Wild haven't had since Gaborik. And they passed over him and Caufield.

Caufield is about 3 feet tall. I’ll be curious to see how he plays.

[Bigbeer]

Boeser is a pure goal scorer. Something the Wild haven't had since Gaborik. And they passed over him and Caufield.

Caufield is about 3 feet tall. I’ll be curious to see how he plays.

little?

[Bertogliat]

Boeser is a pure goal scorer. Something the Wild haven't had since Gaborik. And they passed over him and Caufield.

Caufield is about 3 feet tall. I’ll be curious to see how he plays.

little?

He about the same size as Theo Fleury but drafted 15th instead of 150th. He’s a gamble.

[J22]

Boeser is a pure goal scorer. Something the Wild haven't had since Gaborik. And they passed over him and Caufield.

Caufield is about 3 feet tall. I’ll be curious to see how he plays.

little?

He about the same size as Theo Fleury but drafted 15th instead of 150th. He’s a gamble.

Fleury could skate. Caufield could play on an NHL power play right now, but I don't think he will ever be an asset anywhere else.

[Bigbeer]

Ah, the tried and true “get into a fight for no reason to fire up your team and then don’t throw any punches” strategy...

[fightclub30]

A PPG?!?! Is that allowed? 1-0 wild

[Jupiter]

A PPG?!?! Is that allowed? 1-0 wild

Yes.... It's even strength goals that are not allowed.

[Bigbeer]

We look like crap in our own end

[Greyeagle]

What happens when you severely boof a 3-2 chance? The other team turns it around into a basically an odd man rush and you lose the lead.

That's why you need Staal from an impossible angle 30 seconds later!

[Bigbeer]

Apparently Roussel wants nothing to do with Greenway

[Bigbeer]

How ya like Ek ....NOW?!?!?!

[Karlsson]

That worthless bum Ek scores to give the good guys the worst lead in hockey. Jerk.

[Bigbeer]

That worthless bum Ek scores to give the good guys the worst lead in hockey. Jerk.

Can we blame you for this?

[Karlsson]

That worthless bum Ek scores to give the good guys the worst lead in hockey. Jerk.

Can we blame you for this?

If you need to, sure.

[fightclub30]

Markstrom gives up a Dubnyk! Wild retake the lead late in the 2nd

[Bigbeer]

Little dissappointed to have Greenway not making much of an impact this week

[Karlsson]

That tripping call on Fiala was a real head-scratcher.

[fightclub30]

Who missed a defensive assignment there? Holy balls he was WIDE open.

[fightclub30]

Ooooooooovvvvvertime

[Cowgirl]

Well, I guess I have time for another glass of wine!

[Karlsson]

Who missed a defensive assignment there? Holy balls he was WIDE open.

Both Soucy and Fiala seemed way to interested in a Canuck skating towards the corner. They completely lost Horvat. I've also seen goalies swat the hell out of that pass plenty of times.

[Cowgirl]

[fightclub30]

Well... That's was fun... FML

[Karlsson]

Annoying when it happens so fast. "I waited through a third intermission for that?"

[Bigbeer]

Crap

[bearpaw28]

Ugly last 11 seconds of the season

[streakygopher]

Who missed a defensive assignment there? Holy balls he was WIDE open.

Both Soucy and Fiala seemed way to interested in a Canuck skating towards the corner. They completely lost Horvat. I've also seen goalies swat the hell out of that pass plenty of times.

Spurgeon failed to tie up his guy behind the net, Soucy inexplicably vacated the front of the net, and none of the forwards came back to cover. Boom.

As for the outcome tonight, Vancouver goalie tries to throw the game, but the Wild were having none of that. Disappointing game, disappointing series, disappointing team.

[Bertogliat]

Come on 2021 draft!

[frozen4champs]

It seems like groundhog day again this off season. What will Guerin do? As a fan, it gets old being a middle of the road team. There is excitement with the Russian coming in, but how much of an impact will 1 player make? If they get the #1 overall pick, that would also help. What will Guerin do with Parise, Dumba, Brodin, Dubnyk, Greenway, Donato, Foligno? Dubnyk has a very cap friendly contract, so maybe he can be moved. They should explore the Parise trade again, only if they get some value in return. They need to shed a defenseman before the expansion draft, but which one do you trade? For some reason Donato always seems the odd man out despite his ability to score. Greenway has been a disappointment. Would love to resign Foligno, but at what price? Lots of things to do. ( Not to mention Zuccarello's bad contract, and I assume Rask will be bought out)

[team22tank]

