What is The Daily Clutter?
It’s pretty simple. The Clutter is us but it’s also the news about Minnesota hockey & hockey in general and we want to Bring The Clutter to you, our fans or The ClutterPuckers, daily!
Alright! What do we have for today’s Clutter? The ranking of best under-23 players & prospects, does the media know more than the teams they cover? even in Canada?, Trade Deadline stuff how crazy it is how confidence flips a switch to help teams and the Minnesota Wild win!
We might sprinkle in some other fun things, too.
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Ranking the top NHL players and prospects under 23: Connor Bedard leads the list – The Athletic
It’s always fun to see how your favorite team’s players & prospects rank in these lists and how many they get on the list. The Minnesota Wild have 9 players on this list of 169 players:
Tier 4
NHL All-Star
11. F Matt Boldy (NHL)
Tier 6
Top of the lineup player
30. D Brock Faber
Tier 6
Top of the lineup player
30. D Brock Faber (NHL)
Tier 7
Bubble top and middle of the lineup player
54. F Danila Yurov (KHL)
56. G Jesper Wallstedt (AHL)
58. F Marco Rossi (NHL)
Tier 8
Middle of the lineup player
125. F Caeden Bankier (AHL)
129. F Liam Ohgren (SHL)
143. F Charlie Stramel (NCAA)
169. F Marat Khusnatdinov (KHL)
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How Canucks’ management sticking to their guns despite media pressure is paying off
Jason Brough and Mike Halford praise the Vancouver Canucks’ management for how Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin proved doubters wrong by not folding to the pressure of the media and sticking to their guns when it came to retooling the team.
I just found this headline to be kind of stupid because has any team changed anything they’ve ever done due to “media pressure?” I haven’t read the article because of how stupid that is. I might post something later but… I doubt it. It’s actually a video so I listened to it and it was just as stupid.
Why would a team care what the media thinks or says or wants or anything? Thank you for promoting the team but we’re good on how to run the team. If you have anyone in the organization who needs help in deciding what they need to do to improve the team, they probably shouldn’t be there in the first place.
It is Canada and a lot of the media could be former players so they might have an idea what they’re talking about but that doesn’t change anything about it. Teams hire people to do the job because they’re qualified to do it. How many of the people were even paying attention to any of the media?
Here’s another thing. Current Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet hasn’t even been there for a full year or a full season since he was hired on January 23rd, 2023. So… why would he change anything until his system and the structure and the culture were in place and then see how it goes for at least a full season?
WOW! This is so ridiculous! Does the media in Canada really think that much of themselves? That they could do a better job and they won’t give a coach even a full season to evaluate the team? That’s just sad but… come to think of it, that’s kind of how it goes in Minnesota too except the media aren’t former players, they’re idiot media personalities saying stupid things to get clicks and that is why I don’t listen or read it anymore.
Here’s a crazy idea. If you think you’re that good and can do it yourself, stop talking about it and go do it! Or, in other words…
BRING THE CLUTTER!!!
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The Trade Deadline isn’t until March 8th but teams are starting to figure out what they need to go on the long ‘Cup run!
The NHL Trade Deadline is still 52 days away on March 8th but every team is figuring out what they need and/or what future assets they can get for their players.
Since Tampa Bay Lightning F Steven Stamkos is an impending free agent, there have been rumors that he might be moved but Lightning GM Julien BriseBois squashed that today by saying Stamkos ‘is not getting traded’ That’s interesting because if the Bolts, who the Minnesota Wild play tomorrow night, are currently in the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference which would make you think they would be open to trading him if they were going to miss the playoffs. It’s also interesting because it must mean that they think they will be able to re-sign him or they’ll just let him go to free agency as one of the most important players in that franchise’s history.
Five teams that could define the NHL trade market in 2024 from SportsNet
In more Trade Deadline news, SportsNet gives us 5 teams they think could define the 2024 Trade Deadline. They list the Colombus Blue Jackets, the Vancouver Canucks (Canuckleheads!), the Calgary Flames, the Anaheim Ducks and the Ottawa Senators.
It’s usually fun to look at who your team might be able to go get but unfortunately, this season, the Minnesota Wild will likely not be active unless they can someone create some cap spaces by assisting on a couple of trades like they did last season. They simply have no cap room though so they probably can’t even do that!
