Minnesota Wild Prospects Report: March 29, 2011

by BReynolds on Mar 29, 2011 3:22 PM CDT in Prospects

He's still out there folks. He still has terrible, terrible hair. But he is still out there, and having a great season for HIFK.

With the past and present being rather dismal to think about, we look toward the future. As Russo said in his blog this morning:

It's too early to tell with all these guys, but for the first time since I've covered the Wild (end of my sixth season), there's more than one or two "kids" to actually pay attention to. This is how you build teams. Yes, it'll take patience to watch their development (Mikko Koivu wasn't Mikko Koivu immediately), but this is the way the best teams do it (through development, not free agency every July 1).

It has truly been an eternity since the Wild had a crop of prospects like this one. I remember going to the X to watch the Aeros during the lockout, when Koivu, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Derek Boogaard, and Stephane Veillieux were all on the team and thinking, "Man, the future looks good."

Then HWSRN and his cronies turned the wheel, hit the gas and drove the franchise into the ground. Now, in just two offseasons, the cupboard actually has something in it, prospects to watch, and excitement in the air. You need something to get you through the rest of the season?

Make the jump and read about the prospects and what they are accomplishing. It'll make you feel better. I promise.

Once again, thank you to Wild PR for providing these stats and analysis.

FUTURE MINNESOTA WILD STATISTICS - MARCH 29, 2011

CHL	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	NOTES
LW Brett Bulmer	Kelowna (WHL)	57	18	31	49	-13	109	Has skated in two playoff games for Kelowna, which leads its best-of-seven series 2-0. Ranks T-3rd in assists among Rockets skaters. Missed 14 games with a leg injury (2/16-3/13).
D Josh Caron	Kamloops (WHL)	27	1	1	2	-3	47	Kamloops finished its season in ninth place in the Western Conference. Missed 41 games with a broken collar-bone (9/25-1/8).
LW Kris Foucault	Calgary (WHL)	65	25	23	48	-10	60	Finished the season leading Hitmen skaters in points, while ranking T-1st in goals and 3rd in assists. He registered 11 multi-point games.
D Colton Jobke	Kelowna (WHL)	51	1	9	10	+5	84	Has played in two playoff games for Kelowna. Ranks 5th among Rockets defensemen in points.
D Bjorn Krupp	Belleville (OHL)	61	1	10	11	-35	54	Has skated in three playoff games as Belleville trails 3-0 in its best-of-seven series. Ranks 4th among Belleville blueliners in assists and points.
RW Dylen McKinlay	Chilliwack (WHL)	55	6	14	20	-16	60	Has recorded one assist in two playoff games. Missed 16 games with a knee injury (10/16-11/26).
COLLEGE/USHL	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	NOTES
C Anthony Hamburg	Colgate (ECAC)	7	0	3	3	-4	4	Ranks T-9th among Lancers in scoring despite not joining the team until New Year's Eve. Named the Lancers' Old Chicago Player of the Month for January.
C Anthony Hamburg	Omaha (USHL)	27	6	11	17	-7	13
LW Erik Haula	Minnesota (WCHA)	34	6	18	24	+10	22	Co-led the Gophers in assists and was T-3rd in points. Led all Finnish players with four goals and ranked 2nd with seven points in six games at the World Junior Championship.
D Sean Lorenz	Notre Dame (CCHA)	43	4	9	13	+29	36	Recorded five blocked shots and a +3 rating in two NCAA tournament games to help Notre Dame advance to the Frozen Four in St. Paul. Leads team in plus/minus and ranks T-3rd among d-men in scoring.
D Kyle Medvec	Vermont (HE)	29	2	4	6	-10	28	Ranked 4th among Vermont defensemen in points.
