Can the Wild be Better Than Last Year's Team?

Article from The Wild State of Hockey:

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After tonight's showdown in Columbus, I'm guessing Fletcher and Co. will have a good idea who is going to be wearing a Wild sweater in 12 days when the season starts (and guess where? Columbus!). There are certain players who have a lock on their roster spot.

Centers:
Mikko Koivu
Kyle Brodziak
James Sheppard
Eric Belanger

Wingers:
Martin Havlat
Petr Sykora
Pierre-Marc Bouchard
Owen Nolan
Cal Clutterbuck
Antti Miettinen
Andrew Brunette
Derek Boogaard

Defensemen:
Marek Zidlicky
Kim Johnsson
Greg Zanon
Brent Burns
Shane Hnidy
Nick Schultz

Goalies:
Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding

That's 20 players out of the maximum 23 that NHL rules state you can have on your active roster during the regular season. Out of the three spots available, you're looking at two more forwards and a seventh defenseman making the team. As Russo is reporting, defenseman John Scott seemed like a for-sure lock after he was given a one-way contract by Doug Risebrough during his last days as GM, but prospects Jaime Sifers (defenseman) and Tyler Cuma (defenseman) are also impressing head coach Todd Richards. Because Cuma is still pretty raw and still can't be sent to Houston, one would assume that Sifers has the advantage over Cuma. But then, Cuma also has the benefit of being able to play this year for nine games before his "free agency clock" would technically begin. As of right now, any three of these guys has a realistic shot at making the team.

On the offensive side of the puck, you have Colton Gillies (LW/C), Benoit Pouliot (LW/C), Craig Weller (LW), Petr Kalus (LW/RW), Andy Hilbert (C) and former Golden Gopher Danny Irmen (RW/C). Kalus would be my first one out of these six players to send down to Houston as he has a rough track record with the Wild organization after he left the Aeros last season to play in Russia. With a questionable amount of commitment, it's hard to see him making the team.

Speaking on commitment; it's something Wild fans have long questioned Benoit Pouliot on. Last night Pouliot was given the opportunity to center Havlat and Sykora and he didn't disappoint. Aside from being physical and playing a solid two-way game, he's had a respectable pre-season for the Wild. I think you can give him one of the two forward spots available.

That now leaves you with Gillies, Hilbert, Irmen and Weller. Hilbert and Irmen have been pretty respectable during the pre-season, but has it been enough for them to take the last roster spot, especially against two players that played for the Wild last season? Colton Gillies certainly isn't a roster lock has he could greatly benefit from getting some conditioning and top-line time down in Houston especially being that he is still pretty raw. Craig Weller is also a big question mark as well. Simply put, it's still too close to call and any of these four players could still make the roster.

As for the players who have made the roster, Koivu, Broadziak, Sheppard and Belanger can be considered your our centermen since Bouchard has failed miserably in the face-off dot thus far in training camp and the pre-season. Brodziak is also capable of playing on the wing as well, so you might see Pouliot take a center spot as well. From there, you could build two pretty solid scoring lines. Even if you stick with the Wild's best line from last year of Brunette-Koivu-Miettinen, you still have wingers like Havlat, Sykora, Bouchard, Nolan and Clutterbuck to work with. If Pouliot continues to have success centering Sykora and Halvat, do you place him there permanently on the top line and then have another line of Bouchard-Sheppard-Nolan?

The possibilities for this year's roster really are endless and at the moment it is rather exciting to think about. After an offseason of the Wild losing Marian Gaborik, suddenly the signings of Havlat and Sykora make Gaby seem like a distant memory. Even though I predicted that this team would finish rather low in the standings this upcoming season, the late signing of Sykora may cause me to question that prediction a little more. The addition of another scoring winger could be exactly what this team needs to return to the postseason once again.

Only time will tell and thankfully, the season is almost here. Should be a fun ride.

it is going to be interesting. There are alot of mixed emotions going into this season. Happy that Douggie is gone, excited because of a new coach and playing style. Nervous for the same reason. Anxious because this summer has been back and forth with some new players. We'll know once the puck is dropped in Columbus.

I wonder if a few of our guys are happy to play this style vs the old system? Give them more of a chance to be creative.

