Wild and NHL Musings
Well, a lot has happened since last we met, so I figured I’d better just tackle the slew of it in one fell swoop. I’ll be looking at some NHL news too, but mostly Wild news.
Before we get into my Wild musings, let’s take a look at the big story to hit in the NHL today.
Arbitrator Voids Kovalchuk’s Contract
This is going to be a very contentious topic, methinks, so I’ll just dive headfirst into it.
Arbitrator Richard Bloch has ruled against the NHLPA’s grievance and upheld the NHL’s decision to reject Ilya Kovlachuk’s 17-year, $102 million contract with the New Jersey Devils.
One reason for the rejection that Bloch cited was Kovalchuk’s age at the end of the contract:
“Kovalchuk is 27 years old, and the agreement contemplates his playing until just short of his 44th birthday. … Currently, only one player in the league has played past 43 and, over the past 20 years only 6 of some 3400 players have played to 42.”
Bloch also stated that this could be grounds for rejection of such contracts as Roberto Luongo, Marc Savard and Chris Pronger. Also mentioned was the contract of Marian Hossa though, as Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog states, it seems unlikely that the league would target Hossa’s contract for rejection as he has already played a season under the new contract.
Now, I first need to say that I don’t believe that there is any precedent for this decision. The notion that Kovalchuk is any less likely to be playing the game at the age of 44 as Hossa is at the age of 42 is, in my mind, absurd.
Yes, only one player has played past the age of 43, but citing that Hossa is more likely to play until 42 because six out of 3,400 players have done so is ridiculous.
That being said, I think that the arbitrator made the absolute right decision in this case, siding with the NHL.
Yes, there was no precedent to do so but the NHL had to stand up and make a stand on this issue at some point. They didn’t have guts to do it with Hossa or Pronger or Luongo, but finally found it in themselves to do so and it’s long past time that they did.
Teams are going to continue to try and exploit this loophole in the CBA, but at least this gives the NHL some basis for when to say when on future contracts.
Madden Signs With Minnesota
Don’t worry. He’s not going to try to sell you any tough actin’ Tinactin. He won’t say Boom! (at least not all the time) and he won’t give you some overly complicated explanation about some overly simple football concept.
Congratulations! You are number one million to make that joke about John Madden!
Alright. All kidding aside, I love the signing of Madden. He’s a strong two-way player and the type of player that the Wild has been sorely missing since the retirement of Wes Walz.
Look. Madden’s not going to score 20 goals (he’s done so just twice in his 11 season career), nor is he going to star on our top two lines. What he will do, however, is give the Wild another reliable penalty killer, a checking-line forward capable of shutting down teams’ top lines and a leader on and off the ice.
What this also does is create competition at the center position.
Here is our depth chart at center, as it stands (and, to one Ryan Lambert of Puck Daddy and Two-Line Pass, this is off the top of my head and without looking at a roster). Those in bold and italics are the ones guaranteed a roster spot:
Mikko Koivu
Matt Cullen
John Madden
Kyle Brodziak
James Sheppard
Casey Wellman
Colton Gillies
So, what you can see here are seven centers for four full-time positions. It’s not out of the realm of reason that one of the four (most likely Brodziak) would be moved to the wing, so you essentially have three players vying for one position.
In my opinion, the player for the job is Colton Gillies.
Gillies is fleet of foot, he’s big, he’s physical and he has demonstrated a limited offensive upside. This would allow Wellman a year of development in the AHL and Sheppard one to get his confidence about him as well.
After the way Gillies performed in camp last season, I thought he would be a shoo-in for the big squad, but he instead struggled through a season in the AHL. It may be time for him to show what he can do.
What About Butch?
I had a friend ask me a question the other day about whether or not I thought Bouchard would play this season and, if he did, would he even be effective.
I thought it a good enough question to stick it into here.
First question, will Butch play this season?
My answer to that is most definitely yes.
It might not be at the beginning of the season, but he will play. He’s started exercising, he’s lifting weights and he’s feeling better, so whether it’s in October or in December, he will play this season.
The next part of the question, however, is the most important. Will he be effective?
