Any hockey fans out there?

[wolfpup]

Having commitments last night I got home and checked the score of the Avs game and we were down 1-3 halfway through the 3rd I really thought ahh hell I'll do some honey do's and then catch game 6. Then I check headlines today and can't believe I missed the comeback and OT win.... bummed I missed it but woot woot... GO AVS!

 

[cedahm]

Wild looked like they were trying not to lose vs trying to win in the third. All they were doing is chipping the puck out then doing quick line changes. No sustained puck possession and didn’t even seem like they were trying to possess the puck. Allowing a team as skilled as the Avs to have that much puck possession and build momentum into the closing minutes of the game bit them in the ass once the goalie was pulled.

Landeskog even talked about that postgame to the press. He said it's hard to flip that switch from defending, change, defending, change, defending when you jump ahead big early. And the Wild never seemed to be able to flip the switch. Great last 45 minutes from the Avs. 4th liners and Kulak with 3 goals and the Dogg doing Dogg things with that snipe.

That was about the best postseason you could expect from the Wild. Wild front office assembles rosters based on the direction of the wind that day. Lucky to make a 2nd round every decade.

In Billy G's defense, the Parise/Suter Dead Cap hit from 2021 until this year was a huge anchor. Closer series than it looked on paper. Still have >10M in cap space next year even after Kaprizov starts his new deal.

 

[Wild Bill]

I have faith in Billy G to construct a Stanley Cup winning roster, but he is going to be busy this offseason.

I think you resign Quinn to a 3 year deal that aligns his contract with his brother Jack's contract and you look at the next 4 years and you say that is your window and go absolutely all in. I think you may see Gus waving his no move clause to go elsewhere after he got shown the door after Jesper outplayed him down the stretch. I think Spurgy could be gone. Brodin should be gone. Hell, I think Ek could be gone. I like him, but if you can package him to get a bigger fish I'm okay with that. I don't think McCarron is coming back, although I'd love to see him back, I think he'll get a good contract on the open market. I think that this roster will look a lot different next year. And not in a bad way either. I think resigning Quinn is the #1 priority that needs to happen before you make any other major moves. What he wants dictates quite a bit at how I look at the future roster construction.

 

[seeth07]

Closer series than it looked on paper.

It really was. Game 1 could have easily gone either way with the amount of offense that showed up. Game 2 the Av's won in pretty dominate fashion followed by the Wild doing the same in Game 3. Game 4 the Av's dominated again and last night the Wild won the 1st period, lost the 2nd but still hung onto a 3-1 lead and they played pretty even in the first 12 minutes of that third period. Rough way to end a series and think hockey fans in general would have loved to see a game 6.

That snipe by Mac was quite impressive. He had a 2 inch slot to hit 1 on 1 with the goalie and Mac just won. The broadcast was blaming Middleton and I'm sorry but Middleton was in solid position removing all the pass option which is why Mac sat there with a puck for a few moments before shooting. That is entirely on Wallstedt or simply just Mac is great and beat him. If he doesn't hit that shot, the odds of the Av's tying it up go significantly would have gone down from there on out.

 

[seeth07]

I have faith in Billy G to construct a Stanley Cup winning roster, but he is going to be busy this offseason.

I think you resign Quinn to a 3 year deal that aligns his contract with his brother Jack's contract and you look at the next 4 years and you say that is your window and go absolutely all in. I think you may see Gus waving his no move clause to go elsewhere after he got shown the door after Jesper outplayed him down the stretch. I think Spurgy could be gone. Brodin should be gone. Hell, I think Ek could be gone. I like him, but if you can package him to get a bigger fish I'm okay with that. I don't think McCarron is coming back, although I'd love to see him back, I think he'll get a good contract on the open market. I think that this roster will look a lot different next year. And not in a bad way either. I think resigning Quinn is the #1 priority that needs to happen before you make any other major moves. What he wants dictates quite a bit at how I look at the future roster construction.

There is no doubt that he will have a few decisions to make and I couldn't agree with you more that priority #1 needs to be locking in Quinn on an extension. Not sure on the term length and what they could settle on but hopefully they can work something out this offseason to keep him around for the next 4 seasons total. That would give the Wild a core of Kaprizov, Boldy, Faber and Hughes as the faces of the franchise for that 4 year run. I'm going to actually disagree with you and toss Gus into that core as he is signed for 5 more seasons and at 6.8m/year I just don't see any team necessarily wanting to jump into a trade.

