WildHBcommunity: MNWild Yeo Knows Best But Maybe........
Minnesota Wild 2014-15 Roster Becoming More Clear
With each round of cuts it becomes clear here in the "State of Hockey" that the opening night roster for the Minnesota Wild will be the most talented and dynamic top to bottom in franchise history.
The group of young players Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher worked so hard to acquire and protect is now fully graduated to the NHL. Fletcher used the likes of Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, Jonas Brodin, Jason Zucker, Jared Spurgeon, and Marco Scandella as selling point of what the future would hold for the franchise to anyone that would listen.
Turns out Fletcher was able to convince the likes of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter that this group of kids would bloom into a loaded core at the NHL level to turn around a talent starved franchise. Since the summer of 2012 double dip in free agency, the Wild has made two playoff appearances in which this young roster gained valuable post season experience and confidence.
Add to the mix this season Thomas Vanek who made a clear declaration of his intentions and motivations by accepting a 3yr/$19.5MIL contract after turning down several more lucrative offers from all three teams he played for last season. The true indicator for me Vanek would be returning to play his hockey here was Jason Pominville re-signing.
Fletcher's brilliant pillaging of Nino Niederreiter from the Islanders and the late round draft gem Erik Haula could very well be the key additions needed to bring Lord Stanley's Cup to Saint Paul this year. Both made huge impressions during the 2013-14 NHL regular & post season because they both play 200 foot hockey. These two young players represent the next wave of prospects to graduate during the Fletcher era and have no yet even been afford elevated roles and ice time.
On the blue line Suter and Scandella anchor the top 4 pairings with the combination of Spurgeon/Brodin being basically interchangeable. The wild card this year though is 20 year old Mathew Dumba who could very well find himself slotted into the top pairing with Suter sooner rather than later because of his dynamic ability to create offense and opportunities.
I wont put the cart before the horse with Dumba because I have long believed that Fletcher and his right hand man Assistant General Manager Brent Flahr intend for him to slow develop and master the AHL before he flies free at the NHL level. Dumba has been outstanding thus far in the preseason though flashing his unique skill set and accumulating points.
If you asked me a month ago who the bottom pair rotation would be to open up the season for the Wild, I would have said a combination of Keith Ballard/Jon Blum/Christian Folin. Now as it stands Ballard is injured, Blum was placed on waivers and he cleared, and Folin looks to be the only one who will be on the opening night roster.
Folin is most definitely more able to compete physically at the NHL level than Dumba or the other top defensive prospect for the Wild Gustav Olofsson. Folin brings an ability to be the stay at home defender in a pairing with a more skilled finesse type of partner which is exactly what the Wild has been missing. Clayton Stoner certainly played better last year on the 3rd pairing but I truly believe Folin can fill his role and do so with more skill in both zones.
The evolution of the roster has presented a situation where it could be Dumba versus Folin for the last spot on the blue line this year. Also though it is possible both make the squad leaving a spot open until Ballard returns from injury. If Dumba makes the roster it would be hard to see him playing third pairing minutes. Instead I would hope Yeo plays Brodin and Folin together while keeping Scandella and Spurgeon as a pair. That would by default create a situation where Dumba by default plays with Suter.
Yeo Knows Best But Maybe........
I have to admit I was highly skeptical and very critical of Yeo until the stretch run and playoffs during 2013-14 NHL season for the Wild. Now I trust that he is the right guy to lead this bunch because all you have to do is ask them and they will tell you so. This team rallied around Yeo last season making sure it was know that he is their guy. Good enough for me and should be for you.
That said though, Yeo knows best but maybe he should avoid the pitfalls of his stubborn nature by playing Zucker/Haula/Nino together on the third line or even better swap out Coyle and Niederreiter. What I expect Yeo to do is attempt to justify playing Matt Cooke on the third line instead of Zucker. During the playoffs last season a more skilled third line provided the Wild with great advantages and hopefully he can create that again to begin this year.
I believe Cooke and Kyle Brodziak are made to play a specialized role and deployment together and they should be doing that as a 4th line with Cody Almond and Justin Fontaine mixed in on the wing. Brodziak and Cooke are going to kill penalties and can be very effective in a defensive role but neither should be playing much more than a specialized role at this point.
Yeo has to get it right when deciding roles for certain players, chiefly he must identify how to get the most from Dumba, Coyle, Zucker, Haula, Nino, and Brodin. Each of those guys seems to be capable of being interchangeable but have thrived when properly deployed and supported. Yeo has to get it right because the Western Conference is loaded again this year.
The roster as of now:
Forwards (17): Charlie Coyle, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Cody Almond, Justin Fontaine, Jason Zucker, Stephane Veilleux, Kyle Brodziak, Nino Niederreiter, Matt Cooke, Thomas Vanek, Brett Sutter, Jason Pominville, Michael Keranen, Curt Gogol, Erik Haula, Mikael Granlund.
Defensemen (9): Keith Ballard, Stu Bickel, Christian Folin, Marco Scandella, Ryan Suter, Gustav Olofsson, Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon, Matt Dumba.
Goalies (4): Ilya Bryzgalov (tryout), Niklas Backstrom, Darcy Kuemper, Josh Harding.
Courtesy of Michael Russo here:
@Russo Rants
Just a quick note more tomorrow but I will be joining Jeff Dubay tomorrow 5pm Central time for #WildWednesdays on his podcast from The Devil's Advocate Bar downtown Minneapolis. I will provide links tomorrow or find them below in my twitter feed!
That's all for now thanks for reading!
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Just My Take,
Tony Dean
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