Updates on Previous Posts

 

Mike Milbury out at NBC Sports…

 Back in August, I posted an article about Mike Milbury and how “he needs to go” after his controversial comments about women (read article here). On January 11, NBC Sports announced Milbury will not be returning for the 2021 NHL season. NBC Sports also announced Mike Babcock will be joining the broadcast team. I don’t think that was a smart move by NBC.

The reason why I say that is that Mike Babcock has been known to be verbally abusive towards players during his tenure with the Detroit Red Wings. Both Chris Chelios and Brendan Shanahan have stated how Babcock had been verbally abusive towards players—with Chelios giving an example of an incident involving Babcock and Johan Franzen during a game and Franzen ended up confirming the incident did take place in a response to CBC (read full article here.) What was NBC thinking when they decided to bring Babcock on? Did they not learn anything after the backlash of Milbury’s derogatory comments about women (among other comments about two NHL players)? Apparently not. I’m not a fan of Babcock as a coach. How long is it going to be before Babcock makes similar remarks to the ones that got Milbury in trouble and what NBC is going to do? Only time will tell on that one…

And no, I’m not impressed with Mike Babcock on NHL on NBC either.  I would rather watch Pierre McGuire than Mike Babcock at this point…

Then, on January 22, NBC Sports announced that its NBCSN cable channel will be shutting down at the end of 2021 and their sports programming is going to be moved to USA Network and to NBC’s Peacock streaming service. That will make things interesting since the NHL’s current TV deal with NBC in the United States ends at the end of the 2021-2022 season…

The Goaltending situation with the Wild…

The Wild’s season opened on January 14^th and as expected, Cam Talbot is the Wild’s starting goalie with Kaapo Kahkonen and the #2 goalie. With Alex Stalock now out indefinitely, we’re going to see Kahkonen get starts for the Wild due to the condensed 56 game schedule. So far, he’s 3-3-0 with a 2.86 GAA and .903 SV%. Are we going to see Stalock at all this season? At this point, who knows. There is no indication on how long he is going to be out for (article on situation with Stalock is here) or even what his injury is.

So, for the time being, the Wild are going with the tandem of Talbot and Kahkonen…and I’m perfectly okay with that.

Marco Rossi may NOT be in a Wild Uniform this season…

 After Austria’s dismal performance in the World Juniors tournament in Edmonton, Marco Rossi looked all set to join the Minnesota Wild, the team that drafted him with the 9^th overall pick. (My post introducing him is here).

Well, Wild fans are going to have to wait longer to see Rossi in a Wild uniform. Wild fans waited for FIVE years before Kirill Kaprizov joined the team, so we’re used to waiting.

Shortly after joining the Wild in Saint Paul, Rossi was put on injured reserve with an “upper body injury.” Granted, we all know Austria had a dismal performance in the World Juniors, and before that, he only appeared in one game with the ZSC Lions in Switzerland before a league-wide outbreak happened. On January 29, it was announced that Rossi was heading home to Austria for six weeks. I certainly was stratching my head, thinking what exactly is going on. Then the Wild announced the next day that his “upper body injury” was actually complications from having COVID-19 back in November.

Say what? Let me get this straight—Rossi had COVID back in November. He was then cleared by Zurich and then Team Austria to play in the World Juniors in December? That doesn’t seem right and a couple of weeks ago it now comes out he’s had complications? So, why the rush to get him to play? I know he was probably the biggest name on Team Austria and that the World Juniors would have given North American hockey fans a good look at him. Seriously, couldn’t this kid get some time off to rest and recover?

Rossi is supposed to return to Saint Paul some time in March. All I have to say is let this kid get some rest and time off to fully recover. There is NO rush to get him in a Wild uniform in this condensed season

Sources:

Hockey Wilderness: https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2021/1/29/22256584/minnesota-wild-marco-rossi-injury-austria-center-covid-19

Mikko Koivu unexpectedly retires…

 

Yesterday brought the news that Mikko Koivu decided to hang up the skates and call it a career after 16 seasons in the NHL. He spent almost all of his career with the Minnesota Wild and had spent part of this current season with Columbus.

