All Things 2025-26 Minnesota Wild Season Thread

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Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
Imagine being an Oilers fan and having to endure the worst kind of dumpster fire Goalie situation imaginable, really for a few years now. Holy crap...

Knowing you have to score 4-6 goals to win every night. Good grief. I guess they rode it to the SC Final the last couple years but this is a different team, that's for sure
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And to think they could of had Wallstedt
 

Just got done watching the game. Was on blackout while I played 2 1/2 hours of Pond Hockey on opening day for the Minneapolis outdoor rinks. Got a great game going with some of the usual suspects out there from last winter. Looks like my "prediction" worked to negate the jinx!

I went to the last Avs game and that was fantastic. Let's hope The Wild continue their great play. It sure is nice to get scoring from somebody besides Boldy and Kaprizov. It helps so much.
 

Gotta love a trade that works out for both teams. This one looking good for both VAN and the Wild so far, albeit a small sample size.

Wild are 4-0 since the trade:

Hughes with 1G and 2A

Vancouver is also now 4-0 since the trade:

Ohgren has 2G and 1A
Buium has 1G and 1A
Rossi has 1Assist
 

Wild getting absolutely worked by Colorado after 2. Boys against men right now. 3-0 heading into the third.
 



Not surprised at all by this.

AV's are just so deep in talent and can survive easily an injury or 2.
Love to see the Wild aim for the Division top spot but that's a large hill to climb.
If you concede the division title, Then you might as well drop to 4th for a better seeding and let #2 and #3 battle it out.
 


Quinn Hughes is elite at zone entry. He needs to be the guy getting the puck into the zone for power plays. There is no reason for him to be dropping the puck to someone else and trying to support.
 

From the Parkinglot said:
Quinn Hughes is elite at zone entry. He needs to be the guy getting the puck into the zone for power plays. There is no reason for him to be dropping the puck to someone else and trying to support.
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I agree plus I hate that drop pass crap
 



Wild need a number one center badly if it wants to come close to the Avs
 

TRF Guy said:
Wild need a number one center badly if it wants to come close to the Avs
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Does it need to be a 1C or just an option that gets them closer to two 2Cs pushes Hartman/Yurov back to the wing?

Obviously a 1C is preferred but do they have enough left in the chamber to swing that.
 

GreasyGopher said:
Does it need to be a 1C or just an option that gets them closer to two 2Cs pushes Hartman/Yurov back to the wing?

Obviously a 1C is preferred but do they have enough left in the chamber to swing that.
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Good question but I’m pretty positive BG is looking for a top 6 forward be it a wing or center
 

TRF Guy said:
Good question but I’m pretty positive BG is looking for a top 6 forward be it a wing or center
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Definitely agree there. An upgrade over Yurov/Hartman is needed. The swing needs to be taken even if they can’t afford a top guy. Brayden Schenn, ROR, Blake Coleman are all on The Athletic trade board would represent improvements up the middle but would not fit the 1C mold.
 



A top 6 Center is going to be very, very expensive. A winger would cost less but would still take some assets going out.

The Athletic touches on this when they graded the LA Kings trade of Danault to Montreal for a 2nd round pick. Danault is a player with some serious holes in his game, on the downside of his career, and he still cost a 2nd rounder.

"Centers don’t come cheap in this league — second-line centers such as Brock Nelson can cost a first-round pick and a top prospect. Even a bottom-six center such as Scott Laughton got a first-rounder in return. The return of a second-rounder is more of the Alexander Wennberg variety, when he was traded at the 2024 deadline."

There could be some serious assets moving around as we get closer to the trade deadline, some real fireworks. Good pieces won't come cheap.

Side note: I had forgotten that both Rossi and Ohgren (obviously Buium, which I knew) were also 1st round picks for the Wild. Quinn Hughes is one helluva player but damn, FOUR 1st round draft picks for Hughes is not a small price tag. Holy shitballs.
 

Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
A top 6 Center is going to be very, very expensive. A winger would cost less but would still take some assets going out.

The Athletic touches on this when they graded the LA Kings trade of Danault to Montreal for a 2nd round pick. Danault is a player with some serious holes in his game, on the downside of his career, and he still cost a 2nd rounder.

"Centers don’t come cheap in this league — second-line centers such as Brock Nelson can cost a first-round pick and a top prospect. Even a bottom-six center such as Scott Laughton got a first-rounder in return. The return of a second-rounder is more of the Alexander Wennberg variety, when he was traded at the 2024 deadline."

There could be some serious assets moving around as we get closer to the trade deadline, some real fireworks. Good pieces won't come cheap.

Side note: I had forgotten that both Rossi and Ohgren (obviously Buium, which I knew) were also 1st round picks for the Wild. Quinn Hughes is one helluva player but damn, FOUR 1st round draft picks for Hughes is not a small price tag. Holy shitballs.
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That’s why everyone is saying either you have to make a cup or he resigns or it’s a massive overpay given Ohgren is 21 and Rossi is 24. None of them are even remotely close to fully developed. Unsurprisingly this is part of why it’s working for both sides as those guys need the chance hynes wasn’t going to give them to grow
 


TRF Guy said:
I agree plus I hate that drop pass crap
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It works, if you have an elite puck carrier. We have KK, Boldy (not quite as good), Hughes and JoJo (2nd unit). Those guys can all reliably force the entry without dumping the puck - either by weaving past everyone or dropping it to someone just across the line. BUT - I agree, you can't just run that same play every time - teams are learning how to defend it, which is why you see more dump-and-chase or failed entries. SO. To combat that, having Hughes be able to size up the situation and decide to just continue forward is a good alternative. I would also encourage Faber to operate that same way. If both units have that option, we are much better off.
 

Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
Side note: I had forgotten that both Rossi and Ohgren (obviously Buium, which I knew) were also 1st round picks for the Wild. Quinn Hughes is one helluva player but damn, FOUR 1st round draft picks for Hughes is not a small price tag. Holy shitballs.
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Ohgren and Rossi are sunk costs. You don't hold onto players just because they were high draft choices. Ohgren will never be anything more than middling (no disrespect - he's an NHL player and I play beer league). Rossi has a higher ceiling, but for whatever reason, they didn't like him. Next year's pick will be low first round, so more like a second rounder and don't care.

Now, Buium...............
 

GopherJake said:
I mean, other than beating them the previous meeting...........
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Right, people are overreacting to one loss. It was lopsided but the Wild played this game on the second of a back to back after playing a fast, dynamic team with the best player in the world the night before.

There’s two more matchups left this season.
 

GopherJake said:
Ohgren and Rossi are sunk costs. You don't hold onto players just because they were high draft choices. Ohgren will never be anything more than middling (no disrespect - he's an NHL player and I play beer league). Rossi has a higher ceiling, but for whatever reason, they didn't like him. Next year's pick will be low first round, so more like a second rounder and don't care.

Now, Buium...............
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I completely agree on the sunk cost point, although part of my point was they were also a big part of your available asset pool. As of 3 months ago or so, Buium and Ohgren were #1 and #3 in the prospect ranking, according to The Athletic. That's not nothing, for sure

I don't know enough about either player (Ohgren/Rossi) but both are very young and could certainly hit higher ceilings. You probably know who Rossi is at this point but Ohgren doesn't turn 22 until next month. At a minimum, Rossi is probably a middle-6 Centerman, which aren't SUPER easy to find. Ohgren sounds like he has a lot of things he does really well, although maybe none of them elite.

I'm absolutely not saying it was a "bad" move, but I'm just not sure. I think it's a move you make if you have a loaded farm system (the Wild definitely have a good one) and you think you're really close. They took 3 players from their starting nightly 18-man lineup to add one elite Blue-liner.

Barring some major changes across the division in the next 4 months or so, you're on a runaway freight train towards an opening playoff matchup with either Dallas or Colorado. Woof...
 

GopherJake said:
Ohgren and Rossi are sunk costs. You don't hold onto players just because they were high draft choices. Ohgren will never be anything more than middling (no disrespect - he's an NHL player and I play beer league). Rossi has a higher ceiling, but for whatever reason, they didn't like him. Next year's pick will be low first round, so more like a second rounder and don't care.

Now, Buium...............
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One more thing as I sit here thinking about it...

I'll be interested to watch what they do at the deadline. If they end up moving out an even modest package of assets to add a player that may not be markedly better than what they had with Rossi, it won't reflect very well on this deal
 

Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
One more thing as I sit here thinking about it...

I'll be interested to watch what they do at the deadline. If they end up moving out an even modest package of assets to add a player that may not be markedly better than what they had with Rossi, it won't reflect very well on this deal
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That’s hardly true. If they kept Marco Rossi, it’s highly likely they’d still need a center better than Marco Rossi AND they wouldn’t have Quinn Hughes.
 

GreasyGopher said:
That’s hardly true. If they kept Marco Rossi, it’s highly likely they’d still need a center better than Marco Rossi AND they wouldn’t have Quinn Hughes.
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This is correct. They don't like Rossi. They reluctantly gave him a shot at top line center and results were ok, but I think I could score goals playing alongside Kaprizov. Hartman is a better fit and provides grit and ass-holiness to that line. Hartman is capable of scoring, so if he can win some draws, it makes our need for a #1 C smaller. Hartman is a capable defender and tough in puck battles. Rossi is not. Ohgren has talent, but I don't see him as a top 6.

Hughes completely changes our offense and makes the entire team more dynamic. You can see the change in strategy all the way down the lineup as forwards now know to immediately retreat when defenseman are deep down on the forecheck. Buium has some of that in him and he's got electricity. But he's not a complete player. Hughes is.
 

GopherJake said:
This is correct. They don't like Rossi. They reluctantly gave him a shot at top line center and results were ok, but I think I could score goals playing alongside Kaprizov. Hartman is a better fit and provides grit and ass-holiness to that line. Hartman is capable of scoring, so if he can win some draws, it makes our need for a #1 C smaller. Hartman is a capable defender and tough in puck battles. Rossi is not. Ohgren has talent, but I don't see him as a top 6.

Hughes completely changes our offense and makes the entire team more dynamic. You can see the change in strategy all the way down the lineup as forwards now know to immediately retreat when defenseman are deep down on the forecheck. Buium has some of that in him and he's got electricity. But he's not a complete player. Hughes is.
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At this point, there are very few players I’m going to get up in arms about trading in the effort of making this team a real Stanley Cup contender.

Take the swing. Deal with the aftermath later. I’ve been a Minnesota sports fan my whole life and can count on one hand the number of times a team has taken this risk.
 

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