There are plenty of ideas floating around social media and comment sections about things the Minnesota Wild should do. While plenty of good things are being thrown around, there are also plenty of horrible takes. While it’s good to ignore the more” out there” theories, there are a few that keep being repeated. So let’s talk about them.
Trade Matt Boldy
This bad take has quieted down a little bit now that Matt Boldy has been finding some consistency. But when he was struggling, plenty wanted to trade him because he “wasn’t worth” the $7 million a year. It’s important to remember that he is still young! As he makes his way further into his NHL career, he should find more consistency in his game as well as confidence. In just the short time that he has been playing on the Wild, there’s already been a major uptick in his confidence. For a while, he seemed to defer to veteran players, passing the puck instead of just shooting it. But that’s an area that he’s been working on and it shows. Trading a player with star power like Boldy has is an absolute mistake, especially if they are playing well. This year, Boldy has 59 points in 66 games. Last year, he had 63 points in 81 games. He has upped his point production significantly.
Offer Brock Faber a Bridge Deal Only
This has been a recent idea, specifically in the comments of an article in the Athletic making a good guess at what Brock Faber’s next contract will look like. Now, the Wild have been burned by long-term contracts before, so it makes sense for some of you to be skittish. But rest assured that Bill Guerin isn’t giving the longest deals he can to just anyone. This isn’t a discussion about giving a 7-year deal to Marcus Foligno or Freddy Gaudreau. We are talking about not only the best rookie defenseman in the league but one of the best defensemen this season, period.
Brock Faber is the real deal. Every time skeptics thought he would have a downturn, he’s risen above it. “He was playing sheltered minutes in the playoffs.” Okay, how about putting him on the top pairing? “He’s being carried by Jonas Brodin.” Okay, how about when Brodin is out with an injury? “He doesn’t play any special teams.” Okay, how about John Hynes decides to throw him on the top power-play unit without any previous experience? He’s risen above every time.
Oh, so he’s had a small downturn in the past month or so? True. But he also spent an entire month playing 25+ minutes a game while half of the blue line was out. It makes sense that he would burn out. But he’s still out there playing on the top pairing and even scoring points. Either way, he is young with the potential to improve on his already excellent game. Give him the longest deal he can get because if Guerin doesn’t, another team would be more than happy to give it to him instead.
Get Rid of Marco Rossi
Now, this is something that’s been rumored to have been bandied about by Guerin himself. And if he goes ahead with it, it’ll be a major mistake. Sure, it’s taken longer than expected for Marco Rossi to develop into an NHL-ready player. And he might turn out to be more of a middle-six player than a top-six player. Both of those things are okay. But trading Rossi away would be a mistake. After staying over the summer during the last offseason, Rossi has shown his ability to work on the parts of his game that are lacking. He is noticeably more physical this year, which was a part of his game that was missing when he was sent back down to the Iowa Wild last year. Rossi might need more time than other rookies, but he’s shown that he’s able to improve and grow his game. Trading him at this young age could be a major mistake.
Bonus: The Goalie Problem
Click here to read an entire article about the Wild’s goalie situation, but here are the basics. The Wild should re-sign Marc-Andre Fleury for one more season. He can continue mentoring Filip Gustavsson so that Gustavsson can regain confidence and fight for the starting goalie spot again. Jesper Wallstedt can spend one more year with the Iowa Wild, hopefully behind a better team. There might also be a few chances to pull Wallstedt up for a few more NHL games.
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