Four months after the fact, Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher is still pissed off.
Last season, the Wild amassed a 106-point regular season which was good enough for the second-place record in the Western Conference.
In round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bruce Boudreau’s stacked Wild club lost out in five games to Jake Allen and the St. Louis Blues.
Fletcher still spitting mad over yet another playoff collapse.
“Because we got humbled badly,” replied Fletcher told KFAN Sports.
“We got our….,, we lost in five (games) and that’s embarrassing and I think that teaches more than anything. We have a very good hockey team and we have good players. They’re all right in their wheelhouse. We have good depth.
“But we lost in five last year and that was pretty humbling, pretty embarrassing, to put it mildly. I don’t think anybody had a real peaceful summer in that sense, and I think everybody is out to show that we’re a lot better than that. I think sometimes you have to get kicked in the head, I guess, before you can push forward.
“I’m excited about this year’s team. I think some people may be expecting not as much from us as what we are, and I think that’s a really good place to be too.”
In an attempt to send his veterans a message. Fletcher made waves at the NHL Draft with his blockbuster trade that sent popular veteran defenseman Marco Scandella and 20 goal-scoring winger Jason Pominville to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for hulking winger Marcus Foligno and speedy forward Tyler Ennis.
Fletcher has a theory about why his team lost out to the Blues. Fletcher believes his team wasn't hard enough for the Blues to compete against. In other words, Vlad Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Colton Parayko and the Blues had their way against the Wild.
“But what frustrated me is we had the chances and we didn’t find a way to execute. Maybe part of that was at times we couldn’t get into the inside enough. Hopefully a player like Foligno in particular and the continued maturation of Coyle and Niederreiter will allow us to continue to get into the heavy ice. Joel Eriksson Ek is a guy we’re excited about too. He’s put on another 10 pounds this summer and he’s going to be a beast down the road – a big, strong guy.
“So we have I think a pretty good mix of the skill that can make plays on the perimeter, the big guys that can get into the middle, and hopefully that’s one adjustment we’ve made.
“Again, just being humbled, being embarrassed like that, will make us better.”
Fletcher stands behind the Scandella-Pominville trade.
Trading the 6'3", 210 lb. Scandella was a bitter pill for Fletcher to swallow because he added value in all three zones. In 71 games played in 2016-17, Scandella, 27, landed 50 hits, blocked 85 shots and had 28 takeaways. He registered 88 shots on goal. Scandella scored 4 goals and 9 assists last season. In 373 career games for the Wild, Scandella scored 27 goals and 62 assists. His ice time the past three seasons: 18:20 TOI, 20:42, 18:48.
Will Fletcher and the Wild miss Scandella, the nephew of former NHLer Sergio Momesso?
“Absolutely,” said Fletcher. “The one question mark – we traded Marco Scandella. Marco is a heck of a hockey player. He and Suter probably our Top 2 D (in the playoffs). We had a Big 5, as I used to call them, and now we have a Big 4.
“The one thing I think with Scandella going is Brodin is going to play more, he’s going to have a little bit more of an important role. I think he’s going to step up and have a bigger year. Guys like Olofsson, Reilly, and Quincey are going to have to fill it in. So that’s the one area where we’re maybe a touch thinner, but it’s also time for Olofsson and Reilly to play. So at some point these kids have to step up. You need some guys playing at 700 to make the salary cap work and that’s what we’re doing this year.
“But otherwise I think up front, in goal – I think you have guys like Eriksson Ek, possibly Kunin, on the young end of the scale. You bring Cullen back. I think it’s a great mix.
“This team is hungry. Again, it was a tough pill to swallow. Give St. Louis credit. They earned it. They beat us. But we’re better than that and we’re out to show it this year.”
Buffalo GM Jason Botterill and his head coach Phil Housley are loving the fact that Scandella is now a Sabres. Scandella is the ideal veteran, top four D-man that the Sabres badly needed last season. Botterill had to pay a heavy price to acquire Scandella. The Sabres were forced to give up a human batting ram in Foligno. After the trade went down, Fletcher admitted that he had been pursuing Foligno for the past three seasons to no avail.
Here's hoping that Scandella and "Moose"can inspire their new teams to regular season and playoff success this season.
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The days are shorter and the nights are getting long. It feels like we are running out of time. Summertime, that is.
The autumn nip is definitely in the air.
Buffalo Sabres players and prospects will report for their physical
exams and off ice testing on September 14.
Pucks will drop on Sabres training camp on September 15.
The first session will begin at 9:45am and will conclude at 10:30am. The second group wil skate from 11:45am to 12:30pm on the main rink inside the HarborCenter complex in downtown Buffalo.
The Sabres will conduct four on-ice sessions from September 16-17.
The exhibition games will begin when the Sabres host the Carolina Hurricanes on September 18.
Much training camp info to come.
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