The Minnesota Mild

The Wild have missed on superstars, but the Preds and Stars have traded for their best players. When Taylor Hall was available from Edmonton for trade, I stated the Wild need to do what it takes to go get him - even giving up young promising defensemen. I was told that Hall was a bust, and the Wild didn't need him. Taylor Hall was the 2017 Hart Trophy NHL MVP for New Jersey last year.

When the Wild were signing college free agents a few years back, I stated they need to go out and sign Russian Artemi Panarin from the KHL. He ended up signing with the Chicago Blackhawks, and has been a first line point scorer with them and now Columbus. The reason he went with the Blackhawks: they promised he would make the NHL club or be released, and the Wild wanted a two way contract.

The Wild traded away draft pick after draft pick for mediocre players with Chuck Fletcher at the helm, and I disliked all of those deals. The players were not good matches for the team, and they cost so much down the road. When Fletcher could have made a deal for Hall or signed Panarin, he didn't because he didn't want to give up assets, but Fletcher gave up so much more for basically nothing in return when making trade deadline deals.

A better question might have been, can anyone name a single Mild player xD? I can now, Something something Parise. To be fair, now that Mauer has retired, I can't name a single Twin anymore either. Oh man, I know more L-Wolves than Twins now. Derrick Rose still plays for the Wolves right? Not that he actually plays much being injured all the time, but I mean he's still on the roster right? I know there was some talk of losing some big named player recently, but I don't remember his name or if he's even still on the team.

I used to be a big Twins and Wolves fan, but gave up on both for obvious reasons lol. There's nothing going on for either of those franchises and hasn't for a very long time, and I don't see it happening any time soon. Both need new ownership. Saved myself a good 10-15 years of additional, year round aggravation. With the Vikings I only have to deal with aggravation for maybe 4 months, and at least they only play once a week. And hockey doesn't do it for me, never has, it's just soccer on ice. The Mild could win 4 cups in a row and it wouldn't budge my interest in hockey just as the Lynx haven't budged my interest in the WNBA lol. I'll never go back to baseball until they implement a salary cap and the Twins are no longer owned by the Pohlad family.

This team looks like it is stuck in purgatory, good enough to be mediocre and bad enough never to be close to the top of the division. If they make the playoffs it is usually one and done. But at my age don't know if I can stand 5 years of losing to hope to become good again. Fletcher should have been fired years ago. He finally was, but it will take years to clean up his mess.

It is easier to find wings than centers.  Plus a little cap savings for a team that really needs it.  Expect more moves and if the Wild continue to struggle, housecleaning may be in order.

Unfortunately Wild may have to blow this thing up. I read an article on Pro Hockey Rumors that stated Fenton has been give the green light by Leopold to sell this year. Probably will just have to houseclean expiring contracts (Stahl should bring something decent in return), and hopefully bring new players/draft picks back that will help rebuild this club. Lower end is fairly close this year, so if Wild totally tank they should get a very decent draft pick, but that means they still have to find the right player. Wild need to find 2 - 3 snipers to get to the next level. Think defense should be OK, but we definitely need more scorers.