Kukla's Korner Hockey
Category: Minnesota-Wild
The Minnesota Wild Wanted Zach Parise And Ryan Suter Gone
by Paul on 07/14/21 at 08:35 AM ET
Comments (4)
from Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune,
The Wild dumped Zach Parise and Ryan Suter so two other players could be protected in the expansion draft? True.
The Wild dumped the former franchise players because the team wanted to clear salary cap space for the upcoming season? Sure.
The Wild cut two players with four years remaining on their contracts because the players' performances had declined? OK.
Wild General Manager Bill Guerin wants to build a team led by the players he most values, and not those with the longest contracts? Sounds about right.
Guerin admitted or hinted at all of the above on Tuesday afternoon. He even praised Suter and Parise for their contributions. But let's not make this the State of Hokey.
For the Wild to make this move, to ditch two still-valuable players while the team's stated intention is to win as much and as soon as possible, team management really got sick of these guys.
Guerin probably offered to pack their bags, then drive them over the state line. Any state line. Even Alaska's.
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Zach Parise and Ryan Suter Going On Waivers Today, Will Be Bought Out
by Paul on 07/13/21 at 11:42 AM ET
Comments (17)
from Michael Russo of The Athletic,
A little more than nine years after fireworks erupted in the Twin Cities with the Fourth of July tag-team signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, the Parise-Suter era has come to an end.
According to sources, Wild general manager Bill Guerin called both Parise and Suter to inform each of them that the team is buying out the remaining four years of each of their contracts.
They will each be put on waivers today at 11 a.m. CT and can become free agents.
The Wild will pay each $6.7 million over the next eight years and be charged with $2.371 million, $6.371 million and $7.371 million cap hits in the next four years, respectively, for each, then $833,333 cap hits the four years after that for each.
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Zach Parise Plans To Fulfill His Contract With The Minnesota Wild
by Paul on 06/03/21 at 03:49 PM ET
Comments (11)
from Jessi Pierce at NHL.com,
Zach Parise said he plans on attending training camp for the Minnesota Wild next season even though his role with the team remains unclear.
Parise said he will speak with Wild general manager Bill Guerin and coach Dean Evason during the offseason. The 36-year-old forward has four seasons left on a 13-year, $98 million contract ($7.54 million average annual value) he signed with Minnesota on July 4, 2012.
"You never sign a deal and not fully intend on seeing it through," Parise said Tuesday. "I understand things change, but from my standpoint, I've always enjoyed playing here.
"So no ... I don't want to play anywhere else. … I've got the term left on my deal, and I plan on being here in training camp next year. I haven't been told otherwise. That's my intention and I don't want speculate any other way."
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
The Minnesota Wild Proved Their Worth
by Paul on 05/29/21 at 10:51 AM ET
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from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com,
The Minnesota Wild had chips on their shoulders, and they put images of casino chips on the sleeves of gray T-shirts for their series against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup First Round.
In the middle of one chip was the Wild logo. In the middle of the other were two words:
"ALL IN"
The Wild are out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a 6-2 loss to the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Friday, and it hurts.
They were 5-1-2 against the Golden Knights in the regular season, forced a Game 7 after falling behind 3-1 in the best-of-7 series, and still failed to advance past the first round for the first time since 2015. Forward Zach Parise faces an uncertain future.
Yet this is a team on the rise that can use this experience to improve.
"I think we all felt like we could beat these guys," defenseman Ryan Suter said. "Everyone else might think one thing, but the group of guys that we had, we felt confident in ourselves. We're pretty disappointed that it's ended the way it has."
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
We Have A Game 7 Tonight
by Paul on 05/28/21 at 10:07 AM ET
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NEW YORK (May 27, 2021) -- The Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild will decide their First Round series Friday in the first Game 7 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs (9 p.m., ET, NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVAS). The Honda West Division rivals will meet at T-Mobile Arena, providing fans in Las Vegas their first-ever opportunity at witnessing one of sports' most compelling dramas.
The winner of Friday's game will advance to the Second Round and a meeting with the Colorado Avalanche to determine the Honda West Division's representative in the Stanley Cup Semifinals.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: vegas+golden+knights
The Minnesota Wild Win To Force A Game 6
by Paul on 05/25/21 at 08:27 AM ET
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from Michael Russo of The Athletic,
Taking a page from Monty Python’s Holy Grail, the Wild are Not Dead Yet!
Oftentimes in hockey, the term “steal” is overused, but the latest odds at the BetMGM King of Sportsbooks have it at 2-1 that the Wild’s charter flight home will be surrounded on the tarmac by Las Vegas Metro PD and Cam Talbot placed in handcuffs.
In a game where the Wild were outshot 40-14 for the fewest shots they’ve had in their playoff history, their goaltender deserved a celebratory beer, cold tub and naturally the fiery-red Hero of the Game hydration bucket for the umpteenth time this season during a 38-save extravaganza and 4-2 victory to force a Game 6 Wednesday night at 8 p.m. in St. Paul.