My personal opinion is that he will.
One of the biggest hindrances in returning from a concussion is getting used to the contact once again. There’s trepidation when going into the corners, when going to the tough areas on the ice.
That’s also the biggest problem I’ve always had with Bouchard, as well.
He’s rarely gone into the corners and rarely gone into the tough areas on the ice. Bouchard is, primarily, a perimeter player. He is at his best when creating plays on the outside for players going to the net and a concussion shouldn’t change this.
This isn’t to say that Bouchard won’t have a readjustment period of some sort when he returns, but I think he will largely come back as the same player that he was before which is both a blessing and a curse for Wild fans.
Wild Scratch Koivu’s 7-Year Itch; Sign Center to Blockbuster Extension
The last remaining drama of the Minnesota Wild’s off season is over.
The Wild have signed their franchise player, captain Mikko Koivu to a seven-year contract worth $6.75 million per season, plus a bunch of signing bonuses that add up to be about the GNP of a third-world country and a full no-trade clause.
I’ll be completely honest with my assessment here—I love this deal with the exception of the term.
As many of you know, I’m not a huge long-term contract type of guy. I would have preferred to see the Wild sign Koivu for four or five years as opposed to the seven that he got.
That being said, you won’t hear me complain one bit.
Here’s the deal. The Wild were going to have to pay to keep Koivu around.
Yes, he wanted to be here. Yes, he was convinced that the Wild are headed in the right direction. But the Wild still were going to have to pay.
But the thing is that this deal isn’t actually as outlandish as many are portraying it as.
Yes, Koivu has a larger cap hit than Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Backstrom, Jonathan Toews and Henrik Sedin. Yes, his stats may not necessarily define him as a “superstar” type player but, then again, neither have Toews’.
In fact, Koivu has put up better numbers than Toews over the last few seasons with less talent surrounding him—something that likely was at the forefront of these discussions when comparables were involved.
What Koivu brings to the squad, however, is so much more than just numbers-based value.
The fact of the matter is that the Wild would be lost without their captain. Koivu is the cornerstone of their team at even strength, on the penalty kill and on the powerplay.
The Wild’s offense not only runs through Koivu, but their forecheck and backcheck does as well.
As Fletcher said on his conference call, “To define Mikko by his statistics is to miss the point of what he’s all about.”
That is one-hundred percent true.
Of course, there are certain expectations that the Wild and their fans will likely have from Koivu that have to do with numbers.
He’s been the team’s best player over the last two years and has made huge steps in his development each year—something that will be expected to continue.
But, it’s not all sunshine and roses for the Wild after this signing.
The team is now faced with the stark reality that, with Koivu’s new contract in tow, Minnesota has just under $9 million in cap space heading into the 2011-12 season and just 17 players under contract.
Looking at their expiring contracts for next season, there are likely only two players that they’re going to want to look at retaining, both of whom are restricted free agents, but either way Chuck Fletcher will have to work some of his magic to improve the Wild—something that he’s quite familiar with from last season.
When it comes down to it, the Wild did what needed to be done to keep Koivu.
His camp wanted seven years, they gave him seven years. His camp wanted $7 million per year, they gave him $6.75 million per year. What’s more is that they got this contract done before the season started, not allowing the distraction of contract talks to loom over what will likely already be a difficult season for the team.
Keeping that in mind, it’s easy to see why the negotiations between the two sides were as amicable as they were all the way through.
Just like his brother, Mikko Koivu is a captain through and through and, apart from being one heck of a hockey player, is one-hundred percent pure class.
Some Off Season Wild Notes
Well, let’s face it. It’s the off season.
We’re on day ten of Kovie Watch 2010, with no signs of anything happening anytime soon and free agency news has slowed to a trickle. So what’s a hockey fan to do?
Make news out of nothing? We’re not in that business here.
So, let’s just take a look at some of the goings on around the Wild.
Modano Interested in Wild?
Well, it’s amazing how much difference a few weeks makes.
First, the Dallas Stars decided that they don’t want to let Mike Modano “Brett Farve” them until the season starts. Then, the rampant speculation starts in Minnesota.
