70 replies to this topic

[CheliFan89]

Honestly yes...Thier team is at it's best point right now...They have most of their lineup from last year and have added the bobsie twins...their window is in the first three years to win a Cup...they have to re-sign Backstrom after the season, Clutterbuck too. Heatley and Gucchi will be in the last year of their contracts and will be looking for hefty raises. Cullen and Bouchard are also due up next July...their team can get way worse in three - four years. I think if they don't win a Cup within 3 years, then team will be in anther rebuild session in 5 years (especially considering the way ownership gives up on young players too soon) and that is when I believe Suter gets divorced and unfriends Parise from facebook because he will blame his wife's family and Parise for his stupid mistake...Parise will hang in there, because he doesn't care to win...if he did he'd be in Pittsburgh right now...

Heatley is making $7.5M the next two seasons. He's turning 32 and has consistently declined in points since his first year with the Sharks. No way should he be getting a raise. Either way they'll have prospects they'll have to pay and pretty much screwed themselves out of signing any other quality players

[Danielsm]

They do have some really nice young talent in Granlund and Brodin so if they can keep developing their prospect they might be really dangerous in a couple of years.

I cannot wait until they all become UFAs and they cannot afford to sign them.

[centcougar07]

I cannot wait until they all become UFAs and they cannot afford to sign them.

$19Million coming off the books next year. $36Million in cap space the following year and $54Million the year after that. Even if Heatley is resigned, which is a big if, it'll be at a discounted price. There's no way he's going to be making more than Parise and Suter. If he wants to stay, he'll need to take a big discount. The prospects' contracts are going to be staggered. They only start one the player has over 9 NHL games under his belt. 2 or 3 prospects might make the roster this fall. 3 or 4 the following year and the last few the year after that. They are going to be RFA's in separate years, which is going to make it really easy for Chuck to resign them. There will be plenty of space to resign all the prospects after their entry level deals are done. No worries at all.

[RedFX]

They'll, without a doubt, be strong competitors. But you're right, I don't exactly see them as runaway contenders at this point. There are still too many holes both at forward and at defense. When you look at some of the prospects in the system though, there's potential for a bright future there. Just not this year.

[Z Winged Dangler]

$19Million coming off the books next year. $36Million in cap space the following year and $54Million the year after that. Even if Heatley is resigned, which is a big if, it'll be at a discounted price. There's no way he's going to be making more than Parise and Suter. If he wants to stay, he'll need to take a big discount. The prospects' contracts are going to be staggered. They only start one the player has over 9 NHL games under his belt. 2 or 3 prospects might make the roster this fall. 3 or 4 the following year and the last few the year after that. They are going to be RFA's in separate years, which is going to make it really easy for Chuck to resign them. There will be plenty of space to resign all the prospects after their entry level deals are done. No worries at all.

Then they can sign enough good dmen to have a proper top 4 and not pay Gilbert $4mil? Don't forget, Backstrom also makes $6mil and Koivu over $6mil and they're not gonna take the pay cut that Heatley will have to take to remain with the team. The bottom 6 depts is not that great and they have 3 good dmen now that Suter's there. As good as the prospect pool is, they have to wait a couple years to get them in there because of all the plugs that are signed. And Setoguchi will probably ask for a raise too when his contract is up.

Either way you look at it, i don't believe that the Wild will have a line-up solid enough top to bottom to make it even to the WCF.

[StormJH1]

I have lived in Minnesota for the last 9 years and actually have followed the Wild as a "2nd team", so I've seen and followed more of this team than most. This fan base is very knowledgeable about the sport of hockey, but extremely delusional and under-informed about the NHL (in my opinion). Jacque Lemaire and Doug Risebrough (former GM) did this fan base a great disservice by ushering in a boring trap style of hockey for years, which was especially ill-equipped to deal with the post-lockout style of play.

