All Things 2024 Minnesota Wild Offseason

Ogee Ogilthorpe

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It's now officially the offseason!

Lots of crazy shit flying around these days as we get to the NHL Draft Friday-Saturday (I'll be there Friday night!) and Free Agency officially starting next Monday. Hard to believe any of it.

A couple of things I have seen recently about the Wild, take it or leave it; almost all from The Athletic but not all of it. Premature, no doubt, but they recently ranked a bunch of position groups across the league.

Defensemen: MN Wild. Ranked 16th. - The Wild are a testament to the importance of figuring out things at the top of the lineup. Jared Spurgeon still grades out incredibly well, Jonas Brodin is holding steady as a first-pair guy and Brock Faber showed major potential in his first full NHL season. They’re not the biggest names, and their games certainly aren’t flashy, but they’re still more than enough.

Minnesota’s issue, though, is the enormous gap in quality between those three and their other options. Bringing in another top-four left shot to play ahead of (or behind) Brodin would drop Jacob Middleton down to a more suitable spot in the lineup.

Wingers: MN Wild. Ranked #1 (whoa!) -
The Wild can thank Sam Reinhart for their place atop this list. If he’s signed, there’s no question which team takes their place. Minnesota might be a bit of a surprise here, but the Wild are only one of a handful of teams with two franchise wingers. The model loves Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy like they are its children, which gives Minnesota a very strong starting point.

Beyond those two, the team is set across the board with Mats Zuccarello as a first-liner, Ryan Hartman as a second-liner and a pair of capable third-line wingers in Marcus Johansson and Marcus Foligno. That stability combined with the sheer volume of talent makes this a big strength for Minnesota.

Centermen: MN Wild. Ranked 17th. - For the longest time, Minnesota’s biggest issue has been down the middle. The Wild still aren’t where they need to be at center, but there’s finally some hope. Joel Eriksson Ek is a bonafide top-liner, and the emergence of Marco Rossi last season gives the team a viable No. 2.

Further growth from Rossi can dictate how high the Wild can climb, but he obviously has the talent to be special. Minnesota’s biggest need is for a third-line center behind those two. Frederick Gaudreau is a suboptimal choice for that role.
 

Saw this just today in an article talking about 4 possible trade targets for Vegas. I find this one hard to believe?

Marco Rossi - MN Wild. -
Highlighting why the Golden Knights might have interest in Marco Rossi is easy. The ninth overall pick of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft is coming off of his first full NHL season, in which he scored 21 goals and 40 points. With one year remaining on his entry-level contract, the 22-year-old remains under team control, with his best years likely ahead of him.

The bigger question here is why the Minnesota Wild might consider parting ways with Rossi. Sure enough, numerous reports have identified the Wild as being “willing to listen” to offers for the young forward. For Vegas, Rossi would aid in scoring depth at a bargain rate (he’s carrying a cap hit of $863,000 for next season) and help bridge the veteran team’s age gap, contributing to a veteran-led, Stanley Cup-caliber roster now while also remaining on track to be part of the next generation of Golden Knights talent as their stars age out.


Would the Wild really be "willing to listen to offers for the young forward"? I have to believe that Rossi is one of the cornerstones for the Wild moving forward
 

Eiserman, once solidified as the consensus #2 Overall Pick, is sliding in most Mocks to as low as #12. The only other guy in the Top 15 that I know much about is Celebrini.

What player are you hoping falls to Wild or is worth trading valuable assets to move up for?
 

Absolutely not

 

Absolutely not


Laine can play and he can produce. It will be interesting to see where he ends up
 



He’s been a cancer wherever he’s at. Just not a fan

No doubt. Agree.

This is just classic. Dallas buys out Suter; another team desperate enough to pay Suter to NOT play for them. Only the second player in NHL history to have his contract bought out TWICE! Woo Hoo!!!

>>"The Dallas Stars are buying out the final year of veteran defenseman Ryan Suter’s $3.65 million a year contract, a league source confirmed to The Athletic on Thursday.

