Minnesota obviously wanted more size in the bottom-6. I am unfamiliar with the style of play Minnesota employs but the Rangers employ a very up-tempo style. Rupp just couldn't quite keep up. Hence why Powe makes more sense. The Rangers also lost Dubinsky and Prust over the off-season who helped stir the pot.
Rupp will be fine, he will score 3-5 goals a year and have 7-10 assists or so. He will drop the gloves with anyone but he isn't going to win very many. Good locker room guy.
So, basically the type of team the Wild have been trying for? So, yeah I don't get the addition of Rupp here. I get the bigger thing, but such downgrade in speed. Just seems to go away from the plan.
So, basically the type of team the Wild have been trying for? So, yeah I don't get the addition of Rupp here. I get the bigger thing, but such downgrade in speed. Just seems to go away from the plan.
I mean it depends on who he is going to play with. On the Rangers, their bottom-6, at least so far just hasn't gelled. They have super speedsters with slower guys. Rupp can skate well for his role but not as well as he once did.
I won't make rash judgements yet because I'm not a hockey GM (& I hope to god that there's another move coming) but didn't we just see that we have trouble because we lack speed? The Ducks skated all over us.. So how does getting a bigger, slower player help...?
Color me confused but so far I'm not to impressed with this move...
Freeing up a contract? Sending a message? Either way I really hope that there's something in the works to bring us another speedy goal scorer...
I do see more trades going down. I see Yeo on the block soon too if things do not turn around. It is still very early i know. Yeo did worse than Richards in ether of his two years. We got the two best FAs. If Yeo asked for size he got that too. Soon he needs the results of not just a play off team but a contender.
Am I the only one who doesn't think the Wild are slow?
They aren't "slow" but they play slow. Our forwards just stand around in the neutral zone and then just have every pass go past their stick by 6 inches.
Am I the only one who doesn't think the Wild are slow?
I didn't think we were until I was at the Ducks / Wild game. Watching it in person we looked a step behind all night... I was really disappointed.. Maybe just an off game but we looked like amateurs out there.. Just a real ****show...
Nickshultzfan said it well.. It was like they were just lacking that extra jump & step all night.. Like they weren;t willing to work for it.. Maybe it isn't lack of speed, maybe it's heart.. BUT, I wouldn't call us a fast team by any means either...
I didn't think we were until I was at the Ducks / Wild game. Watching it in person we looked a step behind all night... I was really disappointed.. Maybe just an off game but we looked like amateurs out there.. Just a real ****show...
Lol exactly. Teams have bad games. Tired legs. It happens in homey quite a bit as everyone that has played knows. It happens to every team. We're not slow. We played tired one game, but it's 1 game.
Either way, if the Wild lack speed, swapping out a fourth liner isn't the answer. Or if they lack size, swapping out a fourth liner isn't the answer. Or if they lack goal scoring, swapping out a fourth liner isn't the answer.
Really, I think this is about freeing up a contract spot.
And I really do think Kassian will be moved soon. He can't get out of the press box, Rupp is a similar type of player, Konopka plays that role too...
[Powe] was playing a fourth-line role this year, limited minutes, was expendable and frankly his game is limited. As coach Mike Yeo said this morning before the trade, his game hasn’t been sharp this year.
Palmieri, to me, is just a non-factor. He held out last summer. He refused to report to Houston initially after being cut from camp. As I wrote a few weeks ago, he was on the outs and had no future in Minnesota. It was just a matter of time before the Wild moved him.
As for Matt Kassian, his future may also be elsewhere at this point. He’s being scratched in his ninth consecutive game tonight. At some point, the Wild either needs to move him or put him on waivers to give him a chance at being claimed elsewhere. He deserves it. He’s a good soldier, a great character guy, etc.
But if you need to get grittier on the wall and the Wild’s calling up players and making trades rather than putting Kassian in, it’s clear the writing’s on the wall and the end of his line in Minnesota could be on the horizon.
I won't make rash judgements yet because I'm not a hockey GM (& I hope to god that there's another move coming) but didn't we just see that we have trouble because we lack speed? The Ducks skated all over us.. So how does getting a bigger, slower player help...?
Color me confused but so far I'm not to impressed with this move...
Freeing up a contract? Sending a message? Either way I really hope that there's something in the works to bring us another speedy goal scorer...
Seto+Kassian+ 2nd or 3rd round pick for ...?
I do see something like this happening. We have three guys who can fight- who really needs another? Seto+ that could land us a very good prospect or established defensemen/whatever GMCF thinks we need.
Am I the only one who doesn't think the Wild are slow?
nope. we're not any slower than average IMO.
i don't understand this unless Kassian is also gone somewhere. It's not like the fourth line was getting pushed around, either. IMO the fourth was the best line almost every night--best as in "doing what they are supposed to with the most success". Trading Powe for Rupp is going to negate some of why the fourth was successful in possessing the puck in the other guys' zone. Not sure what the deal is here. must be part of a larger plan...or something behind the scene we don't know about.
Don't really know what to think about this deal, in that it doesn't really make any sense at all.
Granted, I called a few weeks ago that the Wild would throw Palmieri away for nothing because of personal grudges. And frankly Powe didn't really add or subtract much from the team which is absolutely stacked with PKers. So the subtractions were pretty predictable. But this team doesn't need another middling enforcer to go with Konopka––especially when they have a top-tier enforcer who's been scratched every game. And it doesn't solve or even really affect the need for size up front to surround Granlund and co.
Russo's blog sort of confirmed the two possibilities I'd been pondering:
(A) Kassian's being shopped, which gels with Fletcher's comments like "I have to talk to Matt and his representation and see what the coaches think and do what’s right for the team and for Matt going forward," and "we’re going to need some diversified scoring, some secondary scoring, so we’ll keep looking for that."
(B) This is a shot across the bow of the rest of the lineup, that unless they shape the **** up, there will be shake-ups and trades.
i don't understand this unless Kassian is also gone somewhere. It's not like the fourth line was getting pushed around, either. IMO the fourth was the best line almost every night--best as in "doing what they are supposed to with the most success". Trading Powe for Rupp is going to negate some of why the fourth was successful in possessing the puck in the other guys' zone. Not sure what the deal is here. must be part of a larger plan...or something behind the scene we don't know about.
It really must be, because Powe, while not producing, was a high energy- great forechecker that brought it night in and night out. Fast, not skilled though. Good PK. Perfect 4th liner.
Didn't really have a strong opinion about Powe but thought he was always good on the PK. Palmieri was obviously expendable and his inclusion in this trade makes me think Fletch was crossing his fingers he would get picked up on waivers a couple weeks ago.
I heard what we gave up before I heard what we got and expected more than just Mike Rupp. Yeo must've had some experience with him in Pittsburgh in 2009-10 so at least he knows what he's getting. I guess I'm just waiting to see how Rupp does before I have an opinion. Yay for opening up a contract spot I guess?
