Avatar

wabit

Member Since
May 14, 2016
Favourite Team
Minnesota Wild
2nd Favourite Team
Buffalo Sabres
Forum Posts
8084
Posts per Day
3.3
Forum: Armchair-GMSat. at 11:42 a.m.
Thread: next year according to Russo
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>jnowariak</b></div><div>So, I don’t disagree with you here, but would love to keep Foligno at 2ish on his next deal as a 4th liner. I think the GREEF line and the fact we’re using a top 9 line to stop goals rather than score them is the real reasons we don’t win in the playoffs. Trade greenway, move Foligno to the 4th line, and get some more skilled players with Ek.

And no offense to Shaw, but I don’t care about him. He’s a classic tweener that’s earning his payday but takes an absurd amount of penalties in the TOI he’s given. He also can’t play higher than the 4th line.</div></div>

Dewar, Rossi, Petan, Shaw, Steel, and Walker are all the classic tweeners. They can all be punted if they'll get a decent return, or kept for cheap depth.

I can't complain about the amount of Shaw's penalties when the team as a whole (bench too) has little discipline. The kneeing was bad, for sure, the rest aren't anything outside of the norm for the team.
Forum: Armchair-GMSat. at 11:18 a.m.
Thread: next year according to Russo
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>jnowariak</b></div><div>Agreed on the Freddy front, this is his last contract and he’s proven to be a trustworthy bottom 6er that can (not should) play in the top 6. He’s gonna get 2.5 mil with term somewhere and he’s worked hard for it.

But if they’re truly out of it, I think they trade one of Steel/Hartman. Both have value in their own ways and I think it makes sense to give at least one of those guys in IA a test run to see what you’ve got in them.</div></div>

Walker is the only one that looks even close to NHL ready. If they trade their players they'll be taking back a cap dump, or even just take a cap dump due to their cap and fill out the roster that way. Shaw is sitting in the pressbox so he's the first promotion. Walker should be the 2nd. The rest can stay in Iowa.

I think Foligno should be moved too. He's my favorite player, but if they are out of contention then he's of more value as a rental + 1 to another team than he is as a rental for MN next year. I don;t see next year's tam being any better than this current team without cutting away all the fat.
Forum: Armchair-GMSat. at 11:09 a.m.
Thread: next year according to Russo
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>jnowariak</b></div><div>Russo is overblowing his contract demands. UFA 3rd pair PP specialists make 3-4, he can ask for that but the Wild have the RFA hammer. He skates too well and sees the ice at such a high level that the top 4 potential is right there, you don’t give up on that because he’s small. As an offensive D, he needs to tighten up his rush D (which is dependent on IQ and skating, both pluses for him) and that can be taught. I don’t care if he can clear the net front or not.

He’ll get 2-2.5 and that’s plenty fair for all involved.</div></div>

I don't think so. He's on pace for what 40p+ this year (almost all on the PP), and putting up points gets d-men paid. He can skate but has 0 d-zone awareness and is constantly out of position. He doesn't even add to the 5v5 (4p in 46 games) scoring to offset his bad d-zone play.

MN is looking to have only 2 top-4 quality d-men (Brodin and Spurgeon) next season, they can't afford to have a sheltered pp specialist. The days of Brodin, Scandella, Spurgeon, and Suter are long gone that could support a specialist.
Forum: Armchair-GMSat. at 10:57 a.m.
Thread: next year according to Russo
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>jnowariak</b></div><div>I actually think we agree on all fronts, even D Lo and Reaves. And it’s definitely worth thinking about what Addison would be worth, if there’s one chip we have that could get us a top 6 C, it’s him.

I’m just fascinated by what the deadline will look like. Can we get another1st? Will Marco be back up? Will Dumba move and Addy takes that spot? I honestly think the healthiest place for this team to be at the a week before the standings is a couple points out of the WC and and 2 teams back. It would force them to decide on Steel/Hartman/Freddy and capitalize on their highest value and we’d get to see if Addy can play top 4 and If Marco is for real.</div></div>

I think they need to be 6-8 points out before Guerin really considers selling, with Feb's schedule this is entirely possible. I think if they are within a couple of points he just stands pat and hopes for the best.