 Am I surprised he retired yesterday? I actually thought he would have retired after Wild GM announced he was moving on from the first full-time captain in Wild history (the link to my article about Koivu's time being done here with the Wild is here.) He surprised a lot of people by signing a one year deal to play in Columbus. At the same time, I’m not surprised he retired after giving it the old “college try” to play at least one more season. He’s not getting any younger (he turns 38 in March) and he’s also two years off of a knee injury in which he needed surgery to repair a torn ACL and meniscus--which I think he appeared to be slower on the ice after coming back. 

So, Koivu’s decision to retire yesterday came completely out of the blue and the announcement came on an off day for the Blue Jackets. Andrew Steele-Davis of Fansided stated this about Koivu’s decision to retire:

 “It was a huge shock to many in the National Hockey League and the decision appeared to completely come out of the blue, with Koivu stating that he wasn’t happy with his level of play this season and, as a result, decided that it would be in the best interests of all concerned to hang up the skates…He played the game of hockey the right way, he never took a shift off, he was a fierce competitor in all three zones, he was a model professional, a perfect role model for his younger peers and there is no doubt that, when all is said and done, Mikko Koivu’s famous No. 9 jersey will be the first jersey to be hung from the rafters at the Xcel Energy Center.”

Aaron Portzline (who covers the Blue Jackets for The Athletic) stated that Koivu had spent the last couple of weeks becoming frustrated with his own play and after watching Monday’s Blue Jackets’ win over Carolina as a healthy scratch, he realized it was time to retire.

After 1,035 career games (all but 7 of them in a Minnesota Wild Sweater), Koivu hangs the skates up...and he left it all out on the ice. 

From the NHL on Mikko Koivu's retirement (@nhl on twitter)

Sources:

Andrew Steele-Davis https://puckprose.com/2021/02/09/columbus-blue-jackets-mikko-koivu-walks-off-sunset/?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email

Aaron Portzline https://theathletic.com/2378453/2021/02/09/mikko-koivu-blue-jackets-retirement-wild/?source=dailyemail

 

 

 

 

Jared Spurgeon—the new Minnesota Wild Captain

When it was announced that the Wild were moving on and not re-signing Mikko Koivu (who signed a one year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets in October), the question arose on who was going to replace Koivu as captain. Koivu was the first, full-time captain of the Wild starting in 2010 (for the first nine seasons, the captaincy was rotated on a monthly basis).

That question was answered when the Wild opened training camp on January 4^th. The new (and second full time) captain of the Wild was announced to be Jared Spurgeon. As a Wild fan, I think Spurgeon was a good choice to be named captain.

The "Spurgeon General," Jared Spurgeon

Jake Jenson from minnyice.com stated this perfectly about Spurgeon and I couldn’t agree more:

 “Everybody loves Spurg! No matter where you go, I find it highly unlikely to ever come across a person that doesn’t enjoy being around Spurgeon. He’s just one of those guys that has an aura about him where he sheds light and positivity everywhere he goes. That’s someone you want to be the face of your franchise...Whether it’s coaches, teammates, player personnel… even opposing players, Spurgeon has the respect of absolutely everyone on the ice. Respect is a hugely important trait for a captain to have…You have to be liked to lead. And Spurgeon is absolutely adored in the Wild locker room. By everyone.”

Spurgeon is one of those guys in the locker room who goes out of their way to make new players feel welcome. He reached out to Kirill Kaprizov after he finally signed with the Wild through Instagram (along with Marcus Foligno). He is also one of those guys who plays and "leaves it all out on the ice." He doesn't have to say much, but you know he can be counted on.

Spurgeon’s going into his 11^th season with the Wild. For those who don’t know, Spurgeon was not drafted by the Wild. No, he was originally drafted back in 2008 by the New York Islanders (156^th pick overall). He was never signed by the Islanders and was invited to participate in the Wild’s training camp to start the 2010-11 season. Obviously, from there, the rest is history...and has made an immediate impact on the Wild. 

In his previous ten seasons with the Wild, Spurgeon has scored 82 goals and has 198 assists (280 points) while averaging about 22 minutes a game in 653 career games. 

Some may ask why didn't the captaincy go to Zach Parise--since he's a Minnesota native and has been an alternate captain since he joined the team back in 2012? I'm fine with Parise not being named captain, considering that there was speculation that he didn't want to be a part of any kind of rebuild the Wild may undertake. There was also a possibility that he could have been traded to the Islanders, but that deal never materialized. 