Suter’s agent, Neil Sheehy, was informed of the decision Wednesday night by Stars general manager Jim Nill. Suter has a no-move clause, so he doesn’t have to be placed on unconditional waivers, and he has told the Stars he’d prefer not to be placed on waivers. He’ll now become an unrestricted free agent ahead of Monday’s opening of free agency.

At 39, Suter wants to continue playing, and there is anticipated interest.

Suter will become the second player in NHL history to have a contract bought out twice. Tony DeAngelo was the other.

On July 13, 2021, the Minnesota Wild bought out the final four years of the contacts of Suter and Zach Parise. Fifteen days later, Suter signed a four-year, $14.6 million deal with the Stars. Parise signed one-year deals two years in a row with the New York Islanders and one this past season with the Colorado Avalanche. Parise is planning to retire.

Suter, 39, scored two goals and 17 points in 82 games last season. He scored 12 goals and 74 points in 246 games for the Stars, who went to the Western Conference final the past two seasons.
 

Okay, these two comments in the article in The Athletic about the Suter/Dallas buyout are classic, and worth sharing:

>>"You can take the Stars out of Minnesota but you can’t take the Minnesota out of the Stars"<<

And....

>>"Overheard at a cocktail party:

"So Ryan, what do you do for a living?"

"I get bought out by NHL teams. And sometimes I play hockey"

"Is there good money in that?"

"Millions!"

"Sweet"<<
 

Zeev Buium and Brock Faber as a pairing would be fun offensively.
 



Zeev Buium and Brock Faber as a pairing would be fun offensively.

Lots of people raving about the Wild pick last night. Sounds like they got a good one and Buium is a guy they had as a target for a while.
 

Lots of people raving about the Wild pick last night. Sounds like they got a good one and Buium is a guy they had as a target for a while.
Surprised with Eiserman's fall? Your Vegas team got a Top 5 talent at 19 if they can screw the kid's head on straight. I'm guessing that organization can.
 

Zeev Buium and Brock Faber as a pairing would be fun offensively.

I see it this way. If Buium pans out, you have Faber leading the top D pairing and Buium leading the next D pairing.

so let's set it up this way
Faber - Spurgeon
Buium - Brodin
Bogosian - Middleton

or you kick either Spurgeon or Brodin down to the 3rd pairing to have more balance. lot of ways you could set it up.

either way it makes the entire D corps stronger with less drop-off.
 

Surprised with Eiserman's fall? Your Vegas team got a Top 5 talent at 19 if they can screw the kid's head on straight. I'm guessing that organization can.

I love the pick by Vegas. Good grief, the kid did a few stupid things when he was 14, 15 years old. With the information and research available today, it's hard to believe the Front Office didn't vet this six ways to Sunday before pulling the trigger.

And yes, I really thought they would take Eiserman when he fell. At the draft last night, Eiserman had a pretty big contingent in the stands not far from where I was sitting. They had to cheer a long time before seeing him get picked. The folks from Celebrini's family and friends that didn't make it downstairs with immediate family were sitting a few seats across from me.
 



No doubt. Agree.

This is just classic. Dallas buys out Suter; another team desperate enough to pay Suter to NOT play for them. Only the second player in NHL history to have his contract bought out TWICE! Woo Hoo!!!

>>"The Dallas Stars are buying out the final year of veteran defenseman Ryan Suter’s $3.65 million a year contract, a league source confirmed to The Athletic on Thursday.

Suter’s agent, Neil Sheehy, was informed of the decision Wednesday night by Stars general manager Jim Nill. Suter has a no-move clause, so he doesn’t have to be placed on unconditional waivers, and he has told the Stars he’d prefer not to be placed on waivers. He’ll now become an unrestricted free agent ahead of Monday’s opening of free agency.

At 39, Suter wants to continue playing, and there is anticipated interest.

Suter will become the second player in NHL history to have a contract bought out twice. Tony DeAngelo was the other.