Let’s be honest with ourselves here. For whatever reason, Wild fans have some sort of sick obsession with Minnesota hockey players.
For whatever reason, anytime anyone with ties to Minnesota is available, fans start frothing at the mouth and when Modano became available the sharks began circling.
Immediately, however, all of the speculation was squashed.
It wasn’t the right fit. The Wild were in the running for a number-two center and Modano, at this stage in his career, isn’t that.
But, what do you know. The Wild suddenly want some insurance in case James Sheppard doesn’t step up his game or in case Casey Wellman isn’t ready to play in the NHL.
But, is this the right way for the Wild to go?
If Modano is willing to take a lesser roll with the team, then yes it is.
Modano still has a little bit of tread left on the tires, but he isn’t a top-six forward at this stage in his career—at least, he wasn’t with the Stars.
What signing Modano would do is give the Wild some insurance up the middle.
So, say Matt Cullen doesn’t fit with G-Lat and Havlat. Or Sheppard doesn’t step up to the challenge of making the team. Or they feel that Wellman would be best served to be in the AHL. Well, then they’ve got Modano, who is one heck of a contingency plan.
Cap Situation
As of right now, the Wild find themselves in an interesting situation in net.
They have about $3.5 million in cap space with Josh Harding left to sign in order to fill out their roster.
So, that means that they’ll likely have about $1 to $1.5 million left over once that happens.
So what does this mean? Are we done?
Like Russo, I tend to think not. I can’t imagine that the Wild wouldn’t be looking for another defenseman.
It sounds like Fletcher might be thinking the same thing, as there are rumblings that the Wild have had talks with Willie Mitchell.
The problem with that is that Mitchell will likely command more than the Wild have left, so someone will have to go.
But who?
Right now, the obvious candidate is James Sheppard, but there are others that wouldn’t surprise me, especially at forward.
The most likely forward other than Sheppard, however, is Antti Miettinen. Mittens has performed admirably on the team’s first line, but he just doesn’t seem to fit anywhere on the team. In each situation, there seems to be a player who could potentially do the job better than he.
Combine that with his size, or lack thereof, and you can see that he could very well be shopped around this season.
What Does Endras Signing Mean?
Well, in the short run, nothing.
Dennis Endras will go ply his trade overseas again and likely will then come to the team next season.
What the signing of Endras does do, however, is create competition among the Wild’s goaltenders.
Next season, it’s going to be Matthew Hackett and Anton Khudobin in Houston, with Darcy Keumper likely heading back to Red Deer.
The season after, however? The Wild are going to have a four-way battle to see who will be taking over in the back up role for either Josh Harding or Niklas Backstrom.
Now, I say Harding or Backstrom, because I don’t know that Fletcher and Richards have ruled out the possibility of moving Nik if it comes to that.
Harding is younger and has shown some significant signs of improvement over the last couple seasons.
Backstrom, though he has gotten a bit of a bad rap for his performance last season, is still Backstrom. He’s nowhere near as bad as he looked at times last season and, in my opinion, is still a top-ten goalie in this league.
So, the signing of Endras is both a depth move as well as one to spark something in the goaltenders and make them work for their jobs—both of which are good things to be sure.
For more of Blake’s work, you can follow him at the Bleacher Report and Hockey Primetime, as well as on his Twitter feed.
Updated: Wild Signs Cullen, Nystrom
I’ll have more to come later, but I just wanted to toss this up really quick that the Wild have signed center Matt Cullen to a three-year deal, worth an average of $3.5 million per-year and with a modified no-trade clause and forward Eric Nystrom to a three-year deal, worth an average of $1.4 million per-year.
Update:
Day one of the official off season is in the books and, boy, was it a doozy for the Wild.
Two players, two needs filled and the general manager already saying that the team might be done? Man, that’s got to be a good day at the office.
Before I get into the players the Wild signed, let’s look at that last statement—the Wild might be done with free agency.
First of all, the all-seeing, all-knowing Mike Russo said that Fletcher was comfortable with the six defensemen that the team has.
That means that he’s also comfortable with either Nate Prosser or Marco Scandella being the team’s number seven d-men.