You still have to wonder if Billy G has anything up his sleeve because he believes in his team and we’ve seen him go get help for them at the Trade Deadline every season since he’s been here.
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Minnesota Wild
The Record: 18-20-5 (W-L-OTL); 41 points, 7th in NHL’s Central Division
2023-24 Minnesota Wild Schedule and Results
from
Hockey Reference
The Minnesota Wild snapped their 4-game losing streak and are now 2-7-1 in their last 10 games after 11-3-0 after the change to coach John Hynes. It just goes to show how much confidence plays into winning. That’s not the surprise for us. The surprise is how often teams of professional players lose confidence and doubt rises in their games even though they are in the NHL and getting paid to play a game. They’re getting paid to play a game & they’re getting paid a lot more than most people to do it!
They had the players-only meeting and played a great game last night in a 5-0 win against a New York Islanders team that is also trying to get back into the race for the postseason.
Subscribe to The Athletic – It’s worth it! They have a deal for $1.99/month right now!
From the article above from Joe Smith, Senior Writer for the Wild & the NHL from The Athletic:
“Minnesota Wild fans let their reeling team have it Saturday night, booing the players off the ice after an embarrassing 6-0 loss to the Arizona Coyotes.
Then the players let each other hear it, airing out their issues in a long postgame meeting. The doors to their dressing room were closed for 22 minutes following the final horn. Former Wild defenseman Matt Dumba had already showered, changed, met up with family and made it to the Coyotes bus by then.
This wasn’t the first players-only meeting, and judging by how the year has gone, it won’t be the last.
The Wild have hit rock bottom a few times, but this might be a new low, the team having lost eight out of its last nine. In what leaders called a pivotal stretch of the season, the Wild have tallied three points out of their last 18 possible, with their last regulation win Dec. 27.
This group has been battered with injuries in the past month. A bunch of guys have been sick recently.
But right now they look like a team that’s lost its identity, or at least lost its confidence, a stark contrast from the 11-3 run to start John Hynes’ tenure.
“Sometimes you go through a stretch like this where you feel like nothing works,” Zuccarello said. “That’s why you have to believe in each other, give each other confidence. That’s the only way to get out of it.
“We’ll see Monday who is showing up or not.”
The Wild have done plenty of talking this season, from the three players-only meetings to president and GM Bill Guerin giving the group a “kick-in-the-ass” ripfest on the eve of its Sweden Global Series trip in mid-November. They’ve already got one coach fired in Dean Evason, let go on Nov. 27 after a seven-game losing streak.
The Wild need to back up that talk with action before their season is a lost cause. We’re almost there now, with Minnesota eight points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, with the Oilers holding three games in hand and on a 10-game winning streak.”
It’s crazy to think they just decided they need to start winning and playing with confidence. As a group, they knew they had to start winning & do it immediately or this season could very easily be over. They did it last night with a 5-0 win to help G Marc-Andre Fleury earn his 552nd career win to take sole possession of 2nd place for All-Time Wins in the National Hockey League. It was also his 74th career shutout.
The big question now is… Can they keep playing that well? Do they do the same things they did last night in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night, just decide to play with confidence and play their game of aggressive hockey?
We’ll find out at 6 pm on Wednesday night on ESPN+/Hulu!
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Minnesota Gophers
Cinematic Recap:
Gopher Men’s Hockey Sweeps Robert Morris
Are the Minnesota Gophers heating up at the right time? They’ve won 3 out of 4 since the holiday break. Or is it because those were non-conference games?
They have 12 games remaining, 6 at home & 6 on the road and all 12 of those games are conference games so will they be able to keep rolling on Friday & Saturday against the Ohio State Buckeyes? Both games are at 7 pm. Friday night’s game is on FOX9 and Saturday’s game will be on the BIG Ten Network.
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If you’ve missed or want to read older issues of The Daily Clutter:
Daily Clutter – Issue #1
Daily Clutter – Issue #2
Daily Clutter – Issue #3
Daily Clutter – Issue #4
Daily Clutter – Issue #5
Daily Clutter – Issue #6
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