Making the X a more intimidating place
by Brandon Godward on Mar 24, 2012 12:35 PM CDT
After seeing how rowdy the X can get at the final 5 tournament a few days ago, I've stumbled upon a question.
Why isn't the X a more intimidating arena to play in, in regards to the our Minnesota Wild?
good evening, hw.
by Justin Azevedo 2 on Mar 21, 2012 1:26 AM CDT
my name is justin azevedo. you may know me as that dickhead editor from matchsticks and gasoline, sbn's calgary flames site. in an effort to try to reconcile the image of your fanbase that I have in my head to where the fanbase stands in reality, I am putting this thread up and I would appreciate it if you would answer a couple of questions for me.
first, what is the current feeling of the community when it comes to advanced statistics? second, are there people here who seek to belittle the importance of advanced statistics in evaluating players simply because they don't understand the methodology behind them or the purpose of them? third, are there ways the advanced statistical community can improve the relationship between those who value advanced stats and those who don't?
questions for me about my stance on any of these things, who I am personally or whatever else may come to mind are encouraged.
I seek to keep this peaceful as for the most part we over at m&g are free of malicious trolls and I feel as though it would be unacceptable for me to bring that attitude to another site. I am using this account in case I say something stupid, as having my main account banned would be a pain in the ass.
I look forward to the open dialogue we are about to participate in.
MN Wild's 2012 Draft Pick Watch #6: Free Fallin' and Three's a Callin
by Krotz the Wall on Mar 15, 2012 8:57 AM CDT
I have to get this out a day earlier than I would like as I'll be away from a computer for the better part of the next 5 or 6 days. Still, there are plenty of interesting story lines and bottom of the league movement to talk about.
When i started this thing, 6 weeks ago, when the Wild had just fallen out of a playoff position, most people scoffed at the idea of the Wild ending up with a top 5 pick. The common sentiment is that there were just too many truly lousy teams bellow the Wild in the standings. The Wild have gone down, down, down, through that burning ring of mediocrity and landed flop in the middle of a pile of lousy themselves (injury aided, of course).
After the jump, lets take a look at the suddenly extremely close draft position rankings. Crappy teams have never been so interesting to follow before.
Introducing the Parise Possibility Points System: An Epic Parise Post
by cyroose on Mar 9, 2012 1:30 PM CST
Since watching the Wild has been boring and depressing recently, I would like to think about something else. How about Zach Parise? I know the Hockey Wilderness team did a post recently about the Wild's chances to sign Parise or Suter during the offseason (link here), but I wanted to expand the post to look at which other teams Parise might sign with.
Now I know that the only person who knows where Parise will sign next year is Zach himself. But that won't stop me from speculating! So while I am avoiding work, I thought it would be fun to give each team that might sign Parise a percent chance of signing him. By the way, if you have any ideas to improve this post, lemme know and I'll edit it!
To do this, I started by taking a look at each team's cap space this year on Capgeek. I eliminated any team which is currently close to the salary cap, thinking that even if they have a lot of contracts off the books next year, they will be focused on re-signing their own talent. So Philly, Calgary, Vancouver, Washington, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boston, Montreal and Toronto are out of the running. Then I did the opposite and looked at teams that are currently close to the cap floor right now (figuring they also don't have the cash for a big contract). This eliminated Colorado, New York Islanders, Dallas, Carolina, Nashville, Ottawa, Winnipeg, St. Louis, and Phoenix (duh!).
Then I went through the list of team's left, and gave each team a rating out of 10 in the following categories: the team's financial Ability to pay Parise's salary, the attractiveness of the city / climate, how much the Team needs Parise and how well he would fit in their roster, and how good the team is. Let's get to the results!
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MN Wild's 2012 Draft Pick Watch #5: Winning! ... at losing (and analysis)
by Krotz the Wall on Mar 9, 2012 10:01 AM CST
The end of this Icarus season is within site. The Wild on their wax wings flew high, ever so high, and found that the #1 team in the NHL really can melt your wings right off... you know when you can't find scoring wings or a center to put on the ice. Anyway, the Wild spent most of this week sitting in the 6th draft position, before winning in a shootout last night. The trajectory for this team has remained mostly the same. They are losing a lot, scoring almost not at all, and finding new and interesting ways to rush new players to the team to cover injuries.
After the jump, let's take a look at the current draft chart, make some basic analysis, and then, for the first time, I invite us to really start looking at draft position, team needs, and players that you'd like to see the Wild draft with a certain realism.
Next year's possible lines.
by wild4life on Mar 7, 2012 11:08 PM CST
2012-2013 Dream Team
by joco0501 on Mar 3, 2012 2:57 PM CST
Parise(8M) – Koivu(6.75M) – Heatley(7.5M)
Setoguchi(3M) – Granlund(3.5M) – Coyle(1M)
Larsson(900K) – Brodziak(2.83M) – Bulmer(900K)
Johnson(? 525K) – Powe(1.06M) – Palmeri(? 525K) ???
Kassian(550K), Bouchard(4.08m) (see *ideas)
Gilbert(4M) – Carle(5M)
Cowen(1.26M) – Spurgeon(526K)
Brodin(1.475M) – Rundblad(1.5M)
Prosser(825K)
Backstrom(6M)
Hackett(900K)
Total Salary Cap Hit
62.605M + 1.468M (buyouts) = 64.073M
Trades
1. Cullen + 1st 2013 pick to Phoenix for David Rundblad. Reason: Granlund would be a more dynamic second line center to give us a better 1 – 2 punch up the middle of the ice. This reduces Cullen’s role with Brodziak and Powe locked into the bottom six positions. Phoenix may want Cullen for his two way style as it would replace Daymond Langkow next year and give them: Hanzel, Vermette and Cullen up the middle next year. They would also be gambling that we would tank next year.
