Dan Wallace: Wild Offseason Like No Other Ahead

Thank god! Long over due. Time for a rebuild, shouldn't have anything to be excited about for next 3-5

Good for you. Better to pull the bandaid and start again fresh. And quite frankly, your not quite as bad off as other teams.

Great summary Dan! I think I'm on the same page as you are for the most part.

Fletcher? Well I think I've already stated quite clearly he needs to go. Although I did like how active Chuck was in the 9 years he was here, I think it's fair to say that he may have been too active at times.
Fair or not, he's had his time here and although he did have some success, his failures were many and overwhelmingly out weighed the successes. Had he been able to make up for horrible deals like trading Burns, the Pominville acuistion, the Moulson and Stewart accuistions, and especially the Hanzel deal that sent off a first and 2 seconds. That last deal alone should have been a deal breaker for Leopold.

Even though I stood behind the Parise/Suter signings, it's quite clear those deals should have been structured in a way that would not continue to haunt the salary cap for the several years beyond the shelf life of the players themselves.

Although I'm not a staunch supporter of Dumba, I think the smart move would be at the very least to retain him with a 4 to 6 year deal at his generally accepted level of value . But I would stop all the NMC's if possible with new deals. Tired of being handcuffed by them.

I like Zucker, but as I've stated previous, I think it's time to move him and get some value for him. Plenty of teams will take interest in a speedy and still young sniper with Zuckers skill sets.

Coyle is a good player, a great guy on and off the ice, but IMO a complete bust as a top tier prospect. I guess if you can get some value for him, maybe you move him, if not, he's still a very good bottom 6 forward/pivot that has a pretty cap friendly deal.

Although Nino was definitely the better get in the trade Fletch made to acquire him, he has also been a tremendous let down aside from the one season when he was a key player in beating Colorado in the first round of the playoffs. Since then he's been a streaky hot and cold player that has failed to show up in key games and/or the playoffs.

I love Staal and would love to see him stick around, but I think the fair thing to do would be to ask him what he wants. If the Wild go in to rebuild mode on a large scale, I think it's more than fair to see if he would like to find a contending trade partner to play out the last few years of his career.

With as young and fast as the likes of Colorado, Nashville and Winnipeg have gotten, this team needs to start making full scale changes NOW, not later. I'm more than willing to see a few lean years in order to pridefully call this the state of hockey once again.

Not familiar with the Wild's situation but from the outside this seems like a bit of a overreaction. Suter went down before the end of the season with injury which was a massive loss and Parise injury followed. The team lost against a team which many have pegged as a Cup Favourite.

Couldn't be happier right now. I am personally open for any moves the new gm makes. This core has been together quite a while and just doesn't have it. Looking forward to an interesting summer.

Not familiar with the Wild's situation but from the outside this seems like a bit of a overreaction. Suter went down before the end of the season with injury which was a massive loss and Parise injury followed. The team lost against a team which many have pegged as a Cup Favourite.
- freelancer

If your team has been to the playoffs for 6 straight years and barely saw any action past the first round you'd be firing someone too. I think it might be a slight overreaction but the owner doesn't have too many options. Can only replace the coach so many times.

If your team has been to the playoffs for 6 straight years and barely saw any action past the first round you'd be firing someone too. I think it might be a slight overreaction but the owner doesn't have too many options. Can only replace the coach so many times.
- Aaron_85

You kidding me? If the Oilers saw playoffs for 6 straight years we would be throwing a (frank)ing parade.

In all seriousness though I understand that. As long as that is the mentality and not a knee jerk reaction to the end of this season.

Could one of you Wild fans please describe, in detail, what the feeling is like when your team does something like this? I fear I will never have the opportunity to experience this feeling as a fully-grown adult.

The wild have a good core of players but maybe after all that time Fletcher was a little attached to his prizes. Probably a new GM can take a fresh look and see some of these guys need a fresh start. All the first round losses justify Fletcher losing his job.

You kidding me? If the Oilers saw playoffs for 6 straight years we would be throwing a (frank)ing parade.

In all seriousness though I understand that. As long as that is the mentality and not a knee jerk reaction to the end of this season.
- freelancer

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if the owner had said to Chuck it's conference finals or no renewal.

Minny is good just not great.

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if the owner had said to Chuck it's conference finals or no renewal.

Minny is good just not great.
- Aaron_85

I think he wanted to keep Chuck around. Local sources stating as much being they had such a long good relationship as far as owner/gm goes. I think Leopold's hand was forced by the thought of the Wild fan base becoming apathetic should he have kept Chuck here any longer without immediate team improvement.

Whoever the new GM is I hope he shakes up the roster, if he's able to that is.

So accrording to Leopold, "this is NOT a rebuild"... so then I say, what the (frank) is the point of getting rid of Fletcher then?!

So accrording to Leipold, "this is NOT a rebuild"... so then I say, what the (frank) is the point of getting rid of Fletcher then?!
- MnGump

Ugh, this exactly.