So, let’s look at this.
Fletcher is comfortable with their number six defenseman being an injury-prone rookie and the other option being either a rookie defenseman with three NHL games under his belt or another with none?
I don’t buy it—at least not for someone who is as in depth about his planning as Fletcher.
Here’s the deal. Stoner definitely deserves a shot to show what he’s got, especially with his impressive cup of coffee with the team last season.
But Prosser and Scandella? You can’t tell me that they’d be better served playing 25-35 games in the NHL than playing a full schedule in the AHL.
So what does that add up to?
Maybe a restricted free agent allowed to go to free agency, maybe a veteran defenseman. Who knows. But the fact is that it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if the Wild aren’t done.
But, enough with my ramblings about the status of their free agency period—on to the signings at hand.
First and foremost, there’s Matt Cullen.
This was the player that the Wild wanted heading into free agency and they certainly got him.
He’s fast, he’s gritty, he’s skilled—in other words, he’s everything that the team wanted from Andrew Ebbett, only with more offensive upside.
The 33-year old center from Virginia, Minnesota has scored 15-plus goals five times in his career and has scored 40-plus points seven times, including the last five seasons.
He plays a solid two-way game, he can play the point on the power play and he’s played in 63-plus playoff games and won the Stanley Cup, which is something that no one else on the Wild’s roster can claim.
What’s even better is that he can win face offs.
Following Cullen was gritty forward, Eric Nystrom.
Nystrom is young (27) and he’s a character player that can hit. Fletcher has stressed that he wants the team to get younger, faster and stronger and Nystrom did just that.
I’m a little concerned with the amount of money that the Wild spent on Nystrom, but as Russo said Nystrom is in the prime of his career, which is why Fletcher was likely willing to commit the term and money that he did with Nystrom.
Nystrom comes to the Wild having scored a career high 11 goals and 18 points last season for Calgary.
Now I don’t mean to be cynical about the signing, but I’m really not crazy about it.
The good news is that both Fletcher and Nystrom feel like he hasn’t quite tapped into his offensive potential, of which he obviously has some (he scored 32 points in 38 games for the Michigan Wolverines in his last season of college hockey).
So where do he signings of Cullen and Nystrom leave the Wild?
Well, the Wild have about $3.5 million in cap room left, without the eventual re-signing of Josh Harding.
In other words, they very well could be done.
So, with those signings, this is what the Wild’s depth chart could look like:
Andrew Brunette/Mikko Koivu/Pierre-Marc Bouchard (if healthy)
Guillaume Latendresse/Matt Cullen/Martin Havlat
Chuck Kobasew/Kyle Brodziak/Antti Miettinen
Eric Nystrom/James Sheppard/Cal Clutterbuck
Extras: Casey Wellman, Cody Almond, Colton Gillies
Greg Zanon/Marek Zidlicky
Brent Burns/Nick Schultz
Cam Barker/Clayton Stoner
Extras: Nate Prosser, Marco Scandella
Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding
When you look at it, this is a team that is looking more and more like they could be competitive this season.
HockeyPrimetime Live: Free Agency Frenzy
It’s almost here! Christmas in July for hockey fans.
Join myself, Justin Bourne, Denis Gorman and all the other usual suspects for a live blog today, starting at 10 a.m. Central time.
The Minnesota Wild Season in Review Part 5 of 5: Looking Ahead
Well, it’s taken a lot longer than I’d expected, but here we are—part five of my five part season in review.
I’ve looked at the season on a whole, the forwards, the defense, the goaltenders, the management and now it’s time to take a look ahead to what this off season could bring.
The Wild have a long shopping list for this off season and not a whole lot of money to shop with. They currently have 17 players under contract and have restricted free agents Guillaume Latendresse and Josh Harding yet to sign.
Their shopping list will likely include another defenseman and at least one more forward, but likely two, just to be safe.
So, let’s look at what the team needs, shall we?
The first need that the team will try to address, for sure, will be another stay-at-home, shutdown defenseman. With six defensemen under contract and approximately $16.6 million allotted to these defensemen it’s hard to believe that the Wild will go out and spend on a top-flight free agent blueliner.
