that deal seems more than fair. I don’t think you need to add a 3rd going back to Toronto.

I don’t think that’s enough going to Minnesota

I agree. We’d hug Sakic after accepting the deal.

I think you probably only need to send Kerfoot to TOR, no pick necessary. Not enough for Zucker. Not sure why LA would want to make the trade.

Am I the only person that thinks Zucker isnt worth a 1st rd pick? Kerfoot and kapanen are basically the same player.

Why does everyone think the avs want to collect all the 40 pt players in the league and pay them more than they are worth? When they have the space and need for higher skilled players

For folks saying that's not enough for Zucker; a lot of Wild fans have responded positively to that suggestion as is, without pushback.


I think you underestimate a) how good Zucker is and b) how good a fit he would be for our team...especially if he was paired with MacK n Landy on the top line; so that all of those chances that Kerf squandered for us this past postseason, would instead be falling to a guy who really knows how to finish and has a 30 goals season under his belt already. Plus the way he uses his speed on the forecheck would help those two in a way Kerf doesn't; as it would create more turnovers for them to pounce on and extend OZone time for that line.

Similar thing with Kapanen v Kerfoot; the pt-totals may not suggest a big difference, but Kapanen is much better against the puck (both 5on5 & on the PK), he can score...which our top 6 lacks and would continue to lack with the addition of the pass-first Hayes...and, again, his game just screams Bednar and the way he wants us to play in a way Kerf just doesn't with his ineffectiveness in puck battles neutering his utility on the forecheck & cycle.

These moves aren't a super-sexy-dream-scenario, but: Hayes is a fully capable 2C, who would fill our biggest hole through most of the window that MacK's sweetheart deal creates for us, perfectly well, while being able to handle a heavier defensive workload; Kap is basically what we hope Jimmothy Timmothy develops into if all goes perfectly...and Zucker is an upgraded version of that same archetype; who I am confident would put up 30 again if he spent most of his time on our top line, and he would do so while making life easier on those two & freeing Mikko up to drive the 2nd line except when we really needed that big-line-magic.

The most appealing thing about this scenario for me would be that all three carry reasonable enough acquisition costs for there to be some chance of us actually getting all 3...and not entering yet another season hoping that someone can step up to fill a top 6 spot. Which would mean all of our good-bottom-6ers would actually get to stay in the bottom 6, and not be overplayed in positions they can't thrive in for long.

...like Jost, he was looking great playing 13 minutes a night against 3rd liners this past postseason, but if you had asked him to play 16+ minutes a night against top 6 opposition, his skating limitations would have become more of an issue & there's a very good chance that we would not have seen him finish the campaign on such a high note...or inversely with Soda; who was hot-garbage in the playoffs after getting over-worked all season and then was asked to do more than he was capable of by needing to center Mikko's line. But keep him at the 3C, playing his heavy game on a checking line with some wingers that are ready to grind, and he'd give us an advantage at that spot against most teams that we'd run into.

@coga16 please read this about jost and kerfoot

I'll be honest I dont get to see kapanen a while lot but from what I've seen of the guy he sat at the blueline against the avs and waited for a stretch pass... I agree about jost and kerfoot, not so much about Zucker, guy got 30 goals the season before his deal, before that he was a 20g guy after that back to 20g.. it looks like the avs will be in on hayes, hes big, but that's all I really know about him, stats arent that impressive... when you're use to have stastny, duchene, oreilly down the middle, or duchene MacKinnon, it's hard to accept a less skilled guy take that spot

He's been regularly potting 20 -- including nabbing 21 in 51 -- on a Wild team that has not scored nearly as many goals as we have been scoring since MacK's breakout and they've played at a much slower pace than we do...which doesn't fit Zucker's game nearly as well as Bednar's up-tempo brand of hockey would...and then there's the matter of even his best common-linemates in Minnesota not having been anywhere near the same quality as MacK n Landy; on top of not fitting his game as well as 92 & 29 would; which is a big part of me suggesting he could hit 30 again for us, as he's really good at finishing those greasier chances that we saw falling to Kerf seemingly every other period...as well as pouncing on turnovers to burn teams in transition.

If instead of putting Zuck on that line we kept 9296 together and rolled out a more defensive 2nd line with Zucker - Hayes - Kapanen, then I don't think he'd break 30 again, but even in that situation he'd be good for 20+ goals and that line could be very effective as a suped up version of the Calvert - Soderberg - LBN (Longbeach-native) line...although personally I don't want the big line to be a regularity for us as much as a weapon to save for when we're chasing a goal or need to shake things up.


RE Kap: I enjoyed watching the way Toronto played a lot this season, so caught about 20 games of theirs...and the impression I came away with about Kapanen was that he looked an awful lot like the guy that I was telling my Sabres-fan friends Compher could become for them, when Buffalo first drafted him...as I was living in Buffalo at the time & was high on the Compher, Zadorov & Girgensens picks they made. Using his speed to get on the puck quickly on the forecheck, in transition, & on the PK; while having a good (right-handed) shot that he was aggressive about utilizing. I'm sure he had some down games -- especially in the middle parts of the season -- but from what I saw he'd be a good 3rd wheel to Mikko & Hayes on the 2nd line; who could use his speed to win pucks back for them while having the hands to finish any high-grade scoring-chances that they crafted for him.

OT, but Toronto's kid who most stood out to me (outside of the big names) had to have been Dermott. He was looking like an excellent modern top 4 guy in the making and I really hope he can recover from that brutal injury...even if we can't steal him on the cheap as cover for any contract-issues with Zads, before that happens lol.


Hayes has some Soda to him, but he's a lot better defensively, a decisively more skilled playmaker...which is why his pt totals didn't start to really take off until he got promoted to NYR's top 6 these past 2 seasons, whereas soda can bang home his 40+ points even with stone-handed grinders...and stoner-Hayes is nowhere near as mean/angry as the cyclops lol. The big fella is very pass-first though, so I would want to pair him with Mikko...who needs to use his lethal shot even more than he does...and a speedy goalscorer like Kapanen; who could focus on winning pucks back & finishing what those two giants created for him.