I don't think Freddy G signs a cheap (team friendly) deal. He'll end up with 35-40p again this year and really needs to cash in on his only chance at a decent payday. I also don't think he's worth MN paying him with their cap situation.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 23 at 4:37 p.m.
Thread: Time to make some changes
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>MNBassman</b></div><div>Start watching Steel’s hands. They are BY FAR the worst hands on the team and not even NHL caliber. He can skate well, that’s it!
The thing this team needs more than anything is someone Boldy can play with, which is why I like the idea of acquiring Kuzmenko…or any other reasonably priced guy who can think the game fast.

Don’t forget to watch Steel - his hands are pathetic and now K and Z are starting to freeze him out…no good!</div></div>

He muffed a puck last game, but his hands are decent overall. Kap/Zucc and Boldy lines have both been better with Steel than without.

1 skill play a game, no more, no less Freddy G. Dewar has no o-zone skills except but decent speed, decent PKer. Hartman has a shot, but can't pass to save his life, and does stupid things. This is just picking the least bad of the bunch, and this year it's Steel. Steel needs to shoot more instead of trying to make that extra pass (a la Granny).

Any skill that is added to Boldy's line is immediately subtracted by adding the blackhole that is Rossi.

Boldy needs to be put with Greenway and JEE. There are a lot of wide open nets for Boldy to shank his shots on, rather than Foligno shanking his shots or not being a step too slow to get to the puck. The coach is too stubborn headed to try out different line combos when things aren't working.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 23 at 11:22 a.m.
Thread: Time to make some changes
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>MNBassman</b></div><div>I disagree with almost everything here. Plus, if Steel is the 2nd best center on the team, what can you possibly lose by pulling Rossi up? I’m creeping up on 55 and my hands are probably still better than Steel’s! He’s horrible! 90% of the time he gets the puck, nothing happens…except bad stuff.
Greenway sucks! He needs to go for anything or nothing!
Rossi should get another look this year, especially with players with skill…not the bs minutes dipsh!t Evason gave him!

I would do everything here except pairing Addison with Brodin. I would pair Brodin with Schenn and give Brodin a longer leash for the first time in his career! I would also swap Gaudreau with Dewar to give that line a chance to offer some auxiliary scoring.
IMHO, this team is MUCH better and more balanced than the current team Evason has no idea what to do with!</div></div>

Steel is the 2nd best center on the team, it's really not even close. He's still a plug, but his hands and speed are better than the rest of the plugs on the team. They should have treated Sturm better and kept him. He'd easily be the 2nd best center on the team this year.

Rossi isn't a NHL caliber player. He does well in the AHL on special teams but doesn't add anything 5v5. Walker is the only AHLer that could argue for any NHL time.

I'm meh on Greenway this year, but I'd take him in the lineup over all over Reaves, Dewar, Duhaime, Shaw, Hartman, and even Foligno half the time this year.

The only positive about Schenn is that he has a physical game. Everything else about him is on par with Merrill, Middleton, Kulikov, and Goli. Fine as a bottom pair/PK guy, but any higher in the lineup and he's out of place. I wouldn't mind him as the 3RD and Addison benched.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 23 at 9:21 a.m.
Thread: a little different
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>dtd_tank</b></div><div>I imagine it would be a bit pointless for MIN to move JEE in the Detroit deal, right?

If so, I would think the trade includes something like:

Larkin = 2023 1st + Rossi + Faber
Bertuzzi = 2024 1st + 2023 2nd

Just my guess. Probably a little low for Larkin and a little high for Bertuzzi given his injuries this year.</div></div>

I don't see Bertuzzi getting a 1st at all. He had 1 good season, is a rental, and has been injured. There just look to be too many FWDs the better than him that can/will hit the market. It's not a good year to be a seller when Meier, Kane, Horvat, Tank, ROR, Toews, and Larkin could all be on the block. Then there is the grouping of JVR, Kuzmenko, Domi, Monahan, Boeser that is similar to (healthy) Bertuzzi and all having better seasons.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 23 at 8:31 a.m.
Thread: Time to make some changes
I don't understand what you're doing here. Why make the team worse (lateral moves at best) and then add rentals? This turns into a 2nd+Beckmen+Greenway+Dumba for a 3rd to stay a fringe Playoff team.

You just sabotaged the Boldy line by putting Rossi on it. The team's 2nd best center is in the pressbox. The Dewys are nice cheap 11/12 FWDs but shouldn't be any higher than that in the lineup.