FYI on Cuma's situation. He can play 9 games without costing the first year of his contract, but he can ALSO play 45 games without starting his Free Agency Clock. (though the Wild would lose the first year of his contract.)

interesting. Would Cuma be a benefit to us for that duration?

I think he looked like the best of the non-regular D-men out there. Of those vying for the 7th spot, he was the only one who truly looked like he recognized the plays coming at him and knew how to respond.

He had some real nice breakout passes as well.

thats encouraging to hear. I wonder if at some point he will be called up to help out. Might be worth the 45 games if he can handle it. Who would we get rid of or send down? (Based on what has been seen during the preseason)

To be honest, I do not think John Scott... even though he has the one way deal will end up on the roster. He doesn't look like a Fletcher type of D-man.

So...

Scott, Falk, Fraser, and Sifers will be gone.

I honestly think Cuma makes the team out of camp, and unless he shows sometime during the first 45 that he's not ready for the NHL regular season level of play, he stays the whole year.

I do think it will be an evaluation right up to that 45 game mark though for him.

Also, I think Pouliot makes the team as well, which gives us 22 of 23, and I think Weller will stick around over Gillies, rounding out the roster at 23.

I had a soft spot in my heart for Scott last year, but I think that is because he did a pretty effective job in the trap system. Guy can throw his weight around. Gillies should be given more time to develop, no need to rush him into things.

Gillies does decent in pre-season, did last year as well... but he has a long way to go for regular season hockey. The time in Houston would do him well IMO.

Houston would have been a big help for Shep too, but that ship has sailed. Now is the time when we have the right staff in place to know to keep our developing guys in the right development areas.

I really want BP and Butch to do well. BP has the better shot at it though.

PROVE ME WRONG BUTCH!

Completely agree with you on the chances of improvement for both BP and Butch.

well, we all know how much Butch likes to set people up for scoring goals. maybe with this new cast of people around he will have the chance to do some assisting. would love for him to just be comfortable and shoot it though.

This should be his chance, maybe he thought TOO concretely with the whole dump and chase concept. Maybe now he will use his talents a little more.

The problem with Butch's idea of setting someone up to score a goal is dancing at the halfboards, realizing the defender isn't going to move out of the lane... so he gives up and passes back to the point so someone else can do the setting up.

Butch needs to look at how Havlat set up Pouls lastnight on that first shift... sure Pouls ended up passing it back for Havlat to score, but that's just how the give and go works out sometimes, the original passer ends up with the better shot due to the goalie's reaction... but Havlat still attacked the slot through a defender first to make that play happen.

THAT is the type of thing Butch needs to be doing! He has the skills to beat people one on one. If he truly wants to be a playmaker, he needs to MAKE PLAYS by attacking the defense, not dancing in a circle doing nothing.

TaLoN wrote:

The problem with Butch's idea of setting someone up to score a goal is dancing at the halfboards, realizing the defender isn't going to move out of the lane... so he gives up and passes back to the point so someone else can do the setting up.

Butch needs to look at how Havlat set up Pouls lastnight on that first shift... sure Pouls ended up passing it back for Havlat to score, but that's just how the give and go works out sometimes, the original passer ends up with the better shot due to the goalie's reaction... but Havlat still attacked the slot through a defender first to make that play happen.

THAT is the type of thing Butch needs to be doing! He has the skills to beat people one on one. If he truly wants to be a playmaker, he needs to MAKE PLAYS by attacking the defense, not dancing in a circle doing nothing.

Totally agree. Problem is, I can't recall him ever doing that even once. That goal that Havlat scored yesterday reminded me an awful lot of Gaborik and Demitra taking off and passing it to each other as they both sprinted down the ice. If Pouliot can continue to prove that he can skate with Havlat, hopefully we can see more of the same this season.

One thing Pouliot CAN do is skate! One thing he needs to use more is his acceleration. He only uses it once in a great while, but when he takes off he really takes off. Not QUITE as fast as Gabby, but pretty damn fast.

Back to Butch...I do remember Butch doing it ONCE vs Nashville either last year or the year before. He came into the offensive zone and skated the puck through 4 defenders single handedly for the goal. You'dve though that would give him more confidence to try taking on a defender one on one again, but nope. Right back to stopping once he crossed the blueline. Fricking idiot!

he did that two years ago. i remember seeing that and thinking to myself "the hell, was that BUTCH?!?!" and it was awesome, at the Call of the Wild with Gaborik and Demitra someone asked them what they thought of Butch's mad skill doing that. They both kinda laughed and said "yeah, he is pretty talented."