Spurgeon isn't going anywhere. He has one year left on his contract. I don't know exactly how he feels about retirement.

I don't see Ek disappearing either with 3 years left at 5.25m/year.

Brodin is an interesting one. 2 years left and he is a great player but always being hurt makes him very expensive at 6mil/year.

I bet they resign Zuccarello at 2.5/3mil for 2 years. If Nick Foligno wants to play a few more years with his brother, I'd be shocked if the Wild at least don't have a conversion with him for something along the same lines as Zuccarello.

Only other major FA that played any amount of time from the Wild I could see them resigning would be McCarron, Brink and Hunt but wouldn't be shocked either if they all walked.

My thought is that all highlighted players will be on the starting lineup card (injuries pending of course) come October when the season opens.

 

[SAJ-99]

if you can package him to get a bigger fish I'm okay with that.

I'm not sure what "bigger fish" are available and also where would you put them? The Wild's problem is depth and really that is only in relation to the Avs. The team will need to get better on the margins and hope for a career year from someone.

The broadcast was blaming Middleton and I'm sorry but Middleton was in solid position removing all the pass option which is why Mac sat there with a puck for a few moments before shooting.

I agree that it is difficult to assign the blame on that play to him, but he had a bad series. At times he looked really bad.

The series was as close as I expected if the series result didn't show it. The Avs are just too good. A team needs a little luck and a hot goaltender to beat them.

 

[seeth07]

Well that Quinn Hughes exit interview basically locks it in. Expect a long term deal to keep him in Minnesota this summer

 

[Rainer]

Fingers crossed Lindy Ruff and the Sabers will be on the golf coarse come Money.

 

[seeth07]

Fingers crossed Lindy Ruff and the Sabers will be on the golf coarse come Money.

Canada isnt allowed to stay in the playoffs, new rule in the league since 93

 

[Wildabeest]

Canada isnt allowed to stay in the playoffs, new rule in the league since 93

 

[Wildabeest]

So is it time to start sucking up to my CO HuntTalkers yet to hook me up with tix for the finals?

 

[Bonasababy]

The Wild are the 2nd best team in the league.

Had the misfortune of facing the best team in the 2nd round, with two very key players out injured.

Signing Hughes will be key, hoping some of the older players will agree to cheaper deals to help make that possible.

 

[Wildabeest]

The Wild are the 2nd best team in the league.

Had the misfortune of facing the best team in the 2nd round, with two very key players out injured.

Signing Hughes will be key, hoping some of the older players will agree to cheaper deals to help make that possible.

That’s debatable.

 

[Bonasababy]

No worse than a split with every team still in the playoffs in the regular season...some of the losses before they traded for Hughes. Swept the Golden Knights. Ek and Brodin being out hurt their D against the AVs a great deal. Still think the AVs might have won but it would likely have gone 7.

 

[grizzly63]

I'll tell you takes it. In July.

 

[cedahm]

No worse than a split with every team still in the playoffs in the regular season...some of the losses before they traded for Hughes. Swept the Golden Knights. Ek and Brodin being out hurt their D against the AVs a great deal. Still think the AVs might have won but it would likely have gone 7.

So...yes...as you prove, debatable

I do think the best 5 teams since the olympic break through into playoffs are the 5 remaining. I'd notch MN at 6 (with notable injuries following them into playoffs), Dallas fell off the map after that crazy win streak they had (and then got injured).

 

[Rainer]

 

[seeth07]

I could hear that Canadian sigh of relief from my house. @Wildabeest please put them back where they belong

 

[Rainer]

Montreal swept the regular season series 3-0. Carolina has had like a week off though

 

[cedahm]

Congrats to the Habs fans - and Sabres fans for an unreal season. That series was super entertaining to watch.

I’m en route to client for a few days and couldn’t trade my game 1 so wife and son are on their way to Ball tomorrow night. Sadly, ESPN has the WCF this year so son won’t get to stand behind the Great One post game this year



If any HT’ers are in NYC this week, I will buy beers at The Canuck on Wednesday night for game 1