So accrording to Leipold, "this is NOT a rebuild"... so then I say, what the (frank) is the point of getting rid of Fletcher then?!
- MnGump

My guess is the intention is to do what St. Louis has tried to do the last 2 years. Make the playoffs, but be sellers/get younger. Blues were playing well, but traded Shattenkirk last year and Statsny this year as rentals for picks/prospects. And used those picks to turn a bad contract (Lehtera) into a younger, better player (Schenn); as well as just make selections with some of them.

Not trying to say that's the right plan or will work, just that is my guess for what Leipold is envisioning. Reloading versus rebuilding, as it were.

The wild have a good core of players but maybe after all that time Fletcher was a little attached to his prizes. Probably a new GM can take a fresh look and see some of these guys need a fresh start. All the first round losses justify Fletcher losing his job.
- vols94

exactly what Chicago is going through. The GM got a bit attached to some core players and now we have big contracts for players not performing to their previous level of play. It's pay for past performance but tough to move forward with the cap.

Dan Wallace: Wild Offseason Like No Other Ahead
- Dan Wallace

Preds don't have these issue's..... cause we've got the best GM in hockey......maybe in all of sports

which is why paul fenton is high on the wild's list as a potential hire. Poile's right hand guy from what I understand.

I also agree the Poile could be the best GM in the league. The guy has drafted well, and seems to hit home runs with every deal he makes. I"m hoping they knock off the effing jets.

My guess is the intention is to do what St. Louis has tried to do the last 2 years. Make the playoffs, but be sellers/get younger. Blues were playing well, but traded Shattenkirk last year and Statsny this year as rentals for picks/prospects. And used those picks to turn a bad contract (Lehtera) into a younger, better player (Schenn); as well as just make selections with some of them.

Not trying to say that's the right plan or will work, just that is my guess for what Leipold is envisioning. Reloading versus rebuilding, as it were.
- Antilles

Any moves that don't include moving koivu, suter, Staal or Parise is just nipping around the edges. I thought Fletcher was a pretty good GM, and if their plan is to just make minor tweaks, I don't understand why they didn't keep Fletcher. My 2 cents from an outside perspective

Any moves that don't include moving koivu, suter, Staal or Parise is just nipping around the edges. I thought Fletcher was a pretty good GM, and if their plan is to just make minor tweaks, I don't understand why they didn't keep Fletcher. My 2 cents from an outside perspective
- jcragcrumple

Well at this point Parise and his current deal are virtually untradeable even if he were to allow it. Unfortunately the Wild are stuck with that for 7 more years, thanks Chuck!

I think there would be enough interest in Suter because even in 5 years he'll most likely still be a serviceable to top end defenseman. If he could be talked into waiving his NMC.

I dont' think Koivu is going anywhere. At this point I don't know that anyone is interested enough in Koivu to take on that 5 and a half million cap hit for a bottom 6 center.

Preds don't have these issue's..... cause we've got the best GM in hockey......maybe in all of sports
- PRED POWER

Can't wait til they lose to Winnipeg.

Any moves that don't include moving koivu, suter, Staal or Parise is just nipping around the edges. I thought Fletcher was a pretty good GM, and if their plan is to just make minor tweaks, I don't understand why they didn't keep Fletcher. My 2 cents from an outside perspective
- jcragcrumple

Agreed partially on this. They really need to convince Koivu to move on...and to find a team that is willing to take a 3rd line C @ $5.5 for 2 years. That contract is almost like CF knew he was going to be let go and wanted to handcuff his replacement. I know that is not the reason, but it almost feels like it. Who I would like to see on the trade block (regardless of NMCs) is Koivu, Suter, Ennis, Spurgeon and maybe Zucker. I would honestly check with Staal to see what he wants to do as he, Zucker and Spurgeon are the best chips to deal...and possibly Suter, just to get rid of one of those contracts.

The problem with moving Koivu or Staal, you are left with JEE as a C...and maybe Kunin if he can come back healthy. I don't believe Coyle should be at the pivot. If the Wild could pull off something like Zucker/Ennis to Montreal for Galchenyuk, or a Spurgeon/Koivu for Duchene/Dzingel, might be able to do what Leo wants...as in the reload instead of rebuild. Hearing his answers that he won't even look at someone that says this team needs a rebuild, for the new GM scares the hell out of me. I am hoping that he is just saying that to temper the less knowledgeable Wild fans. Of course I am just trying to unload mostly junk (a few good chips as well) and am expecting superstars in return. But that's the fantasy world that I like to live in sometimes....

And I should add I do want the Wild to keep Nino, Coyle...even Foligno. I think if the Wild could get the right C in between Coyle and Foligno, that could be a pretty good 3rd line...maybe Eriksson-Ek. Say they put Parise and Nino with Kunin for a 2nd line. Then if they keep Staal, playing him with Granlund and Greenway, that line should be ok as well.

Basically, it's just dumping salary of Koivu and Spurgeon (I am a firm believer that we have already seen the best from Spurgeon and that his play is going to start going downhill quickly), which opens up cap space to find 2 decent right shot Dmen. If they can resign Winnik to keep on the 4th line, then find some workers to fill that line out, they could be doing well.

Now that I read what I have hear, I am really doing nothing but letting go of a few guys...but no real roster movement. Guess that is why I am not a GM.