With the Colorado Avalanche patiently awaiting the winner of this series, the Wild had to put some doubt into the collective mind of a team that tied the Avs for the most points in the NHL....
“We’re not going to start dreaming about winning the series until we get it done,” two-time Stanley Cup-winning defenseman Ian Cole said. “But this was a great first step in that process. Coming here to a tough barn to win in and they came out hard and we were able to handle it and turn the tides a bit as the game went and able to survive.
“It’s the first step in a very long process, very long journey to getting this done. We just have to keep going. We can’t rest on our laurels. The series isn’t over. We’ve got to win Game 6.”
read on ($$$)
Highlights are below.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
The Minnesota Wild Win The Goalie Battle
by Paul on 05/17/21 at 10:15 AM ET
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from Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune,
One goaltender was spectacular. The other was perfect. As duels go, this one served as a master class.
When it was over, the Game 1 headline carried a striking message: The Wild won a playoff game because of impenetrable goaltending.
Brought to the organization this season to provide calm, consistent goaltending, Cam Talbot rewarded that faith in him by blanking the Vegas Golden Knights 1-0 in overtime in what became a fantastic stand-off against Marc-Andre Fleury.
The teams combined for 72 shots, many Grade A chances. Shooters did everything possible to put themselves in position to score. The goalies were just better.
Game highlights are below.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
A Different Feeling For The Minnesota Wild
by Paul on 05/16/21 at 11:04 AM ET
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from Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune,
The performance was a dud, to put it kindly. Sloppy mistakes, careless passing, no real focus.
The Wild coughed up turnover after turnover against Anaheim — one of the two worst teams in the NHL — in a textbook case of playing down to the competition. It was a moment ripe for a letdown loss earlier this month in the final push of the regular season.
Then the rookie sensation decided he'd had enough of that nonsense.
Kirill Kaprizov skated the puck up the wing in overtime, fired a shot from the circle, kept moving toward the goal, corralled his rebound in traffic and tapped in the game-winner. A piece of cake.
Just like that, overtime was finished after 17 seconds.
That singular play — and many others from the Thrill's rookie archive — helps explain why the Wild's playoff fate doesn't feel as hopeless as in previous years. The lineup finally has a true goal scorer, a guy who can make a play on his own in clutch moments.
Who needs puck luck when you have a superstar?
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Not The Minnesota Wild Of The Past
by Paul on 05/04/21 at 01:04 PM ET
Comments (4)
from Michael Russo of The Athletic,
The playoffs are obviously a different animal than the regular season, and the path to where the Wild want to ultimately get to this postseason will have to go through Vegas or Colorado, and, quite frankly, probably both.
But doesn’t it feel like there’s something different about this team and that something possibly special could be brewing with the Wild?
They’ve got threats on every line, including two bonafide game breakers in Kevin Fiala and Kirill Kaprizov. They’ve got a goalie in Cam Talbot that makes the clutch stops when it most matters. They’ve got one of the best shutdown centers in the league in Joel Eriksson Ek who also happens to be on a near 30-goal pace over an 82-game season. They’ve got guys with Stanley Cup pedigree such as super-handy Nick Bonino, who’s consistently scoring, winning big draws and sacrificing his body to block shots. They’ve got defensive stalwarts such as Jonas Brodin, who in his ninth season is finally becoming an offensive threat.
Heck, even Victor Rask (yes, that Victor Rask) is making big plays of late.
Every time one counts this deep Wild team out, every time one questions their goaltending or the number of turnovers they commit or their thinness up the middle or confusing line combinations, the Wild find a new way to make the naysayers feel foolish.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
A Statement Game For The Minnesota Wild
by Paul on 04/08/21 at 02:33 AM ET
Comments (1)
from Michael Russo of The Athletic,
If you get Wild score notifications sent to your cellphone, your battery probably went belly-up Wednesday night just like the Colorado Avalanche’s 15-game point streak.
Three weeks after having their spirit, psyche and overall game ripped to shreds during consecutive one-sided losses in Denver, two nights after responding poorly in the first of a two-game set against their biggest nemesis, the Wild responded the right way and pulled off a statement win by blowing out the Avs 8-3 at Xcel Energy Center.
One regulation loss in a 16-game span probably won’t spook or damage the Avalanche, but the victory could be a real confidence booster for the Wild. Finishing the eight-game season series with an emphatic third win at least reminded the 20 players inside their locker room that they can beat that team just in case they run into them when it matters in the postseason.
The path to the Stanley Cup very possibly could go through Colorado, and the Wild are well aware of that.
“The whole game, we really wanted to win,” said Kevin Fiala, who notched his first career hat trick and had a career-high four points. “We did everything to win, and I feel we deserved it. It was a huge game for us. We really came at this game, and we wanted to just win the game and maybe give a little statement and show them that, ‘We can play against you guys’ if we’re gonna meet them in the playoffs.”
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Highlights of the Wil 8-3 win can be viewed below.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
About Kukla's Korner Hockey
Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.
From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.
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