Hey all and since I talked about the Wild this morning, I wanted to discuss them in a video today as well.
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23 Comments
Guerin is doing a hell of a good job. Rebuild while staying competitive. If the wild can get healthy they'll be a tough out but they just cant get healthy. Guerin has set up the off season really well. Traded 2 rfas for a pending fa opened 2 roster spots for next yr. Buium should be here for the playoffs. Faber. Rossi sounds like he wants astronomical number aav. To me rossi is worth 6.5aav. If he won'tpnt take that id look to trade him there would be a bidding war for him. Guerin has the option n ability to move hartman n trenin if he wants. Theres gonna be teams that struggle to hit the cap floor next yr and beyond. I trust guerin to make the right decisions.
Love that jersey:)
As a wild fan it’s disappointing based on the amazing start we had to the season, how the numerous injuries have plagued this team and its chemistry not having too much hope for the playoffs. Just hope it’s somewhat entertaining first round… it’s rough supporting this team through disappointing first round exits but I guess that’s the card Minnesota sports are dealt haha. (However am very hopeful for the future of the team and the prospect pool we have and the cap space freedom we will soon have.)
It's hard to talk about guys that aren't signed yet, but I'd bet on Buium bring higher on the depth chart over Jiricek. If they sign Yurov, he won't spend a day in IA because of the out clause, so he'll be on the Wilds roster too. I look for them to try to move Hartman, his contract goes to a 10 team no trade next year I believe, and maybe Trenin, Nyquist and Brazeau. Ohgren should make the big club out of camp, Rossie may be moved just to make room for a FA signing, they'd really like Brock Nelson, I don't think he's signed an extension with CO….yet. The big log jam they have is on D, unless they move someone I don't see room for Jiricek, but they gave up a lot to get him so he has to be in the plans!
Nice
Would love to see the Pens pick up Marchand or Tavares to play w Sid
Faber gets the most ice time and is probably the Wilds top overall defenseman and he’s still very young and getting Ziev Buium after Denver colleges frozen four is over should help
Minnesota need to add goal scoring in the off season!
Yeah, you're pretty much spot on. I think we could possibly win the first round against the Jets or Golden Knights, but it's hard to imagine a deep run this year. I saw a post on the Wild subreddit discussing the future for Rossi, and I'm currently thinking we need to contend next year, Ek is perfect 2C, and Rossi hasn't proven he can be the 1C for a contender, so I hesitate to look to extend him unless BG thinks he has some unrealized potential. If Tavares is available, I'd have to imagine we'll be throwing our hat in the ring. Maybe Guerin will see if he can bring on another Penguins legend instead like Crosby or Malkin.
Also when it comes to the Blueline: Faber getting 8.5 was seen as a "oof that high but he's worth it", now that the cap is going up a LOT I'm seeing Brock-stars contract like "holy shit we stole a superstar based on hometown loyalty" and Buium is gonna come in. Yurov is also coming next year too most likely so we should see him slot into the Forward Corps pretty nicely
Bottom line Billy G's off season priorities:
1. Sign Kaprizov to a LONG term deal, maybe $13-15 m AAV is gonna be pretty much expected
2. Get Rossi (NOT A BUST) resigned
3. get all the young guns (Buium, Wally, Ohgren, Jiri, etc.) up to the big boy club
The Wild Winning Era opens July and I'm all here for it
Wild fan here – nobody wants to keep Trenin….Hartman can go as well…Brazeau trade is BillyG's worst in his tenure…
The Wild will be the only playoff team with a negative goal differential, and if they end up as the 2nd wildcard, they are going to get bounced quickly by the Jets. It's a bad matchup for the Wild, even with a relatively healthy Kaprizov. That they're still in it with him playing one game in over 3 months is kind of crazy.
Faber's contract doesn't go into effect until next year I think but iirc it's an 8×8 which is an absolute bargain I think given the sheer amount of time he spends on the ice alone
Why no mention of Buium and Yurov likely joining the team next season? 2 potential game changers/ROY candidates on ELC's for a few years…
IF Rossi is part of a big trade that brings in a legit 1C already signed to a long term contract (locked in caphit before the big increases cause craziness) that's the only way I would trade him… it has to be for an established center with 4-5 years left on an existing contract… I think BillyG needs to shake things up this summer and figure out how to put this team into the contender conversation in the West (no easy feat)
Really hard to dislike the job Billy G has done. Yeah we want the cup, but deep down everyone in MN knew that we had zero chance at it under the parise/suter contracts, despite being a perennial playoff team.
With that being said, he’s had 5 years to prep for the 2025-26 season so the next few years they need to be serious cup contenders.
Good video, Shannon. You laid it out well. I really think Guerin is going to aim to make a big trade this summer. The FA class is so-so. Guerin has had some cover dealing with 4 years of horrible buyout cap penalties, but he HAS to make some big moves this offseason, and the franchise desperately needs to break-through and be a contender the next 3-4 years, or his tenure will be a failure.
The team has several high-end prospects (Buium, Yurov, Wallstedt, Jiricek), and those players need to blend with 1-2 big forward additions via FA or trade. Rossi has been reported to be asking for tons of money for a new contract–he's a really nice player but he may be traded if the two sides aren't close on contract figures. Priority #1 is re-signing Kaprizov. If he leaves, the "plan" for this team is in the tank.
As for this season, it's now 2 years in a row with terrible injury luck. Everytime someone gets healthy, another key player gets hurt almost immediately. That along with the $14.7 mill cap penalty means expectations for playoff success should be low, BUT the team was playing really well the first two months of the year when Kaprizov was healthy.
Minnesota is anxious to cheer for a winner. The Wild sell out games constantly despite the team always being stuck in the middle. This state would go crazy if they had a deep playoff run. Like Vancouver and Buffalo, Minnesota has been waiting 50+ years for a Cup. All 3 places are overdue.
Really happy with how Guerin has done. Given the buyout penalties (and I think that was a great call too), he has put together a heck of a team.
There is a "Cap Projections" tab on Puckpedia (next to "Summary" under the team's name) that shows projected cap space for the next three seasons.
moving up
“I think they miss Erikson ek just as much as they miss kaprizov.” Er, I don’t think so. Erikson ek is a decent defensive player but I would frankly disagree that we miss double E than Killer Kirill.
Winnipeg can’t afford to lose ehlers. Ehlers going to the rival would be terrible.
As a Wild fan. I am excited for a lot of the young guns that we have in the AHL and the minors.