Jared Spurgeon being named captain makes sense because he's been with the team the longest (after Mikko Koivu finished his career with the Wild). He's a fan favorite. He's liked and respected by coaches, teammates, and opposing players.  

The "Spurgeon General" has been promoted...

Sources:

https://minnyice.com/why-jared-spurgeon-will-be-the-next-captain-of-the-wild/

Alex Stalock’s injury. What is going on? What does that mean for the goaltending situation for the Wild?

  

It was announced back on December 16, the Wild were signing goaltender Andrew Hammond to a two-way contract and Wild goalie Alex Stalock was going to be out indefinitely with what is being called an “upper-body” injury.

Alex Stalock

 With Stalock out, what does that mean for the   goaltender situation? For starters, the Wild had   the following goalies on the training camp   roster when training camp started on January   4^th at TRIA rink: Cam Talbot, Andrew   Hammond, Dereck Baribeau, Kaapo Kahkonen,   and Hunter Jones.

 What does that mean for goalies when the Wild   season starts on January 14^th? From what I   saw before the news of Stalock’s injury, Cam Talbot was going to be the starting goalie with Stalock being the back up. The plan was also going to include getting Kahkonen time in as the back up to get him some more games at the NHL level. There is the possibility that Kahkonen will be the #2 goalie behind Talbot. Now, with this 56-game season, the Wild are going to have a LOT of back-to-back games. Whomever the #2 goalie is going to be, they are going to get some NHL starts so that Talbot doesn’t get worn out. There are three other goalies right now vying for that #2 spot...

Kaapo Kahkonen 

If you don’t recall last season for Kahkonen with the Iowa Wild, he won 25 games (with 7 of those being shutouts) and posted a 2.07 GAA and .927 SV %. Those stats were good enough for him to be named the AHL goalie of the year. In the five career NHL games he has played in (all with the Minnesota Wild), he posted a 3-1 record with a 2.96 GAA and .913 SV%.

The big question is how long is Stalock going to be out for with this “upper-body” injury? Not much has been disclosed about the injury or how serious it is. Could he possibly miss the entire season as a result? The answer to that question remains to be seen.

Personally, I would like to see Kahkonen get some more time with the Minnesota Wild. I didn’t see him play at all when he did (partly because I was traveling for work last season). I would like to see what he can do in between the pipes for the Wild. 

HELLO NHL HOCKEY SEASON!!

 It’s official! We’re going to have an NHL Season! (Yes, I know I’m a few days late with this news).

I woke up Sunday (okay, late Sunday morning) to the news that the NHL season is officially going to start on January 13. I was happy and excited knowing that there will be NHL hockey this year!

First of all, the 2020-21 NHL Season is going to be a 56 game season without any preseason games. The goal for the NHL is to get back to a September training camp, October regular season start, April end of season/beginning of Stanley Cup playoffs with the season officially ending with the Stanley Cup being awarded sometime in June. The upcoming schedule should be released today (Dec. 22. They also have a couple of contingency schedules in case the Canadian/provincial governments don't allow the Canadian teams play in their home cities). 

The critical dates for 2020-21 (courtesy of nhl.com)

The other major difference is that the divisions are going to be different just for this season. I believe it’s something about reducing travel. However, if you look at the realignment for this season, the Minnesota Wild got the short end of the stick being stuck out in the Western Division (and stuck with late night games, but that will be determined once the schedule is officially released on December 22). These divisions are only for this season. What will be interesting is all of the Canadian teams being in one division for this season. 

The divisions for the 2020-21 season (courtesy of nhl.com)

As a hockey fan, this is great news! It means I'll have something to watch on TV (or have on in the background when I'm working evenings), along with having topic ideas/material for this blog (as I've stated previously  in this blog post, I'm tired of football already). 

I also mentioned in a previous blog post that I appeared on episode 105 of The Sota Pod podcast, but I didn't post the link. The link to it is here. I come on half way through after Isha and @StateofHoppy (twitter) discuss Malt Madness. 

This season, it should be a national holiday! 

Are we going to see any kind of a season for the NHL this year?