It seems like groundhog day again this off season. What will Guerin do? As a fan, it gets old being a middle of the road team. There is excitement with the Russian coming in, but how much of an impact will 1 player make? If they get the #1 overall pick, that would also help. What will Guerin do with Parise, Dumba, Brodin, Dubnyk, Greenway, Donato, Foligno? Dubnyk has a very cap friendly contract, so maybe he can be moved. They should explore the Parise trade again, only if they get some value in return. They need to shed a defenseman before the expansion draft, but which one do you trade? For some reason Donato always seems the odd man out despite his ability to score. Greenway has been a disappointment. Would love to resign Foligno, but at what price? Lots of things to do. ( Not to mention Zuccarello's bad contract, and I assume Rask will be bought out)

Start with making sure Stalock isn’t your starting goalie and go from there.

[team22tank]

Who missed a defensive assignment there? Holy balls he was WIDE open.

Both Soucy and Fiala seemed way to interested in a Canuck skating towards the corner. They completely lost Horvat. I've also seen goalies swat the hell out of that pass plenty of times.

Spurgeon failed to tie up his guy behind the net, Soucy inexplicably vacated the front of the net, and none of the forwards came back to cover. Boom.

As for the outcome tonight, Vancouver goalie tries to throw the game, but the Wild were having none of that. Disappointing game, disappointing series, disappointing team.

Stalock May have tried to throw it more.

He was brutal games 2-4. To think he had a shutout in the series and his series Save% was .897

[J22]

It seems like groundhog day again this off season. What will Guerin do? As a fan, it gets old being a middle of the road team. There is excitement with the Russian coming in, but how much of an impact will 1 player make? If they get the #1 overall pick, that would also help. What will Guerin do with Parise, Dumba, Brodin, Dubnyk, Greenway, Donato, Foligno? Dubnyk has a very cap friendly contract, so maybe he can be moved. They should explore the Parise trade again, only if they get some value in return. They need to shed a defenseman before the expansion draft, but which one do you trade? For some reason Donato always seems the odd man out despite his ability to score. Greenway has been a disappointment. Would love to resign Foligno, but at what price? Lots of things to do. ( Not to mention Zuccarello's bad contract, and I assume Rask will be bought out)

Dubnyk was the worst goaltender in the NHL statistically this season. I can't imagine anyone will be willing to take him so Guerin will most likely have to buy him out.
Parise needs to be off the roster at just about any cost.

The defenseman problem can be handled by waiting until after the expansion draft to re-sign Brodin. That would obviously require Brodin to be OK with the plan.

Donato needs to be given a legitimate chance on a scoring line. He's not a great hockey player but he he just seems to find a way to produce points.

Greenway is one of the best forwards on the roster. He will never put up a ton of points but he can play anywhere in the lineup and make his line bettter.

There's absolutely no reason to extend Foligno unless he's willing to take a significant paycut.

Zuccarello's contract is fine if you play him with actual NHL level players. Right now they're turning him into Vanek 2.0.

Rask will probably be back as the 13th forward unless Guerin really needs the extra $2.7M in cap space this summer.

[bearpaw28]

Agree regarding Dubbs, he’s just plain bad, at this point, give the young guy a shot at being the starter. Agree on Donato too. But regarding Greenway...I fear he may be turning into Charlie Coyle 2.0, did very little to impress the past 4 games.

[J22]

Agree regarding Dubbs, he’s just plain bad, at this point, give the young guy a shot at being the starter. Agree on Donato too. But regarding Greenway...I fear he may be turning into Charlie Coyle 2.0, did very little to impress the past 4 games.

Greenway is a lot like Coyle. Coyle is a great role player in the NHL. Having guys like Greenway and Coyle on your 3rd line is how you win in the NHL. Expecting them to be 30 goal first liners isn't how you do it.

[bearpaw28]

Yep, expecting them to score like say...Boeser isn’t realistic

[J22]

Yep, expecting them to score like say...Boeser isn’t realistic

Just like expecting Boeser to be able to play a two-way game or defend anyone is a bad idea. 5 Greenways on the ice against 5 Boesers would be an absolute murder of Boeser.

It's almost like a hockey team has a bunch of different roles that need to be filled

[bearpaw28]

Yep, expecting them to score like say...Boeser isn’t realistic

Just like expecting Boeser to be able to play a two-way game or defend anyone is a bad idea. 5 Greenways on the ice against 5 Boesers would be an absolute murder of Boeser.

LOL..How about 3 Greenways & 2 Boesers LOL? So you’re saying you wouldn’t trade one Greenway for one Boeser even up? Got it

[Cowgirl]

Geez, it sounds like some of you guys have a man crush on Boeser.