F Jason Zucker	Denver (WCHA)	40	23	22	45	+23	59	Scored the overtime GWG and added two assists in the Regional Semifinals then finished the season with a goal in Denver's 6-1 Regional Final loss to North Dakota. Tied for the team lead in goals and ranked 2nd in points. He also was 2nd in WCHA play in goals and 3rd in points. Named WCHA Rookie of the Year and All-WCHA Second Team. Named WCHA Freshman of the Week 12/7 and 12/14. Claimed a bronze medal at the World Junior Championship, potting one goal in four games.
INTL	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	NOTES
F Mikael Granlund	HIFK Helsinki (Finland - SM-liiga)	39	8	28	36	+6	14	Tallied five points (3-2=5) in HIFK's first round series win and was named the No. 1 star of Game 7 after recording one goal and one assist to lead HIFK to a 5-1 victory. The squad will next face Lukko in the semi-finals. He was sidelined 21 games with an injury (10/16-12/28).
RW Johan Larsson	Brynas (Sweden - J20 Super Elit)	10	6	9	15	+8	8	Will represent Sweden in two Euro Hockey Challenge matches vs. Latvia this week. Recorded two assists in Brynas' playoff series loss to Farjestad. Served as captain of Team Sweden and co-led the U19 5 Nations Tournament with 10 points (4-6=10) in four games. Posted four points (1-3=4) and four PIM in six games at the World Junior Championship.
RW Johan Larsson	Brynas (Sweden - Elitserien)	43	4	4	8	+3	18
RW Mikko Lehtonen	Skelleftea (Sweden - Elitserien)	55	30	28	58	+1	34	Has posted seven points (2-5=7) in 11 playoff games. Skelleftea is tied 2-2 with Lulea in its second round series. Finished the regular season as the league leader in goals and ranking 2nd in points.
F Jere Sallinen	Blues Espoo (Finland - SM-liiga)	55	6	8	14	+5	28	Has registered six PIM in six playoff games. Blues will take on JYP in the SM-liiga semi-finals.
GOALTENDERS	TEAM	GP	MIN	GAA	W-L-OTL	GA	SV%	NOTES
Dennis Endras	Augsburger (Germany -DEL)	46	2673	3.14	20-22-4	140	0.900	Signed a 2011-12, two-way contract with the Wild (3/11). Augsburger did not qualify for the playoffs.
Johan Gustafsson	VIK (Sweden - Hockey Allsvenskan)	26	1510	2.30		58	0.910	Will represent Sweden in two Euro Hockey Challenge matches vs. Latvia this week. VIK's season ended as he posted a 1-1-0 record with a 2.94 GAA and a .867 SV% in two playoff games.
Darcy Kuemper	Red Deer (WHL)	62	3685	1.86	45-12-5	114	0.933	He has improved upon is remarkable regular season by starting the WHL playoffs 3-0-0 with a 1.67 GAA and a .946 SV%. Ranks 1st in the WHL in wins, GAA, SV% and shutouts. Named CHL Goalie of the Week for the period of 10/4-10/10, 11/29-12/5, and 1/10-1/16. Named WHL Player of the Week for period of 1/10-1/16 and WHL Goalie of the Month for January.

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Comments

Chuck can build us a team, we just have to give him time

I’m very excited to see Zucker, Granlund, and Mikko #2 play for the Wild, hopefully its sooner rather than later

But I don’t see much happening with our team next year, at least not until we can get rid of the bad contracts on our team…..Backstrom, Kobasew, barker, and so on.

by Brandon Godward on Mar 29, 2011 7:51 PM CDT reply actions

add Bouchard's horrible contract

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by GWST11 on Mar 29, 2011 8:52 PM CDT up reply actions

Backstrom and Bouchard

Not bad contracts. At all. Backstrom, while he’s been shaky lately, is also the reason we stayed in the race for so long and Bouchard was the shot in the arm the team needed this year and always scores important clutch goals. The only thing that made his contract bad was the year and a half long injury, but that’s dead and gone and PMB is playing great hockey.