 

Two weeks ago, I wrote my last piece about what should the NHL do about the 2020-21 season. I also discussed this very topic when I made my debut on The Soda Pod podcast on November 29h.. This first week of December is basically going to be “do-or-die” for both sides to get a deal done so that the season could potentially start on January 1, like the NHL has been eyeing.

 Since November 29, I’ve seen everything ranging from another *GASP* lockout to the season possibly starting in mid-February. There had been reports that both sides (NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Don Fehr) had not spoken for over a week. I had been seeing so much out there that I had to rewrite this post twice…

During that time, players were traveling to their team cities. There was the whole thing on social media about new Vancouver Canucks goalie Braden Holtby needing U.S. Federal paperwork to bring his two tortoises across the border into Canada (read about it here)

 

Kirill Kaprizov skating at the
Wild's practice
facility (courtesy of the Minnesota Wild)

Now, I’m rewriting this for a third time with the news that the NHL and the NHLPA are looking at starting on January 13 with a 56 game season. The divisions for this season have been redone apparently to reduce traveling (as usual, the Wild got the short end of that stick with being in a division with Anaheim, Vancouver, Los Angeles, San Jose, Vegas, Dallas, and Colorado).  According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, training camps could open as early as January 1. From what I’ve seen from the Minnesota Wild’s social media, players have already been skating at their practice facility in downtown St. Paul (yes, including Kirill Kaprizov!) 

There are still some other items to be worked out and the NHL board of governors are meeting soon (December 9^th I believe via conference call).

 As of right now, it looks like we’re going to have a NHL season for 2020-21!

 And this hockey fan is excited!!

What should the NHL do about a 2020-21 season? (A fan’s perspective)

 I am going to start off with the opinions in this piece are purely my own. 

 

We all know how crazy 2020 has been so far. We saw the NHL suspend the season and then resume play in August with the playoffs. We saw the usual with the Wild not making it past the play-in round, losing to the Canucks in that round. It was nice to see hockey on TV again—at least some sense of normalcy (if that is what you want to call it.) I’m not going to go into about attending NHL games again, because that is a whole other argument that I am not going to get into.

If there were a normal NHL season, we’d be in the NHL’s Hockey Fights Cancer month. Even though they are recognizing and still doing all the promotional stuff for it, it’s not the same. I’d be at the Wild’s Hockey Fights Cancer game with two good friends (who lost a sister and aunt to breast cancer recently). I’d have my “Hockey Fights Cancer” sign with the names of two cousins and two friends who have fought Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Lymphoma. Hockey teams would be honoring those fans who have fought the battle against cancer. But as of right now, it’s not the same. There aren’t any NHL games being played right now (I know, “Thank you, Captain Obvious.”)

Pretty much describes me...

However, I get to watch some hockey—thanks to college hockey that is being played (thanks to my alma mater, the University of Minnesota), but it’s not NHL hockey and it will work for the time being.

Back to the NHL—so far, we’ve had the release of the third jerseys for all 31 teams (Reverse Retro as what they’re being called by Adidas and the NHL), the NHL draft and free agency, the announcements of the 2021 Winter Classic at Target Field (Minnesota) and the 2021 All-Star Games being postponed until 2022 because of the realistic possibility of fans not being able to attend either event.

So, now that we’re approaching Thanksgiving—what is going on with the NHL? If you’re like me, I want to see hockey on my TV when I’m working in the evening (yes, I work from home in the evening as part of a work-related project I’m working on). I’ve been working through a list of TV shows to watch (or binge watch again like Friends, Gossip Girl, Schitt’s Creek, Bob’s Burgers—to name a few), but that can get old after a while. The last news that has the NHL and NHLPA still aiming for a January 1, 2021  (or February 1, 2021 seen recently on social media) start date with a condensed/shortened regular season schedule and the playoffs not taking all summer so that the 2021-22 season can start on time. I’ve seen posts on social media about the NHL and NHLPA still negotiating that and the NHL wanting the NHLPA to consider another pay deferral (or something like that). Then there are the logistics such as players needing to quarantine (depending on the location), hub/bubble sites, etc.—and the clock is ticking if there is going to be any sort of training camp next month. 

