Post by Minnesota Wild on Sept 1, 2022 1:55:07 GMT -6
Welcome to the fifth edition of Wild Times
A Wild off-season indeed, Minnesota made the biggest splash in free agency, the first ever free agency in PFHL history, and signed the biggest fish - Jamie Benn. "We told our fans we were going to be aggressive this off-season in improving our team. We were very active on the trade front, but it didn't make sense for us to subtract from the current roster or trade valuable draft capital in order to improve our current club until we made a serious effort on the free agency front." Wolf explained.
And a serious effort it was, as the Wild were able to ink Jamie Benn to a 4 year deal @ 6,500,000 per year and $20 million in signing bonuses. The deal was met with a lot of scrutiny amongst the GMs in the league, but Wolf remains confident in the signing. "If we weren't prepared for the financial implications of the signing, we would have never offered it. Money is meant to be spent here in the PFHL, it's an asset in this league and it is best spent on the players who will be playing for you on the ice. Sitting on your hands or priding yourself on 'having a lot of money in the bank account' isn't going to get you anywhere far in this league. So I say let those GMs white knuckle onto their bankroll like it means something just sitting idle. The successful teams make the bold moves, and we feel this move is really going to benefit our franchise moving forward. We couldn't be more thrilled to acquire Jamie Benn." Wolf defended.
The Minnesota Wild made a brief appearance in the stanley cup playoffs last season, being ousted in 5 games in the first round. Many critizied their lack of depth for their early exit, but with the acquisition of Benn, the graduation of Seider from their prospect pipeline, and a much more improved goaltender in Jake Oettinger, the Wild have been suddenly blessed with more high end depth and a more balanced roster.
Projected 2022-2023 Minnesota Opening Night Lineup:
Teravainen - Kopitar - MacKinnon
Arvidsson - Benn - Atkinson
Cogliano - Kuznetsov - Watson
Nieto - Dickinson - Pitlick
Brodin - Josi
Ellis - Seider
Merrill - Braun
Oettinger
Husso
As you can see, adding Benn is vital here, it is able to push the rest of the depth chart of the roster into positions more suitable to their skill level, adds balance and more scoring options. The Wild haven't subtracted anybody this season but were able to add two high profile players in Benn and Seider to the lineup, and Wild management believes this will be a game changer. "Definitely improvements in the team this off-season for sure, we're excited for the new additions and feel our team will only get better next season."
Minnesota hopes to improve on their last season record which saw them clinch the final playoff spot in the west on the last day of the regular season. "Our goals and expectation are to not be as inconsistent as we were and limp into the post-season like last year. We want to establish strong playoff positioning early on and cement ourselves amongst the top of the Central division. Anything less will be a colossal failure. If the team waivers in any fashion throughout the season we won't sit idle like we did last year, we'll make the necessary adjustments to keep pushing ahead."
Will the Wild pack more of a bite in the 2022-2023 season? We are about to find out.
A Wild off-season indeed, Minnesota made the biggest splash in free agency, the first ever free agency in PFHL history, and signed the biggest fish - Jamie Benn. "We told our fans we were going to be aggressive this off-season in improving our team. We were very active on the trade front, but it didn't make sense for us to subtract from the current roster or trade valuable draft capital in order to improve our current club until we made a serious effort on the free agency front." Wolf explained.
The Wild made the biggest splash in the first inaugural free agency of the PFHL and were able to lock down Jamie Benn in a monsterous 4 year, $6,500,000 million dollar deal with a total contract value of $46,000,000
And a serious effort it was, as the Wild were able to ink Jamie Benn to a 4 year deal @ 6,500,000 per year and $20 million in signing bonuses. The deal was met with a lot of scrutiny amongst the GMs in the league, but Wolf remains confident in the signing. "If we weren't prepared for the financial implications of the signing, we would have never offered it. Money is meant to be spent here in the PFHL, it's an asset in this league and it is best spent on the players who will be playing for you on the ice. Sitting on your hands or priding yourself on 'having a lot of money in the bank account' isn't going to get you anywhere far in this league. So I say let those GMs white knuckle onto their bankroll like it means something just sitting idle. The successful teams make the bold moves, and we feel this move is really going to benefit our franchise moving forward. We couldn't be more thrilled to acquire Jamie Benn." Wolf defended.
The Minnesota Wild made a brief appearance in the stanley cup playoffs last season, being ousted in 5 games in the first round. Many critizied their lack of depth for their early exit, but with the acquisition of Benn, the graduation of Seider from their prospect pipeline, and a much more improved goaltender in Jake Oettinger, the Wild have been suddenly blessed with more high end depth and a more balanced roster.
Projected 2022-2023 Minnesota Opening Night Lineup:
Teravainen - Kopitar - MacKinnon
Arvidsson - Benn - Atkinson
Cogliano - Kuznetsov - Watson
Nieto - Dickinson - Pitlick
Brodin - Josi
Ellis - Seider
Merrill - Braun
Oettinger
Husso
As you can see, adding Benn is vital here, it is able to push the rest of the depth chart of the roster into positions more suitable to their skill level, adds balance and more scoring options. The Wild haven't subtracted anybody this season but were able to add two high profile players in Benn and Seider to the lineup, and Wild management believes this will be a game changer. "Definitely improvements in the team this off-season for sure, we're excited for the new additions and feel our team will only get better next season."
Minnesota hopes to improve on their last season record which saw them clinch the final playoff spot in the west on the last day of the regular season. "Our goals and expectation are to not be as inconsistent as we were and limp into the post-season like last year. We want to establish strong playoff positioning early on and cement ourselves amongst the top of the Central division. Anything less will be a colossal failure. If the team waivers in any fashion throughout the season we won't sit idle like we did last year, we'll make the necessary adjustments to keep pushing ahead."
Will the Wild pack more of a bite in the 2022-2023 season? We are about to find out.
