Hockey Wilderness

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Can Kirill Kaprizov Live Up To Highest-Paid-In-the-NHL Billing?

1 week ago | hockeywilderness.com | Tony Abbott

"Dolla Bill Kirill" is about to live up to the name. So long as Kirill Kaprizov signs in Minnesota, he's going to be an incredibly wealthy man sometime in July. Minnesota Wild owner Mr. Craig Leipold has vowed that no one will pay Kaprizov more money than Minnesota will. However, lately, it's possible that no NHL team will pay any player more than the Wild are preparing to pay their superstar. On Monday's 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman repeated some hot goss he got from NHL sources.
Bill Guerin Has His Chance To Win Everybody Over This Summer

1 week ago | hockeywilderness.com | Chris Schad

When the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated the Minnesota Wild from the Stanley Cup playoffs, everyone's attention immediately turned to this summer. Wild players said the usual things you would hear at the end of another first-round defeat, and fans wondered what the next level could be for a team with a young core, with Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Zeev Buium, and some gritty veterans.
Did the Wild Waste A Good Crisis?

1 week ago | hockeywilderness.com | Tom Schreier

The Minnesota Wild curbed some issues that cost them in previous postseasons. Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy broke through, scoring five goals on the top line. Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno (mostly) stayed out of the penalty box and provided vital secondary scoring. Filip Gustavsson was reliable in net, despite battling illness in Game 4. Still, Minnesota’s season ended with a first-round exit again. The Wild have made the playoffs in eight of the past ten years.
The Wild Created A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy With Marco Rossi

1 week ago | hockeywilderness.com | Tony Abbott

Somehow, the biggest lightning rod in the Minnesota Wild's abbreviated playoff run was the player with the team's third-fewest minutes. But that's what fans will focus on when a team takes Marco Rossi, their second-leading scorer in the regular season, and plays him for 11 minutes and 8 seconds per night. For context, that's less than Marat Khusnutdinov, a fourth-line center with seven points in 57 games, got during the regular season.
The Wild Had An Insidious Appeal This Season

1 week ago | hockeywilderness.com | Chris Schad

You couldn’t have written a better script for the Minnesota Wild to start the 2023-24 season. Coming off a year where they had missed the playoffs for the second time since 2012-13, expectations were low for a team considered a fringe playoff contender. However, the Wild changed everybody’s opinion by sprinting out of the gate. Kirill Kaprizov became a runaway favorite for the Hart Trophy. Matt Boldy was on his way to completing a superstar turn at age 23.
The Ghost of Playoffs Past Still Haunt the Wild

2 weeks ago | hockeywilderness.com | Luke Sims

Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin are the only two Minnesota Wild players who’ve played in the second round of the playoffs. Every other player has never seen a second round in Minnesota. The Wild have players who have won it all, some more than once. However, for this Minnesota team and its fans, the second round is the mountain top, and the summit looks far away. Minnesota has again lost a playoff series after leading, falling to 0-5 in games to go up 3-1 in a series again.
The Minnesota Wild Missed Out On A 2003 Repeat

2 weeks ago | hockeywilderness.com | Tony Abbott

As a human with a father, I was chatting with my dad about the Minnesota Wild's series between Games 5 and 6. We both lamented the back-to-back overtime losses that turned a 2-1 series lead into a 3-2 deficit. Was it a bummer? Sure was. But it wasn't until he said something that I figured out why the series' outcome was so frustrating. "It'd be nice to get into the second round," he said, "but looking at the roster, they're not going much further than that, right?" I didn't agree.
The Wild Are Leaving Las Vegas With A Familiar Feeling

2 weeks ago | hockeywilderness.com | Tom Schreier

Gustav Nyquist stood inches inside the blueline before Ryan Hartman scored what looked like the game-winning goal with 1:16 left in the third. The officials reviewed it. Nyquist had skated offside. No goal. Never mind that 40-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury had stepped in for Filip Gustavsson as he battled illness after the second intermission.
The Wild's Moral Victory Era Is Already Over

2 weeks ago | hockeywilderness.com | Tony Abbott

The State of Hockey woke up on Wednesday morning, hungover from the realization that all this has happened before, and is happening again. The plucky Minnesota Wild built a 2-1 lead, only to find themselves unable to put away their opponent and fall behind in the series 3-2. Nothing is different than their previous two playoff series, and while the Wild still have Games 6 and 7 to prove those feelings are dead wrong, their track record isn't encouraging.
It's Fine For the Wild To Play Jon Merrill Over Zeev Buium

2 weeks ago | hockeywilderness.com | Tony Abbott

Coming into the Minnesota Wild's series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Zeev Buium was a great choice to slot into the Wild defense. He'd never played a minute of NHL hockey, but the former Denver Pioneer offered the team badly-needed upside to keep up with Vegas' talent. John Hynes clearly agreed, as Buium started the series' first four games. However, the Wild have left Buium out of the lineup for Game 5, with veteran Jon Merrill drawing in.