Here’s my perspective—both the NHL and NHLPA need to get these negotiations done and get a regular season start date set in stone. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are other hockey fans who feel the same way as I do. There needs to be some sense of normalcy right now in a time were there isn’t any. I would love to have the distraction of an NHL game on my TV (and leave politics out of the game). I would like to see my twitter feed be filled with complaints about NHL officiating or so-and-so is a crappy player—the stuff I MISS seeing right now. Having an NHL season would provide material for bloggers (such as myself) to write about. It isn’t easy trying to come up with ideas for blog posts that are hockey related when there’s no hockey being played—NHL games I mean.

Someone may comment that hey, the NFL and College football are on. Yes, they are having games televised on TV. It isn’t the same without fans in the stands (the fake crowd noise is obvious) and the politics being included. I haven’t watched as many football games this season because of it. It is something that I don’t want to see and I’m going to leave it at that. Besides, football season gets old for me around the time the NHL regular season should be starting.

Enough about football and back to hockey…

The NHL and the NHLPA need to get this hammered out soon. I can’t speak for ALL hockey fans, but I am hoping for some kind of an NHL season so that the NHL can get back to the regular September training camp, regular season opening in October, and the Stanley Cup playoffs done in June schedule again. I want to be at the Winter Classic at Target Field. I want to see that, since I was at the Stadium Series games at TCF Bank Stadium bank in 2016. But most of all, I just want to see NHL hockey back on TV and for there to be somewhat of a season. 

Halloween Edition of Favorite Hockey Memes

Happy Halloween everybody! I thought I would share a new round of favorite hockey-related memes. I also thought with everything going on today, maybe something light or funny is definitely needed.

**Disclaimer--I found these memes on social media (various hockey groups on Facebook, #hockeymemes on IG, etc.) and on internet searches.**

Just waiting for the start of the 2020-21 NHL season....

I wish this meme was a joke...it was announced on Friday (October 30) that the Ontario Sports Minister is banning body checking for the 2020-21 season...

Pretty much how the majority of NHL fans felt upon hearing the news that Doc Emrick from NHL on NBC and NBCSN announced his retirement. 

I don't know who made this, but I found this shortly after Henrik Lundqvist signed a 1-year-deal with the Washington Capitals as a free agent.

I had to laugh at these meme I found on Instagram after Joe Thornton signed with the Maple Leafs

Oh, all the conspiracy theories after the New York Rangers were awarded the 1st overall draft pick in the 2020 NHL draft after having been eliminated in the "play in" round of the playoffs...

I got a good laugh out of this one when the NHL resumed play in the bubbles and no fans were allowed to watch games. 

Sources:

Facebook (Hockey Memes)

Instagram

Travis Roy, former Boston University Hockey player and passionate advocate for spinal cord injuries and research, passes away at 45.

 "Do the best with what you have and don't dwell on your misfortune." 

--Travis Roy (1975-2020)

Today, while working from home, I glanced down at my phone and noticed a Twitter notification about Travis Roy. When I opened the notification on my phone, it was a tweet from ESPN’s John Buccigross, paying tribute to Travis. I ended up doing a quick internet search on Travis—only to find out that he passed away today (October 29) at the age of 45.

First and foremost, my condolences go out to Travis's family and friends upon hearing of their loss. 

For those who don’t know who Travis Roy is, he was a freshman on the Boston University men’s hockey team who suffered a serious spinal injury 11 seconds into his first (and only) collegiate shift on October 20, 1995 in a game against the University of North Dakota. He ended up with broken vertebra and being a quadriplegic (he later regained feeling in one of his arms and part of his chest).  I remember hearing about what happened to Roy on ESPN’s SportsCenter shortly after it happened. What shook me about what happened is that he was only 20 years old at the time (I was only 18 at the time and a freshman at the University of Minnesota myself). While I didn’t play collegiate hockey, I interned with the Athletics Department and worked with both men’s and women’s hockey programs while in college. One thing I remember from this is the topics of cross-checking and checking from behind in hockey being discussed frequently 

(courtesy of bostonglobe.com)

Since his injury, Roy worked tirelessly to help bring awareness to spinal cord injuries and advocate for people with spinal cord injuries both from in and outside the world of sports. In 1997, he started the Travis Roy foundation—which raised money for research and to provide grants and equipment for those with spinal cord injuries. He graduated from Boston University in 2000 and was also a motivational speaker. One of his speeches is The Art of Practicing Gratitude and Life's Simplest Pleasures | Travis Roy | TEDxBU.  