What I can see, however, is the Wild spending anywhere between one and two million on a defenseman that is reliable, but not flashy—someone that they can pair with their more aggressive, offensive defensemen.
The problem is that there aren’t too many players available with that description for that price tag.
Possible Targets: Milan Jurcina, Brett Lebda, Kurtis Foster
Another need that the team desperately needs is a second line center.
The Wild do already have someone within their organization that they are hoping will fit this bill in Pierre-Marc Bouchard.
The big question about Butch, however, is his health. While he has been cleared to begin light exercising, Bouchard is still experiencing many post-concussion symptoms.
With that being the case, I would expect the Wild to pursue a center looking to spend between two and four million on him.
With the impending departure of Mike Modano from Dallas, there are a few that are hoping for a nostalgic end to the former North Star’s career. In my opinion, that would be a huge mistake for the Wild.
While Modano would be a significant upgrade from James Sheppard, the fact remains that he’s 41 years old and his production has decreased significantly over the past few seasons.
What they do need, however, is a gritty, skilled center to play on their second line between Latendresse and Martin Havlat.
Possible Targets: Matthew Lombardi, Mike Comrie, Brendan Morrison, Chris Higgins
Another player that the Wild will likely look towards is a gritty forward to replace the likes of Andrew Ebbett, Owen Nolan and Derek Boogaard, all of whom will likely leave in free agency.
This is one thing that there are a lot of in this year’s free agent market.
They won’t have to pay a lot for these players, but these players are going to be invaluable to the Wild in the future and General Manager Chuck Fletcher knows this.
With the trade for Brad Staubitz, Fletcher has gotten some of this toughness but judging from how both the Ducks and the Penguins were built, and make no mistake that those teams had his finger prints all over them, he’s not done with this.
Possible Targets: Adam Burish, Raffi Torres, Colby Armstrong, Evgeny Artyukhin
Finally, I’d look for the Wild to take a shot at trying to acquire another top-six forward; probably a winger.
It won’t be any flashy signing like Ilya Kovalchuk, unless Fletcher can work some serious cap magic, but there is a definite need for a player that can score consistently to play alongside Andrew Brunette and Mikko Koivu on the team’s first line.
Again, I would expect the team to go after someone in the two to four million dollar range for this, as it’s going to need to make sense both economically as well as for the team on a whole.
Possible Targets: Marek Svatos, Alexander Frolov, Slava Kozlov, Alexei Ponikarovsky
Whatever the Wild does, there is going to be a sense of excitement surrounding the team come July 1.
It’s Christmas in July for NHL fans and fans in Minnesota are hoping that the Wild come out on top.
Wild Draft Recap; Part Five of Season Review Soon to Come
It’s officially three days before the free agency period starts. The draft is over, the die has been cast on the players that the Minnesota Wild selected and it’s now a waiting game to see how they progress.
But what do they look like initially?
Let’s take a look, shall we?
Round 1, Pick 9 – Mikael Granlund, C, HIFK Finland – I already mentioned what I think about this pick, but let’s just say this—it’s a tremendous pick for a team that is rebuilding, but not rebuilding.
Granlund is a smooth skating, fast player with incredible vision who also plays a lot bigger than his 5’10”, 180-pound frame.
He gets to the puck, he gets to the net and he gets points.
The bottom line is that this kid is going to help the Wild in a big, big way, possibly as soon as next season.
Round 2, Pick 39 – Brett Bulmer, RW, Kelowna Rockets – The Wild went a little off the board with this pick. Bulmer was one of the fastest rising players in terms of his CSS Rankings, skyrocketing himself up to number 65 in the Final Rankings from number 164 in the Midterm Rankings.
He’s a project, to be sure, but he also exhibited a lot of promise in the second half of his season this year.
He proved to be a very quick learner this season in the WHL and plays a pro-style game, even if he is still lacking a bit in the development area. As Kelowna coach Ryan Huska told NHL.com, “He doesn’t say a lot. When we talk to him, it’s yes or no, and then he applies what we tell him.”
