The Minnesota Wild may very well beat out the Avs for
the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. If you don’t think it is at
least a possibility, then you are nuts. But let’s forget all the probables and
possibles, and look at how much of a mess the Wild organization is at the
moment, in terms of players, drafting, and salary cap.
Let’s start with the obvious: The absolutely terrible
cap management by GM Chuck Fletcher. The worst contract on the team isn’t
actually found in newest NHL Coach Killer Zach Parise, or the bust-ish
defenseman Ryan Suter (more on them later), but with the $5.6M dollar man…..
Jason Pomminville. Pomminville, of former Sabres success,
has 11 goals and 33 points in 67 games. That isn’t a very good dollars for
goals ratio, and a lot of money for a guy who is on the downswing. Good thing
the Wild only have to pay him until 2019. At least Chuck Fletcher hasn’t given
out any terrible contracts to other former Sabres forwards.
Thomas Vanek. Former Buffalo Sabre, Thomas Vanek. Vanek
has been a healthy scratch for the past 4 games and with good reason. He had 1
goal in 12 his last 12 games, and oh yeah, he is worth $6.5M. And he is on the
books for one more year after this one. Well Mr. Fletcher, that is a lot of
money sitting in the press box. Looks like signing somebody for huge money because
they had ties to the “State of Hockey” was a bad idea. Hopefully that is a
mistake you’ll only make once.
Zach Parise, signed partially because of his ties to
the great state of Minnesota, is actually (and this is hard to say) a decent
hockey player. But the $98M contract he signed, coupled by terrible leadership
and a bad attitude is unfortunate situations, leads to a hockey player that is
undesirable on any hockey team that craves a team first attitude and wants to
be competitive. It is a good thing GM Chuck Fletcher will never give out
another contract quite that bad in his remainder of his probably short career.
Ryan Suter! Recipiant of an identical $98M contract is
often shaky in his own zone, and only shows powerplay brilliance about half the
time. We could write more about how he isn’t a good enough defenseman to play
30 minutes a night, and how he will never be Shea Weber, but we won’t.
Other bad contracts: Mikko Koivu – $6.75M. Stat line:
74 games, 17 goals, 50 points. But he can win faceoffs! Oh wait, so can David
Steckel.
David Jones - $4M. 11 goals in 69 games. Why would
they trade for this contract? Yea he’s a UFA, but he brings nothing to the team
unless “playing terribly on the second line” is a thing. Remember?
Bottom Line: about $38M invested in 5 players. The
kicker: They are a fringe playoff team. Teams that spend like this (Dallas,
Chicago, Washington, LA, NYR) are top teams looking at playoff success.
Okay, we have covered the roster players, now let’s
take a look at the team’s prospect pool and drafting history. We’ll just fire
off a few quick stats: Since the 2010 entry draft, the Wild have drafted 2
players that have played more than FIVE (!!!!!!) games in the NHL. That is 35
NHL players, 12 in the first 3 rounds. Another astounding stat: Since the 2003
NHL Entry Draft, the Wild have drafted 2 players that have scored more than 42
goals with the team. That must be a record.
So sure, the Avs can miss the playoffs, and the Wild
can make it in, only to get slaughtered in the first round by some real NHL
team. And if that happens, Avs fans shouldn’t fret. Why? A few reasons. It isn’t
like it was the Wild bouncing us out in some Wild Card tie breaker game. Oh,
and the franchise is garbage, has historically been garbage, and it looks like
they will be garbage, or at least a playoff bubble team, for many years to
come. Meanwhile, the Avs look promising to rise among the ranks of the Western
Conference elite. So sleep well Avs fans, regardless of this year’s end result.
It could be worse, we could be Wild fans.
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