I followed Travis Roy through out the years through the internet. His injury was brought up when a kid by the name of Jack Jablonski was suffered a similar injury playing in a high school hockey game for Benilde-St. Margaret’s in December of 2011. (Jack, like Travis, also started a foundation to assist in raising money for research to treat spinal cord injuries). Jablonski posted this tweet upon hearing of Roy's passing:

(courtesy of https://twitter.com/Jabs_13)

While doing the research for this post, it didn't occur to me that it's been 25 years since game and the injury that changed Roy's life forever. Roy made the following statement in an interview with the Associated Press not long after his 40th birthday:

"I like to say the first 20 years I had a life that was full of passion and the last 20 I've had a life full of purpose...The dream is to have both at the same time, but I'm fortunate. I'll take either one.'' (courtesy of espn.com)

Travis Roy managed to take something devastating and proceeded to make a positive impact on those who have also suffered spinal cord injuries. That impact will be felt for years to come as a result of the money that was raised through his foundation for spinal cord research or grants given to those spinal cord injury survivors for equipment. 

For more information on the Travis Roy Foundation or to donate, please click here. 

For Jack Jablonski's Bel13ve foundation, please click here.

Sources:

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/30219167/travis-roy-philanthropist-spinal-cord-injury-treatment-dies-45

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/19/metro/amazing-transformative-life-travis-roy/

Does Victor Rask have a future with the Minnesota Wild?

 

Ever since Victor Rask was traded to the Wild in January 2019 in exchange for Nino Niederreiter, Rask has been either on the fourth line or a healthy scratch. In 66 games with the Wild, Rask has only racked up 7 goals and 9 assists (16 points).

Remember, Paul Fenton was the Wild’s general manager at the time the trade was made. This particular trade is looking to be one of the worst trades in the history of the Minnesota Wild. The question here is saving $1.25 million on the cap worth it (Niederreiter’s salary was $5.25 million/year). Fenton traded for a player who missed significant time (including training camp) before the trade was made due to having surgery on his hand after he sliced part of his hand in a kitchen incident. There were rumors that Fenton didn’t even send a scout to watch Rask play in person nor did Fenton even talk with Eric Staal, who played with Rask in Carolina for two seasons. In addition to the rumors about Fenton not scouting Rask, there were rumblings that the Hurricanes were going to buy Rask out of his contract before the trade.

What was Paul Fenton’s thinking on that—to trade for a player without doing any scouting? (This trade was among the list of reasons why Fenton was eventually fired after the 2018-19 season). There really hasn’t been much value to having Rask on the roster.

Rask is not that impressive of a player. As previously stated, he’s only appeared in 66 games with the Wild so far and has only racked up 16 points (7 goals and 9 assists). He’s not that great of a skater—which has been evident when watching him play. If you look at his career stats, he’s a career -27 (405 career games with 70 goals and 109 assists). For the Wild, this trade has basically been a bust.

Where does Rask fit into the Wild line up? Or does he? As of the time I was writing this article, the Wild currently have six centers (including Rask). With the additions of Nick Bonino, Nick Bjugstad, and Marcus Johansson, along with Joel Ericsson Ek and Nico Strum already on the roster. Rask isn’t close to being a top center-which the Wild desperately need. In my opinion (and I am not a coach or general manager at all), there should be some effort to move Rask. I don’t believe the current NHL CBA allows for restructuring of contracts.

What are the options with Victor Rask at this point?

• Buy out the remaining two years of his contract. This is one option; however, it’s a costly one. Rask has two years remaining on a 6-year, $24 million contract he signed after the 2015-16 season (when Ron Francis was the GM of the Hurricanes). The trade to the Wild also occurred before his trade clause went into effect, which the Wild are not honoring. Right now, Rask has a cap hit of $4 million for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. IF the Wild were to buy out those two remaining years, Rask would have a cap hit of $1.33 million through the 2023-24 season.  Would the Wild be able to afford that cap hit to free up a roster spot?