On July 13, 2021, the Minnesota Wild bought out the final four years of the contacts of Suter and Zach Parise. Fifteen days later, Suter signed a four-year, $14.6 million deal with the Stars. Parise signed one-year deals two years in a row with the New York Islanders and one this past season with the Colorado Avalanche. Parise is planning to retire.

Suter, 39, scored two goals and 17 points in 82 games last season. He scored 12 goals and 74 points in 246 games for the Stars, who went to the Western Conference final the past two seasons.
Suter should too. Can't believe the issues that these two cause with the coaches when they were here. Clearly, their attitude was a major part of the problem when they were here.
 


Stamkos & Marchessault to Nashville. Hard to imagine Tampa w/o Stamkos. Vegas either without Marchessault.
 

We signed something called Yakov Trenin to a 4/$14M contract. That's $3.5M/year for a Center averaging less than 0.25 points per game in his career. Anyone???
 

Stamkos & Marchessault to Nashville. Hard to imagine Tampa w/o Stamkos. Vegas either without Marchessault.
They also signed former Gopher Brady Skjei to a deal bigger than both of those. 😮
 

Stamkos & Marchessault to Nashville. Hard to imagine Tampa w/o Stamkos. Vegas either without Marchessault.

VGK world mostly going to lose their collective minds about losing Marchessault but damn, NASH gave him a FIVE year deal. I was not going to be happy if VGK game him FOUR years. Sure, the $5.5M/yr is a lot less than was expected but holy shit, 5 years for a guy that's 34. Same for Stamkos really, 4 years and a big number for a guy that's also 34.

A whole shitload of overpaying going on in the last 3.5 hours; kudos to teams like Minnesota and VGK for not being tempted and for not throwing out stupid contracts. Holy shit, Seattle giving former VGK C/F Chandler Stephenson SEVEN years for $6.25M/year is one of the most ridiculous contracts I've ever heard. I would have been "okay" if Vegas had kept him for $3.5M, for 3 or 4 years.
 

VGK world mostly going to lose their collective minds about losing Marchessault but damn, NASH gave him a FIVE year deal. I was not going to be happy if VGK game him FOUR years. Sure, the $5.5M/yr is a lot less than was expected but holy shit, 5 years for a guy that's 34. Same for Stamkos really, 4 years and a big number for a guy that's also 34.

A whole shitload of overpaying going on in the last 3.5 hours; kudos to teams like Minnesota and VGK for not being tempted and for not throwing out stupid contracts. Holy shit, Seattle giving former VGK C/F Chandler Stephenson SEVEN years for $6.25M/year is one of the most ridiculous contracts I've ever heard. I would have been "okay" if Vegas had kept him for $3.5M, for 3 or 4 years.
To be fair Minnesota doesn’t have the cap space to overpay some free agent. Going to leaning on the mix of veterans and the young guys for another year
 

No love here for Brock Faber getting locked in for the next 9 years?

 

No love here for Brock Faber getting locked in for the next 9 years?

This contract is a steal. Faber is worth probably $9-$10 million on the open market. Plus, it's an 8-year deal.

A 4-year deal would've given Faber an opportunity to cash in even more in a few years when the salary cap will have increased by quite a lot.

Faber clearly valued long-term security in Minnesota over maximizing his money.
 

Not Wild related but definitely NHL related. This is so sad

 


Drunk driver, of course. It's sad that our courts still sentence for these avoidable deaths as if they are "accidents".

Choosing to drink and drive is no f--king accident.
Exactly. Most all drunk drivers get their hand slapped and move on. Definitely need stricter laws
 

Not Wild related but definitely NHL related. This is so sad

They were supposed to be at their sister's wedding today. Johnny leaves behind a 1-year old and a 6-month old. It's tragic. I would lock that murderer up for life.
 



ya gotta love the NHL. MN Wild officially open their training camp on Thursday. they play an exhibition game on Saturday.

"Screw practice, let's play some games."
 

Boldy already hurt. So it begins
 




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