While much has yet to be discovered about Bulmer, one thing is for sure. For a project pick, that sort of mentality bodes very, very well.
Round 2, Pick 56 – Johan Larsson, LW, Brynas Jr. – Larson was considered the best player in the world at the Under-18 World Championships this year, leading Sweden to a silver medal.
He has great hockey sense and had a decent season with Brynas this last year.
He scored 34 points in 40 games and he plays with a bit of an edge, tallying 80 penalty minutes in that time. Larsson was ranked 34 in European Skaters by the CSS and has plenty of upside that the Wild can look forward to.
Round 2, Pick 59 – Jason Zucker, LW, US U-18 NTDP – Zucker could easily be considered to be the player that the Wild drafted in the second round with the most upside to him. In fact, the Wild coveted Zucker so much that they traded their third and fourth round picks to the Florida Panthers just so they could select the young winger from Las Vegas.
Zucker has become known as a big game player and has the potential to become a big time goal scorer. He, along with goaltender Jack Campbell, is also one of two players to have won three gold medals in the last year.
In other words, this kid knows how to win.
In addition to his winning experience, Zucker also led the U.S. Developmental Team in goal scoring, with 29 goals.
He’s fast, he’s gritty, he’s competitive and he’s got himself a nasty streak that could translate well to the NHL.
Round 6, Pick 159 – Johan Gustafsson, G, Farjstad Jr. – Many people thought it surprising that Johan Gustafsson fell as far as he did. Former Wild assistant General Manager Tommy Thompson actually had the young Swede rated 44th overall in his rankings.
Gustafsson was a large reason why the Swedish Under 18 team made it to the finals in the U-18 World championships and he is a big, athletic goalie and, more importantly a young player with a great attitude.
It will likely be a few years before Gustafsson is ready to sniff the bigs, but he gives the Wild a fantastic goalie prospect in their organization.
Round 7, Pick 189 – Dylen McKinlay, RW, Chilliwack Bruins – With their last pick of the draft the Wild selected McKinlay, a winger who had a solid second season with the Chilliwack Bruins, totaling 20 goals and 42 points in 72 games with the Bruins.
Overall the Wild had a fantastic draft, in my opinion.
They recognized the need for forwards in their system and used the first two rounds to pick up four forwards that could legitimately make a huge impact on the team down the road.
Fletcher utilized the assets that he had, not to make a splash but to make trades and picks that will have a lasting effect on this franchise. Though I would have liked to see the Wild land a number two center that could help the team immediately, as I’m sure many Wild fans would agree, the trades and draft picks were both extremely shrewd and addressed immediate needs in the organization.
While this draft may not make an immediate impact on the squad, I firmly believe that Wild pundits and fans alike will look back at this draft five or six years down the road and point to this as the start of an organization that is filled with skill and character players from top to bottom.
Overall Grade: A
Wild Grab Granlund; Struggle to Make Trades
Well, the Wild went into the first round of the draft with one simple mandate; take the best player available.
With both Cam Fowler and Brandon Gormley still available when the Wild came up to pick at their number nine pick, there was a lot of discussion at the draft table.
Now, I wasn’t sitting anywhere near the draft table, but I imagine that the conversation had something to do with whether to take the “best player available” or whether to draft to the team’s needs.
Fortunately, the Wild’s front office blinked and a less than enthusiastic Chuck Fletcher announced that the Minnesota Wild selected forward Mikael Granlund from HIFK Helsinki.
Granlund, a 5’10”, 180 pound center averaged nearly a point-per-game in his rookie season for HIFK, playing as a 17-year old in a league of men.
He is an exceptional playmaker and a player with terrific hockey sense—a player that should thrive under Richards’ up tempo, aggressive system. In fact, Granlund has been called the most imaginative playmaker in the draft.
Needless to say, I like this pick.
The Wild has a lot of depth in their system at defense. Between young up-and-comers in Tyler Cuma and Marco Scandella, more established AHL players in Justin Falk and Maxim Noreau and players who have sniffed the roster in Nate Prosser and Clayton Stoner.
What they don’t have a lot of are forwards.