• Trade Rask. This could be considered a daunting task, considering Rask’s salary and lack of offensive production throughout his NHL career (405 career games with 70 goals and 109 assists). Can the Wild find a willing trade partner or is there a possibility that Rask would have to be part of a trade package? How much salary is the Wild going to have to retain? It’s going to be interesting to see if (current) Wild GM Bill Guerin can pull off trading Rask.

• Keep Rask until his contract expires. Are the Wild willing do that, especially at $4 million a year for the next two seasons? Right now, he’s still on the roster. But where does he fit in with the Wild having a total of six centers on their roster? Rask is not one of those players who can be moved over to a wing spot and depending on other factors, he could be spending a lot of time in the press box as a healthy scratch-albeit an expensive one. 

Time will tell what happens with Victor Rask and the Minnesota Wild. One thing is for certain is that the Wild should try to find a way to move on from this bad trade and cut their losses in a way that will help the Wild.

Sources:

https://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/the-ugly-shocking-details-of-fenton-s-firing-in-minnesota 

1.    https://thehockeywriters.com/hurricanes-wild-niederreiter-rask-trade-revisited/

https://zonecoverage.com/2020/wild/revisiting-paul-fentons-2019-trades/

https://www.nhl.com/player/victor-rask-8476437

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wild sign goalie Cam Talbot to 3 year deal

 

Cam Talbot became the Wild’s starting goalie on October 9^th when he signed a 3 year, $11 million contract. He’ll be taking over the starting role after Wild GM Bill Guerin traded Devan Dubnyk to the San Jose Sharks. (Talbot’s contract does not contain a no-trade or no-move clause).

 Talbot was one of a number of goalies on the free agency market—including Braden Holtby (signed with Vancouver), Jacob Markstrom (signed with Calgary—Talbot’s old team), Thomas Greiss (signed with Detroit on October 10^th), Anton Khudobin (re-signed with Dallas), and Henrik Lundqvist (signed with Washington).

 Guerin stated he was disappointed with the goaltending after the Wild’s season ended and that a change was needed. He confirmed the statement about a change was needed when he traded Dubnyk to the Sharks earlier in the week. (Previously stated here).

 

Talbot, who is 33-years-old, comes to the Wild with a career 150-122-25 record (314 regular season games) with a 2.61 GAA, .919 SV%, and 22 shutouts. In the playoffs last season, Talbot’s record was 5-4-0 (10 games) with a 2.42 GAA, .924 SV%, and 2 shutouts with the Calgary Flames. Along with spending this past season with the Flames, Talbot has had stints with the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers (where he had a 42 win game season in 2016-17 and was named to the All-Star game that season), and the Philadelphia Flyers. 

 Talbot said the following after having signed with the Wild:

           

“I kind of bet on myself with that one-year deal…I knew that people had kind of written me off, but I wasn’t done yet. And I knew that I could still play at a high level. So it’s very rewarding that I was able to prove that and to get this opportunity to play in the great city and great building like Minnesota, I’m really looking forward to the opportunity.” (theathletic.com)

 

Talbot joining the Wild gives the team a starting goalie with Stalock as back up. With having Talbot in the net, this also gives Kaapo Kankonen (who has filed for arbitration as an RFA) more time to develop to eventually become the starting goalie with the Wild, along with Hunter Jones. Guerin had this to say about signing Talbot and what it means for Kankonen:

 

“I think it buys us more time with Kahkonen…The last thing we want to do is rush him along. I’m not saying he can’t play or won’t play. That’s not the case, but we’re not forced to do anything. I think that’s really important when it comes to the development of a goalie.” (theathletic.com)

 

However, there is the expansion draft coming up after the 2020-21 season. Minnesota is only going to be able to protect one of their goalies (Hunter Jones is exempt). If Kahkonen gets an extended opportunity to play with the Wild this upcoming season and plays well, it could mean some tough decisions for Guerin regarding goaltending and which goalie is going to be protected.

 It will be very interesting to see how Talbot does with the Wild, knowing that this is his third team in three years and with Kankonen patiently waiting in the wings…

Sources:

Michael Russo, The Athletic. https://theathletic.com/2127528/2020/10/09/cam-talbot-wild-signs-free-agent-goalie/

https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/talbot-signs-with-wild-100920/c-319408248

https://www.hockeywilderness.com/2020/10/10/21509597/minnesota-wild-nhl-cam-talbot-free-agency-signing-analysis