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CoolHandL

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Jul. 3, 2021
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Minnesota Wild
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Forum: Armchair-GMMay 24 at 11:22 a.m.
Thread: Foligno for Nyquist
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>jnowariak</b></div><div>I’m not a believer in “earning it.” Play the best players in the position that makes them the best. I’m a former coach and you can’t force feed ideals if you want to win, you’ve gotta park your pride at the door. Dean has his favorites and his ideals and he doesn’t change, that’s not a good coach.

And I take issue with the idea that Rossi is being judged on his overall play and not his lack of scoring. Put Zucc on the 4th line and see how effective he is. It’s about the player’s skill set. It’s very easy to create a narrative about how specific guys aren’t “playing the right way” when you ask them to do things they’ve never said they can do.</div></div>

Rossi is a center, so he is expected to be multi-faceted and to some degree adjust to the linemates he is given. I think if he were coming in as a scoring winger, your argument would hold more water. And if you take the 'earning it' mentality out of the equation, where does that leave the Wild? I'd say it leaves them back in the Chuck Fletcher era, where players are anointed spots in the lineup even if they don't deserve it. That 'earning it' message is coming from Guerin just as much as it is from Dean.

I agree that Dean is a bit set in his ways, but he trusts guys like Freddy for good reason - they play responsible, hard-nosed hockey. That is what they want out of Rossi.
Forum: Armchair-GMMay 24 at 8:36 a.m.
Thread: Foligno for Nyquist
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>jnowariak</b></div><div>Because Zucc has a year left, re-signing Freddy put Rossi in a tough spot. Zucc can really only play with 97 and Freddy is what he is, a bottom 6 C that has zero offensive instinct (I will die on this hill) but the coach LOVES him so he’s not going anywhere. Hartman is easily moved to W on basically any line.

Rossi isn’t a bottom 6 C and never will be. You have to force feed him too 6 minutes and then decide what he is, we have no idea if he’s an NHLer because Dean used him entirely out of place his entire audition last year. And as for was he playoff ready? Probably not, but nobody else on the team was either so that’s a bit of a red herring.</div></div>

I get what you're saying about Rossi's stock as a top-6 player, but it is also true that players who are ready to play in the league make the most of the minutes given to them. Every chance you get, you go out and play hard - even if that doesn't mean points. Guerin, and Evason by extension, have made it clear that they will not just anoint a player to a top line without them earning it. Look at Faber: end of the season he comes out of the gate on that third pair doing exactly what is expected of him plus a bit more and now the chances of him playing in the top 4 next season are good. Not guaranteed, but good. Rossi is soft everywhere he has been put so far - soft on pucks, soft on defenders. That works in the AHL, but in the big dance not so much.

This is not a finesse league, these guys will get tossed and man-handled if they play cute all the time, especially in the playoffs. Hell Boldy probably needs to learn some of that kind of workmanship too, good thing he is 6'2''. These smaller guys are big risks, and often take much longer to develop - if they do at all. We shall see, my jaded Minnesota fandom will try to keep the faith. Hah!
Forum: Armchair-GMMay 23 at 9:37 p.m.
Thread: Handful of moves not blockbusters
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>Easportzz</b></div><div>Yeah, feedback here treating him like he is second coming of Jean Beliveau. So I overswung a wee bit it seems. Still think there is value for Addison despite Wild seeming to do everything they could to undermine his worth. Not sure then who, but Addison for a prospect of some sort.

And then on Steel, if I say 4th or 5th, then the team I do that with would chime in telling me how miserable he is! Ha. Love ACGM. Agree with you though that he has some value.</div></div>

Ha, exactly. It's a fun place to ponder and speculate, and then watch people flip their **** over their team's precious players and prospects. I am a Wild fan, but try to stay as realistic as I can on here. Of course Guerin traded away Jack McBain last year to Arizona, so the center trade thing does happen sometimes. He is a liked GM, so who knows.
Forum: Armchair-GMMay 23 at 9:25 p.m.
Thread: Foligno for Nyquist
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>jnowariak</b></div><div>I agree that Addy should be getting more than his QO, probs something closer to Sandin’s 2x$1.4 but a 1 year prove it is possible.

But to your last thought, I don’t know what gives that impression. I realize there’s a narrative about him right now but we’ve only seen him play 4th line and that is not a role he will excel in. If Dean is so set on Freddy as the 3C, then you’ve gotta stick Rossi with 97. Any way you slice it, Rossi needs to play a lot next year.

I fundamentally disagree with the idea that Freddy is a better option than Rossi.</div></div>

I certainly hope you prove me wrong about him. Assuming the whole team were healthy, would you say that Rossi was a better option than Freddy to play against Dallas? That is where I am coming from. If he doesn't deserve only 4th line minutes next season, which I totally agree with, then where does he fit? I don't see how him playing between Duhaime and Foligno is going to help him much more. And EE and Hartman have the top two Cs clamped down, for now. Here's hoping Rossi finds that killer instinct, because he doesn't have it right now.

I bet if he struggles again in the fall, they try him at wing. Maybe opposite 97, who knows?
Forum: Armchair-GMMay 18 at 11:16 a.m.
Thread: Last year of the buyout
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>BenSch07</b></div><div>Most are ELC’s so i assume you’re talking about Zucc, Gus, and Scheifele, i think they can be fair numbers, Zucc could be a lot cheaper but Gus i think 4.5 is probably what he is worth because I think he is in the Oettinger contract range with his production, he’s worth more than flower so he will for sure get more than 3.5 this offseason because I bet thats the argument his agent makes, and Scheifele it depends on his production next season, which I think will end up being better than this year by a bit</div></div>

I think what prevents his agent from getting that much is Gus's body of work. He was one of the best goalies in the league this season... but only had 37 starts and has no other meaningful experience that would add to the argument to give him 4.5+.

I think he will continue to be really good, especially in the Wild's system and age being on his side, but Guerin with his negotiating cap on will argue that he should get a cheaper bridge deal - maybe even just two years. Goalies are mercurial in this league, which doesn't help Gus's case either. But then once that contract is up and the Wild are out of cap hell, Gus can get a bigger contract if it continues to make sense at that time.