TaLoN wrote:

One thing Pouliot CAN do is skate! One thing he needs to use more is his acceleration. He only uses it once in a great while, but when he takes off he really takes off. Not QUITE as fast as Gabby, but pretty damn fast.

Back to Butch...I do remember Butch doing it ONCE vs Nashville either last year or the year before. He came into the offensive zone and skated the puck through 4 defenders single handedly for the goal. You'dve though that would give him more confidence to try taking on a defender one on one again, but nope. Right back to stopping once he crossed the blueline. Fricking idiot!

That goal was the year before last year. And I think that is the most frusterating part as a fan of the Wild when watching Bouchard. He has a very good and accurate shot. Why doesn't he use it though? There were SEVERAL times last season where he had golden scoring opportunities to get a solid shit on net but instead, he tried forcing a pass through defenders and one of two things would happen. It would either get deflected or completely intercepted by the other team or whatever teammate he tried passing it to wasn't expecting the pass and it would go right by them (probably because they think Butch should have shot the puck).

Watching him sometimes really is frusterating. He really does have the skillset to become a not only a great playmaker, but a scorer as well. Why he hasn't figured that out yet is beyond me.

Ok so it was two years ago... and it's really the only time he's ever done it. How lame is that? To be loaded with the talent to abuse defenses he has, but no courage to do it more than once in 6 YEARS of NHL play? What a waste!

Wild_State_of_Hockey wrote:

He really does have the skillset to become a not only a great playmaker, but a scorer as well. Why he hasn't figured that out yet is beyond me.

He absolutely has the skillset, but the complete fear he plays with on the ice prevents him from even being a "decent" playmaker let alone a non-existent scorer.

someone get Butch in the weight room and put some more muscle on him. give him the physical size to feel comfortable with driving it in the net. him and Burns should work out together

Butch needs to talk to Poul's trainer! I swear Pouls looks to be becoming a beast compared to last year! He used to be such a beanpole, but he seems to be starting to fill out that frame finally!

I think that's what's given him the confidence to bring a more physical game like he's been playing.

I think this team is better....everyone needs to ask themselves this question: Would you trade a healthy Gaborik for both a healthy Havlat and Sykora? I would...so on that basis alone, I think the Wild are more talented than they were last season. You also have to figure that the Wild played the majority of last season without Gaborik....

Where they finish in the standings is determined by how well they adjust to the new system....

MuckandGrind wrote:

I think this team is better....everyone needs to ask themselves this question: Would you trade a healthy Gaborik for both a healthy Havlat and Sykora? I would...so on that basis alone, I think the Wild are more talented than they were last season. You also have to figure that the Wild played the majority of last season without Gaborik....

Where they finish in the standings is determined by how well they adjust to the new system....

I'd want some picks in there as well... IMO Havlat and Sykora do not equal Gaborik when all are healthy. JMO.

Neither Havlat or Sykora are 30 goal scorers, Gabby has proven the ability to score 40... so technically he can cover the goals for both all by himself!

TaLoN wrote:

MuckandGrind wrote:

I think this team is better....everyone needs to ask themselves this question: Would you trade a healthy Gaborik for both a healthy Havlat and Sykora? I would...so on that basis alone, I think the Wild are more talented than they were last season. You also have to figure that the Wild played the majority of last season without Gaborik....

Where they finish in the standings is determined by how well they adjust to the new system....

I'd want some picks in there as well... IMO Havlat and Sykora do not equal Gaborik when all are healthy. JMO.

Neither Havlat or Sykora are 30 goal scorers, Gabby has proven the ability to score 40... so technically he can cover the goals for both all by himself!

Both Havlat AND Sykora have hit the 30 goal mark....Sykora has twice. I think we could see a combined 50 goals from the pair, I doubt Gaborik will be able to equal that with the Rangers.

I'd take one healthy Gaborik over a Healthy Havlat and Sykora any day, as then you could have Gaborik and Sykora.

But that's water under the bridge and it's DR's fault, and I like the new direction of the team, so let's move on.