If the question is whether this Wild team scares me, the answer is "no", at least not any more than any other playoff contender in the West. After being the hottest team in the NHL through December, this team was TERRIBLE for the rest of the year. And they didn't even have a sufficient excuse. They entered last season with the lowest payroll on defense in the league ($14 million, IIRC) and they are still young, undersized, and lacking depth. They swapped Schultz for Gilbert, but neither of those guys are legitimate Top 2 defensemen. Suter obviously gives them a centerpiece, but keep in mind that virtually everything he did was with the assistance of Shea Weber playing next to him. Defensemen, like goaltenders, are extremely vulnerable to their situation, and while Suter is very good (and I wanted him on the Wings), I don't think he's a Pronger or Chara-like building block that can completely turn around a defense. We'll see.

The Wild are now up against the cap and have the most expensive forward corps in the NHL. That's unbelievable to me. The problem is that there are some pretty bad long-term contracts in there (Koivu $6.7 mil, Heatley $7.5 mil, PMB $4 mil). Heck, even $3 or $3.5 mil for Setoguchi and Cullen is a bit much for what you get. They get some more of those deals off the books next offseason, and Mikael Granlund is expected to be star quickly, but we haven't SEEN any of these young guys produce in the NHL yet.

I think you could fairly say that the Minnesota Wild are "better positioned for the future" than the Detroit Red Wings right now. But keep in mind that the Minnesota Wild have done nothing BUT position themselves for the future since Fletcher took over as GM, since they have failed to put a winning team on the ice during that time.

I think they could potentially be a team with a lot of firepower, but until they've established some kind (any kind) of track record, I wouldn't bet them against Detroit. Their defense is still garbage. Even with Suter, I don't think I would trade their unit for ours, and Detroit has obvious problems in that department.

[StormJH1]

Then they can sign enough good dmen to have a proper top 4 and not pay Gilbert $4mil? Don't forget, Backstrom also makes $6mil and Koivu over $6mil and they're not gonna take the pay cut that Heatley will have to take to remain with the team. The bottom 6 depts is not that great and they have 3 good dmen now that Suter's there. As good as the prospect pool is, they have to wait a couple years to get them in there because of all the plugs that are signed. And Setoguchi will probably ask for a raise too when his contract is up.

Either way you look at it, i don't believe that the Wild will have a line-up solid enough top to bottom to make it even to the WCF.

This is a good point. This organization has made some terrible decisions not just in the draft and in their long-term deals, but also in the ticky-tack 3rd and 4th liners they sign to these multi-year deals, at the expense of using organization guys for less money and less commitment. It's not that guys like Kyle Brodziak and Torrey Mitchell are bad players. They might even help the Wild improve this year. The point is that they aren't appreciably better than the young players or other veterans you could have used for $1.5 million or less. And I'm sorry, but just because you pay guys like Heatley and Koivu superstar money does not mean they are superstars.

They need to hand this team over to Parise now and continue the rebuild with this new talent. I agree that paying (and playing) guys like Mitchell and Konopka is counter productive when this team should be focusing on developing Granlund, Coyle, Phillips, Palmieri and a bunch of other guys before it comes time for THEIR big pay day.

[Johnz96]

Sure we have a weak D on paper as it stands. But they might just pleasantly surprise us. Look at 2007-08 and 2008-09:

07-08 we had 257GF and 184GA, won SC.
08-09 we had 295GF and 244GA, lost in SCF.

The point is that in 09 we had Lidstrom and Stuart, and some of the other guys we have now but our D still sucked. And we still almost won the cup (BS imo).

Hard to believe we won it in 07-08 when our O sucked

[Pskov Wings Fan]

The Wild are now up against the cap and have the most expensive forward corps in the NHL. That's unbelievable to me. The problem is that there are some pretty bad long-term contracts in there (Koivu $6.7 mil, Heatley $7.5 mil, PMB $4 mil).

Heatley and PMB are overpaid. Koivu on the other hand is worth the money.

[HadThomasVokounOnFortSt]

Come on they have Cal Clusterf***

[Ekmanc]

We should trade for their prospect Brodin, he is EXACTLLY what we need...

Edited by Ekmanc, 09 July 2012 - 10:06 AM.