Cody Almond and Casey Wellman are the only two players that are even close to being ready to compete in the NHL and the Wild need depth at forward—more notably at center.
With Granlund, the Wild have found a player that could actually be NHL-ready this season were it not for his existing contact with HIFK—a player that they hope will turn into another Mikko Koivu-type find from Finland.
Time will tell whether or not Granlund is that player but, for now, Wild fans can take solace in the fact that the team got a player that is very, very highly thought of.
On the other hand, things didn’t all come up roses for the Wild.
The team got their guy, to be sure, but Fletcher seemed much less than excited to take Granlund at the number nine spot.
It was quite obvious that Fletcher was listening to offers to move down and take their man later and try to get a couple more picks out of the deal, but it didn’t work out.
After that didn’t work out, Fletcher considered moving back into the first round in a round that saw teams moving up, down and all around with different picks.
So, what does this point to?
Well, first of all, that the Wild have absolutely zero assets that they’re willing to part with that are worth a first round pick. Second, that even the ones that they have that have value don’t have the value that they once did.
So, where does that leave the Wild?
Well, this isn’t going to be a situation where they get better by leaps and bounds.
It’s going to be baby steps.
They’re going to improve through shrewd drafting and shrewd signings and, every once in a while, a shrewd trade. Until the stock of their players begins to go up again, however, it’s just going to be a matter playing the waiting game.
NHL Entry Draft Live Blogging Fun!
The NHL Draft is upon us and it’s looking like it’s going to be one exciting day of hockey fun.
The trades, draft picks and everything in between will be talked about.
Join myself, Hockey Primetime correspondent Michael Caples, Houston Aeros blogger and goalie extraordinaire Ms. Conduct. Who knows, we might even have a few surprise guests up our sleeves!
Enjoy!
The Minnesota Wild Season in Review Part 4 of 5: The Management
Well, we’re just about there. The NHL Draft.
On Friday, the front offices from all 30 NHL teams will be together in one place for two straight days, drafting and wheeling and dealing.
They’ll be looking for the best fits for their organizations and, suffice it to say, this is as good a time as any for us to talk about the coaching and front office of the Wild this season.
Granted, this season wasn’t the easiest for either the management or the fans. The management (namely Todd Richards and Chuck Fletcher) had to deal with players that weren’t necessarily the right fit for their system while the fans had to suffer through a team that wasn’t necessarily playing at the top of their game because of this.
That being said, I have some strong opinions about this, so let’s get started.
Head Coach
If you’ve read anything I’ve written over this past season, you know that I was very underwhelmed with the first NHL season of Todd Richards.
Richards came to the Wild with a winning pedigree and a reputation of being a “winner.” He hadn’t missed the playoffs in his career and he was sold to fans as a coach that would make the team competitive right away.
What ended up happening, though, is that Richards just couldn’t get through to the team.
While it was expected that Richards would push the team hard during training camp and that pushing would allow the team to pick up his new, up-tempo system quicker, it was very apparent that the team was not comfortable with this system, even heading into the Olympic break.
Now, whether this is an indictment of Richards’ ability to get through to the team or just a matter of the conditioning of Jacques Lemaire not wearing off as quickly as they had hoped is a matter that is up for debate. My personal opinion, however, is that it was the former.
Richards often looked lost on the bench, especially early on in the season. He didn’t look like a man who had control of his players early on—he looked like a man who was searching for answers and finding none.
Maybe it’s because I was used to the demeanor of Lemaire, who typically wore his emotions on his sleeve, behind the bench but Richards’ cool and calm demeanor oftentimes came off as aloofness and confusion rather than someone who knew what to expect from his team.
To Richards’ credit, the team suffered through a rash of injuries this season that was fairly spectacular (to the tune of 300+ man games lost to injury) and he had to work with what he had, but I never got the feeling that he was quite in control of the team the way that a coach should be.
That being said, as the season progressed, Richards seemed to control the bench much better and get much more comfortable both being vocal with his players on the bench as well as with the referees.
As the team progressed and got more comfortable with Richards and his system, Richards got more comfortable behind the bench and it showed.