The idea of having a young pairing of Brodin and Rundblad seems like it would make a solid mix of: skating, puck moving, and acceptable defensive responsibility; Brodin adapting to the more stay at home while Rundblad being the more offensive option.
2. Clutterbuck + Scandella for Jared Cowen and 2nd (either Phoenix’s or Ottawa’s, whichever is available) 2012 pick. Reason: If we truly believe in Jared Spurgeon’s abilities and want him to be part of this team for years to come why not try and reunite him with the guy he played 3 years of Junior hockey with. I can only imagine that this would be a defensive improvement over Marco Scandella, while introducing the grit and size we would be losing from letting Stoner and Faulk walk. It seems like a lot to give up Clutter but from what I’ve seen of Brett Bulmer he may be able to easily replace the agitator role that he brings to the table. Also giving up Scandella to Ottawa replaces the defensive prospect they would be losing in Cowen. Having two second rounders would be nice this year.
This would put a lot of pressure on the third line clicking but I have faith in the character of all three players that they will be able to make it happen.
Free Agency
1. Zach Parise – I think Fletcher is going to make an all out assault to land Parise this off season. Leipold wants the Winter Classic and what better way to do that than with star power players. Parise wants to be the “go-to-guy,” meaning being the highest paid player, (actual salaries for next year for Koivu (5,400,000), Heatley (6,000,000), as compared to Kovalchuk’s 11,000,000 for the next five years provide this opportunity)) and being the most relied upon to generate offense. Offer a long term (10 year if you have to) contract aiming for a cap hit around 8,000,000
2. Matt Carle – We need an NHL caliber top pairing shutdown defensemen and after the trades for Grossman and Kubina you’ve got to imagine Matt Carle’s days in Philly are done. I would be happy to see him paired with Gilbert for a puck moving tandem capable of doing a decent job of maintain the opponents top two lines. I am also happy with the pairing because I feel Cowen and Spurgeon would be good at shutting down top lines as well. I would not mind seeing Carle around for 4 to 5 years either to a 4 to 5 year deal at a cap hit of 5,000,000 seems reasonable.
Ideas
1. Either hold onto PMB to see if he heals and is ready to play or decide that once he gets healthy buyout his contract. If he is not healthy all of next year we could put him onto LTIR. I’m not convinced too many teams would be asking about him if he was playing to make a trade with. We need to rid ourselves with injury prone players. If he is healthy and ready to go he could be inserted anywhere in the top 6 though.
2. Draft RW Sebastian Collberg of Frolunda HC (Sweden) in the first round of the 2012 entry draft. From what I saw in the WJC this kid has the speed and intensity to eventually play a top 6 role in today’s NHL. He may be a bit of a project but the he’s got a hell of a lot of heart.
3. Have solid offensive prospects all developing together in Houston and available for call up next year for LW (Zucker), C (Phillips), RW (Collberg), Actually not sure if Collberg would turn pro next year but he is the guy I want in this year’s draft.
4. I’m really not sure about the fourth line but these things tend to work themselves out over training camp
5. Do not tender Latendresse a new contract
MN Wild's 2012 Draft Pick Watch: Update #4 (worst possible scenario)
by Krotz the Wall on Mar 2, 2012 9:06 AM CST
We have entered that part of the season that I like to call the FOG. The Wild seem lost and flailing about. As is always the case, the team seems to not be able to see a clear direction to pursue. This past week has seen the Wild do just enough to stay ahead of those teams just behind them but also lose just a little bit more ground in the playoff chase. Yet, the team is still talking playoffs, and I'm sure that we'll see Koivu come back some time in the last two weeks of the season, and perhaps spark two or three wins to close things out, and the talking points will be about missed opportunities and missing players down the stretch. We shall see, and I'm sure we'll have a discussion about it in the weeks to come.
Anyway, the Wild won against a pretty bad San Jose team, made an interesting trade, lost embarrassingly against the Kings, and looked terrible but somehow came back and managed to get a point against the worst team in the East. After the break, we'll break down the draft spot chart, and talk a bit about the trends.
What route do we go at the draft?
by wild4life on Feb 29, 2012 2:41 PM CST
After a few years of building up depth in forward prospects, the Wild have suddenly run into a wall on defense. More after the jump.
MN Wild's 2012 Draft Pick Watch: Update #3 (Still in the hunt for wins)
by Krotz the Wall on Feb 24, 2012 8:14 AM CST
Hello, welcome the third update of the MN Wild's weekly Draft Pick watch. The past week featured a big win over Boston and an even rarer occurrence... a SO win that featured not only a PP goal but also Backstrom with a perfect SO. Crazy things happen this time of year. Talking about crazy check out those Blue Jackets... they've now undersold both Antoine Vermette and, yesterday, Jeff Carter.
Well, after the jump lets take a look at this weeks draft pick standings. You'll notice that things haven't changed much, with the exception of Tampa Bay cooling off and starting to sell, and Columbus trying to convince the world that they found a shortcut to the other side of the world... to a competitive hockey team... by selling Jeff Carter for Jack Johnson and what will likely be a 12th to 18th draft pick.