It's still a team with 3 Top-6 FWDs (JEE, Kap, Zucc), 2 middle-6 FWDs (Boldy, Kuz), and the rest players that belong on the 4th line (with the ability to play up) of a quality team at best. The d-corps is junk with 4 bottom pair quality players. Middleton/Spurgeon can't/doesn't play big 5v5 minutes, even with Brodin or Dumba out Goli has gone for the pressbox to playing more 5v5 minutes than they do.
Forum: Minnesota WildJan. 15 at 9:03 p.m.
Thread: Can Boldy play Center
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>TM11</b></div><div>The Wild are not my team i watch a lot but I think it is very known throughout the league they have the worst center depth in the NHL and Rossi has had a disappointing year. As someone who played NE Prep hockey, I remember Boldy was a center at Dexter however given the center depth at NTDP for the 2001s (Hughes, Turcotte, Zegras) he became a winger. Given his size and skating ability I have always wondered if they moved him to center with Kaprizov and finally give Kap an elite center to play with.</div></div>

He gets a shift or two a game centering Kap/Zucc after PKs. So it is possible, but it's not great for the team overall if it's a full time thing.

Steel has been surprisingly competent centering Kap this year. Kap/Steel/Zucc is really the only line that has worked for MN, so no real need to tinker with it until it doesn't work anymore.

I'd rather see Boldy moved to JEE's line and see if that clicks before making other adjustments.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 15 at 8:19 p.m.
Thread: IDK what a lateral move is
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>jnowariak</b></div><div>I think we’re on the same page. The talk of trading a top 4 D and that you’re serious about competing just doesn’t make sense. Ditto for the locker room stuff.

With as much as Russo said he’s gonna get traded, I have to think there’s fire. But yeah, we will see.</div></div>

Russo has had Dumba traded many times over. The same with Brodin. I think Russo is just doing his job and reporting there is interest in Dumba; which seems to be common knowledge in the the NHL talking head world. GMBG is saying the "right" things so far, and there isn't much to dissect his words (Fiala 3 good months last year).

I also think Russo is becoming more of a talking head than the Wild beat reporter this year. He needs something to talk about in his podcasts and he can't be too hard on the team as a whole (he might lose his inside access) so Dumba is the easiest thing to talk about, fill time, and keep people interested.

Really the Wild are a boring team to report on. The starting goalie is the only thing that changes before games. The lineups don't change, there isn't a in-game line blender of a coach, they don't practice (morning skates are all optional), the Kap line is the only line that works, etc.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 15 at 7:22 p.m.
Thread: IDK what a lateral move is
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>jnowariak</b></div><div>I get the idea of a lateral swap but what I don’t get is the messaging about wanting to win and the fact that hockey trades are less common in season (Kahk for Midds was an asset trade IMO and the other 2 were taking advantage of cap space, which doesn’t apply here). I don’t see a scenario in which we trade Dumba and get better this year, maybe there’s a defense for offense swap but nothing is jumping out to me. My question is whether they need to get a top 4 guy back if they trade Dumba or they’re willing to take a 3rd pair guy as the lateral swap.

Maybe you’re right about the Oilers as a trade partner, but this really feels like it’s about jacking up Dumba’s value in hopes somebody ponies up. Either Dumba finishes out the year or we will be blown away by the return. It’s just an odd situation.</div></div>

Talbot/Gus was the only trade where the cap moved, and that's cause Talbot wanted out. Staal/Marjo (1C, it's what MarJo was sold as after the trade), Pateryn/Cole (6/7D), Sturm/Jost (4C), Kunin/Bonino (3C) were all position swaps. You could even add in Suter buyout and Goli signing.

I consider the MAF trade as part (maybe facilitator is a better word) of the Kahk/Middleton swap. Both happened on TDL day, and if the MAF trade doesn't happen then the Kahk/Middleton trade doesn't happen. MAF and Kahk had pretty close stats for MN last year too.

Basically to me GMBG is saying he's not going to weaken the team just for the sake of getting future assets. The d-corps is 7 deep currently, but there isn't anything in the AHL (Faber is a question mark too) behind them that is NHL ready. Trade Dumba for futures and then you're 6 deep in the d-corps, and any injury puts the team in a precarious position. The RD could be Goli, Addison, and Sustr with a Spurgeon injury (common occurrence) and a Dumba trade.

I just don't see many options for a Dumba trade unless there is a top-4 d-man coming back (Holl/Dumba swap example). It would need to be a 3rd team (either same trade or sperate trade) involved for a Dumba trade to happen. Something like Chychrun for futures to MN, and Dumba out of MN of futures.

It just sends the wrong message to the team about the season to trade away Dumba (good locker room, wears an "A", etc.) for nothing. After all this GM is all about the locker room.