The biggest moment that, in my opinion, defined the beginning of his season was the Petr Sykora debacle.
Sykora came to Minnesota on the hopes that he would provide both goal scoring and a player to mix with newly acquired Martin Havlat but, for whatever reason, Sykora never really got that chance.
Now, to be fair to Richards, I don’t know the behind the scenes goings on of the team. Sykora could have been dragging down the locker room with his attitude or he could have not been putting forth the effort—I just don’t know. But, from my view point, Sykora was never given an ample chance to succeed with the Wild and it ended up costing the team a player that could have been a valuable goal scorer.
In all, Richards season was a fair representation of the Wild’s—a maddeningly inconsistent one. He improved as the season went on, which gives me hope for his future with the team, but he certainly needed to be better this season for the Wild to both understand and execute his system to the fullest.
Grade: C+
General Manager
The opposite of Richards, if you’ve read anything I’ve written this season you’ll know my opinion of Fletcher.
In short, he did a marvelous job with not a whole lot of assets to work with.
It started at the 2009 Entry Draft, where he wheeled and dealed, picking up more picks and also center Kyle Brodziak, who would turn into one of the team’s most reliable checkers and players this season.
Fletcher has been derided by many Wild fans for some of his moves (trading down to pick Nick Leddy, giving up too much for Chuck Kobasew) and, to their credit, the moves are moves that could easily be classified as questionable. Overall, however, Fletcher did a fantastic job.
While I won’t look at all of his moves this season, let’s look at a few.
Alexander Fallstrom, Craig Weller and a 2nd Round Choice in the 2011 NHL Draft for Chuck Kobasew
This is one of the more questionable trades that Fletcher made this season and the biggest thing that stands out in this one was the inclusion of either the 2nd round pick or Fallstrom.
Many thought that the inclusion of one or the other would have been enough, but the Wild were not dealing from a position of strength and were desperate to find another NHL-level player.
It remains to be seen what Fallstrom will develop into, or who the draft pick will turn into, but for what the team needed at that point in time it was a calculated risk, though not one I necessarily agree with.
Benoit Pouliot for Guillaume Latendresse
This trade could easily be one of the best trades of the season for both squads.
Both Pouliot and Latendresse were supremely talented players that desperately needed a change of scenery. Both were being knocked for having the same downfalls and both went to their new teams for a fresh start.
While I won’t speak of what Pouliot brought to Montreal, I will say that Latendresse flourished under his fresh start to the tune of 25 goals in 55 games.
While Latendresse’s season with Minnesota was far from perfect, he turned into an instant fan favorite and became the hard-hitting power forward that Minnesota had always lacked.
In other words, this trade was a tremendous coup for Fletcher and the Wild.
Kim Johnsson and Nick Leddy for Cam Barker
This trade is one that many people were concerned about, especially given that Leddy was just selected in this past draft in the first round.
Many thought that the trade of Leddy stunk of hypocrisy because of the high value that Fletcher placed both on draft picks as well as developing from within their own system, but the reality of the situation is that you have to give in order to get.
While the Blackhawks were able to shed Barker’s salary by taking on the expiring contract of Johnsson, they weren’t willing to just give Barker up for just that.
The reality of this, however, is the same as with the Kobasew trade. Fletcher gave up a valuable asset, Leddy, who is at least two or three years away from being a potential contributor on the team for one who is ready now.
On top of that, Barker’s youth is something that will be extremely useful for the Wild. At 23, he still has his best years ahead of him. He’s big, he’s physical and he has offensive tools and, while he isn’t the best skater, that can be taught.
The bottom line is that Fletcher gave up a player who is still three years away from being an NHL player for one who can help the team immediately.
The bottom line for Fletcher here is that his first season as a General Manager was a bit of a mixed bag.
He made some good trades and signings and he made some that might not have panned out as he would have liked.
In the end, however, his season was one that should give Wild fans a lot of hope. Unlike his predecessor, he is not content to sit around and maintain the status quo. He is going to do whatever he has to do to try to improve the team and that in and of itself is a welcome change for those used to the mindset of Doug Risebrough.
Grade: A-
Up Next: A look to the future