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by JSLandry on Mar 30, 2011 12:06 AM CDT up reply actions

Neither are terrible contracts,

but neither are good contracts either. Both are a overpaid, both based on the current market and in the market when they signed their contracts. Still, both players are important to the team and it’s success, and signing them to long term contracts with good money made sense.

I think that if Bouchard had been fully healthy these past two years, and the ability to fully adjust and play within Richards’ more open system, Bouchard’s contract would probably be a bit of a deal. That injury cost Butch a chance to see if he could make it as a center or even a shot at a top scoring line.

by Krotz the Wall on Mar 30, 2011 8:28 AM CDT up reply actions

Kobasew is done this year. Barker, you’re stuck with. RFA even when his deal is up after next year.

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by BReynolds on Mar 29, 2011 10:03 PM CDT up reply actions

I think the Wild so go get Zucker signed now!!!

by Eric B on Mar 29, 2011 9:59 PM CDT reply actions

Not crazy about Backstrom

I honestly feel this team could win without Backstrom, even tho he “can” be a great goalie. I don’t think he should be in the same conversation as the Millers, Thomas’s, and Broduer’s of the world.

If we could spend the 6 mil we pay him a year on offense, we would be able to sign paraise or somebody worth watching

we would do just as well with harding or theodore starting……..or bring back rolson

by Brandon Godward on Mar 30, 2011 8:14 AM CDT reply actions

Tell that to the Avs, Senators, Flyers or any of the other teams that have had a rotating cast of goalies the past 5-10 years because they can’t find one thats any good. But your right, lets go with the goalie who has had two major hip injuries in two seasons, or the 35/38 year goaltenders as our everyday goalies. No way that could blow up.

by ThatGuy22 on Mar 30, 2011 8:28 AM CDT up reply actions

To be completely accurate...

Harding has missed the season because he tore his knee up, ACL and MCL. Theodore is 34. Backstrom is 33 and is the one who has had surgery on his hips this last offseason.

$6 million is a lot of money to spend on Backstrom a year, mostly because we didn’t have to lure him as a free agent. It is a general consensus that Riser messed up that negotiation by waiting far, far too long to even start the conversation. Of course, we’re only talking maybe upwards of a $1 million more a year… and that’s not so very highly limiting to the Wild. I’m very glad that Backstrom is the Wild’s starting goalie (unless it’s a shootout) and signed for a couple more years. He’s a steady hand, and he’ll be a good mentor to the young guys in the system.

No, the really bad contract was that Parrish contract. Paying almost a $1 million a year for a guy several years removed from the team is awful. I personally really disliked the Zidlicky contract. I just can’t agree that he’s worth $4 million a year. Thankfully, the Johnsson contract got off the books last year. He was a very solid puck moving D man, and very good at the break out, but he was being paid like a top scoring d man.

What is really hurting the Wild’s bottom line is the fact that we’ve had no young guys, prospects, step up and perform at a high level. Those are the guys that don’t get paid nearly as much who help the team’s budget go further.

by Krotz the Wall on Mar 30, 2011 8:53 AM CDT up reply actions

Just remember, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one, some people just like to show theirs.

The funny thing is, Backstrom is up there with the Millers, the Thomas’s & the Broduer’s. His stats are comparable & he is on a more offensively challenged team. Like him or not he is a good goaltender, he is being paid what the good goalies are. Before you throw Nabokov out there he could never bring home the bacon & there is no guarantee that Backstrom will be able to either but he also has not had the chance. For that matter Thomas & Miller have not either.

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by FightingWild on Mar 30, 2011 8:55 AM CDT up reply actions

At least Harding can win in OT

I’m not hating on Backstrom, I just feel he is to inconsistent. And I have always been impressed with Harding, plus theo and even dooby have looked great with the wild this year.

and yes all of our defensmen are making a shit load of money. This needs to change, but I’m not sure how

by Brandon Godward on Mar 30, 2011 9:30 PM CDT reply actions