What ever happened to Grigorenko? Man did he fall off the board. I could legitimately still see him going as high as 3 (Habs have extra incentive; I've heard he's very popular in QC) or falling like Fowler to like 18.
I don't really see Fletch taking him, but I would absolutely not complain if he did.
Reading those Trouba <-> Foote comparisons, just still don't get it.
I mean, how many teams think, "boy if we only had Adam Foote, we'd really go far." Maybe it's because I didn't see him much in his prime, or maybe because he never played a full season (ever!)...but he seems like the kind of guy who's nice to have but not really a cornerstone player.
Now if he were a big time hitter who also had offense, like Scott Stevens, that's different. That's a guy who plays both ends of the ice. And Dumba's a lot closer to that type of player.
What ever happened to Grigorenko? Man did he fall off the board. I could legitimately still see him going as high as 3 (Habs have extra incentive; I've heard he's very popular in QC) or falling like Fowler to like 18.
I don't really see Fletch taking him, but I would absolutely not complain if he did.
Grigorenko... He's a conundrum. That is why he's dropping.
As a potential draftee, you really don't want the word "conundrum" associated with your name leading into the draft...
Teravainen seems to have moved up the draft charts somewhat, at least according to Russo. Some of the scouts were apparently saying he could be a number 1 pick if they looked at him more.
Reading those Trouba <-> Foote comparisons, just still don't get it.
I mean, how many teams think, "boy if we only had Adam Foote, we'd really go far." Maybe it's because I didn't see him much in his prime, or maybe because he never played a full season (ever!)...but he seems like the kind of guy who's nice to have but not really a cornerstone player.
Now if he were a big time hitter who also had offense, like Scott Stevens, that's different. That's a guy who plays both ends of the ice. And Dumba's a lot closer to that type of player.
Some people prefer different things. For me when it comes to defensemen, its about how many minutes they can eat against top opposition. If Trouba can develop into a defenseman that regular eats top 2 minutes of EV, PK and maybe top 4 in PP, I would be VERY happy.
If he does all that, but only scores 30 pts, I would be still VERY happy.
Reading those Trouba <-> Foote comparisons, just still don't get it.
I mean, how many teams think, "boy if we only had Adam Foote, we'd really go far." Maybe it's because I didn't see him much in his prime, or maybe because he never played a full season (ever!)...but he seems like the kind of guy who's nice to have but not really a cornerstone player.
Now if he were a big time hitter who also had offense, like Scott Stevens, that's different. That's a guy who plays both ends of the ice. And Dumba's a lot closer to that type of player.
Foote in his prime was something but the era he played in probably helped some.
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Blog: First Round Bust: A Cast of Thousands celebrating a rather dodgy track record of Minnesota Wild Drafting.
"Will beats skill when skill doesn't have enough will."
-Doug Woog
Teravainen seems to have moved up the draft charts somewhat, at least according to Russo. Some of the scouts were apparently saying he could be a number 1 pick if they looked at him more.
I know how much this organization needs defense, but seriously just imagine a Granlund-Koivu-Teravainen line.
We do need defense but don't forget we never fixed our goalscoring problem.
Remeber in 2010 draft how some were upset we drafted Granlund because he's a playmaker? Ever since, we got more two-way forwards and playmakers but still no goalscorer.
Some people prefer different things. For me when it comes to defensemen, its about how many minutes they can eat against top opposition. If Trouba can develop into a defenseman that regular eats top 2 minutes of EV, PK and maybe top 4 in PP, I would be VERY happy.
If he does all that, but only scores 30 pts, I would be still VERY happy.
But can he do anything other than eat up minutes against top players? Can he move the puck quickly out of trouble? Can he occasionally skate it up? Can he turn the puck from defense to offense?
One thing this team has had a lot of trouble with is getting stuck in its own end because they can't move the puck up. They can have great defensemen who clear the crease and block shots, but if the other team can set up and cycle for 30-60 seconds even strength several times a game, you're playing with fire.
With Trouba, I just worry he's going to become another Nick Schultz type player who, yeah, plays some big minutes and defends against the rush and has strong position. But then what does he do when gets the puck? Chip it off the glass? Try and get it to a D partner (Brodin?) who can make a better pass?
Maybe he'd be an excellent #2 to Brodin's #1. I dunno, I'm not a scout. I'm just not drooling over this guy at #7.
Glad to see Teuvo being recognized. I, at the moment, have a feeling that he's picked higher than #7 tho. He'll be a hard one to pass if he's still available.
Again, I'm biased 'cos I have seen him the most - by far - from this years draftees. I just really, really liked what I saw last season.
But can he do anything other than eat up minutes against top players? Can he move the puck quickly out of trouble? Can he occasionally skate it up? Can he turn the puck from defense to offense?
One thing this team has had a lot of trouble with is getting stuck in its own end because they can't move the puck up. They can have great defensemen who clear the crease and block shots, but if the other team can set up and cycle for 30-60 seconds even strength several times a game, you're playing with fire.
With Trouba, I just worry he's going to become another Nick Schultz type player who, yeah, plays some big minutes and defends against the rush and has strong position. But then what does he do when gets the puck? Chip it off the glass? Try and get it to a D partner (Brodin?) who can make a better pass?
Maybe he'd be an excellent #2 to Brodin's #1. I dunno, I'm not a scout. I'm just not drooling over this guy at #7.
One thing I can say in Trouba's defense vis a vis this team, he's different from what we currently have in system (aside from possibly Scandella). We're stockpiling puck movers to fix our issues from last year, but when it comes down to it, we had two problems on defense last year. We had no puck movers, but we also didn't have anyone clearing the crease the whole season. With Brodin, Gilbert, and Kampfer brought in, I think we're at the position where we can look to fix one or the other (or both if possible in the same guy) rather than needing to just focus on puck movement. Personally I'd like to fix the third, unmentioned issue of taking shots from the blue line.
Gilbert and Brodin I see as top four guys for sure but Kampfer is redundant with Spurgeon. A decent puck mover on the third line, but not someone you can stick against high end competition. I'm not a big "size" guy, but you can't have 5'9 guys getting 25 minutes a night.
I could see a big shutdown guy with some skills and offense (like Reinhart) or an averaged sized guy with plenty of skills, smarts, and offense (like Dumba, Murray, even Rielly), but taking an averaged sized shutdown guy with limited offense...how often does that work out in the top 5? Schenn and Hedman are guys that come to mind, and they really haven't done all that much.
