Have you guys read about the potential Pierre Luc Dubios buyout idea? So he turns 26 on June 24th, why is that date important, because if you’re 25 years old or younger, the buyout option is 1/3 of the remaining contract total, once you turn 26 years old, that changes to owing 2/3 of the remaining contract total. The buyout window opens June 15th or 48 hours AFTER the Stanley Cup is awarded whichever date is LATER, the current schedule shows Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals falling on June 24th. So they could get screwed just based on when the Cup is won.

The Buyout would have a significant caphit the first 7 years, then a smaller hit for an additional 7 years! But those totals can differ by 1/3 depending on when the Stanley Cup is won and how old he is…

its just crazy and rumors are they are seriously considering it! If they try to trade him, they will likely need to eat a good chunk of his $8.5 aav owed another 7 years and include draft picks to sweeten the deal…

I admit, I was saying the Wild should take a chance on trying to acquire him last year in hopes he would mature as a person/player, we dodged a bullet there!

IF Boston loses game 7, they would be the first team EVER in major pro sports to blow 3-1 leads in consecutive years…

CaptainMusky wrote:

Rossi is such an easy kid to root for I would hate to see him go. There are some questionable contracts Id rather get rid of before I would want to get rid of him. Freddy and JoJo for starters, but no chance at that after the year they had.

Remember Jojo can be demoted to the minors for cap savings (if he even accepts the demotion, likely not) Freddy’s contract will be moveable in a year or two at the most, it’s a low AAV and he plays Center, some rebuilding team would take that on for a no drama veteran if incentivized with a draft pick or two…if he has a turn around and plays the way he did last year, we’ll take it for $2.1aav (as much as I hate watching him)

Hopefully he shoots 20,000 pucks this summer up in the BC Wilderness….

The best strategy with battery powered devices (Mowers, Blowers, Trimmers, etc) is to transition ALL of your yard tools to utilize the one battery design…I did that with Echo 56volt products a year ago (Chainsaw, Trimmer, Blower, hedge trimmer) its so nice to just deal with 1 battery that runs them all (I haven’t upgraded my Toro mower yet because it runs like a champ)

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
No AM34 for the Leafs tonight…

Undefeated without him…. Think it’s secretly a healthy scratch so they don’t embarrass him and hurt his feelings? Kinda like Deano did with Freddy last fall

it’s strange for sure…check the guy who fills the water bottles…

No AM34 for the Leafs tonight…

tswoboda wrote:

Yep and why are they not willing to trade those other guys… because they love them

well, yes I think they like a potential generational goalie and a 6’2″ Goal scoring winger signed to a good contract for 6 more years better than a 5’9″ Center…Begs the question, then why did they draft him? That’s a great question Russo and others should ask GMBG if they could…

IF you’re GMBG and staff, if you FEEL Yurov or Heidt will be your top 6 Center option with Ek when they make the Wild, would you rather have Rossi needing a place to fit in at 3C or one of the last 2 top 6 Wing spots (where he’s never played before) or somebody like a Ryan Leonard? That’s the scenario they are contemplating…

tswoboda wrote:

JoeMX1825 wrote:
I always thought the Rossi trade idea was stupid, i’m just saying I can now understand why the idea is apparently out there…

I read it as Russo’s way of saying the Wild brass doesn’t love him

I think of it as he’s the ONLY asset they have and would be willing to trade (no Boldy/Wallstedt) to get better (starting next season at the longest) that other teams would be interested in…so it would need to be for a young player with either 1-2 seasons in the NHL or in their final year of NCAA/CHL knowing they would play in the NHL next year…

I always thought the Rossi trade idea was stupid, i’m just saying I can now understand why the idea is apparently out there…

CaptainMusky wrote:

Personally from the amount of time I have seen Rossi play I think he is a more effective center than he would be at wing. He sees the ice well, is strong on the puck, putting him at wing takes away a lot of what he is good at IMO. He is a puck distributor IMO and that is better to be a center than wing unless on the PP I guess.

other than a few games this season when Deano was desperate, he’s played Center his entire career…I didn’t notice many situations this season when he couldn’t handle the defensive responsibilities the center has or when his size was an issue, he played well in all offensive situations and only scored 1 fewer goal than Bejesus…all reasons why he’s our best trade asset!

Heidt is another future top prospect who COULD be moved to Wing for roster slotting purposes, but he’s a great faceoff guy and a great middle of the ice distributor, not sure they want to change that. It will be interesting to see if he grows at all this offseason, he’s currently the same size as Braydon Point and that’s the style of player he matches upto imo…

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JoeMX1825 wrote:</div>
the added benefit to trading Rossi this offseason is the team getting him has an ELC season left…so it just adds to his value…

Another 30 points on the stat sheet would add a hell of a lot more though

not disagreeing, this would be a risk if they did it no doubt…they only do it if they feel the kid they get back provides more than Rossi could, a big scoring RH shot winger is a HUGE need from a secondary scoring standpoint…The only types of players I think of as worthy of trading Rossi are guys like a Ryan Leonard…

tswoboda wrote:

That’s who I was referring too. He was drafted as a wing and has played plenty of both

Yeah, you typically don’t just flip to center as an 18+ year old, you switch from center to wing… kinda strange, but I guess the Wild felt he could do it and somehow got the KHL team to agree and it appears to have worked out (he handled the defensive part fine, but obviously needs to work on faceoffs)

tswoboda wrote:

Right so the point is to take advantage of those cheap RFA years, right? Not trade them all 3 years before they might get paid $7m. All because there are some good prospects coming up who might be better

If he is eventually due that payday and they don’t want to pay it, they can still trade him then

agreed, the added benefit to trading Rossi this offseason is the team getting him has an ELC season left…so it just adds to his value…

tswoboda wrote:

So they need to trade him for a cheaper player who is a 3rd liner type ??

If Rossi’s good enough to get a $7m payday he’s not going to be playing on the 3rd line. The team is severely lacking high end forwards yet they need to ship out this young, potential high end forward because there’s no room for him? Makes no sense

from what I heard the Wild would only be looking for a top Wing prospect, so that’s what you would be exchanging him for…You keep bringing up Rossi at Wing, but the team has never put him there (maybe he played a few game stretch, but they put him back at center) he and they seem deadset at him playing center… Yurov absolutely could though…

I’m sure GMBG and staff have whiteboarded the hell out of what this team could project to be 2-4 years out and they aren’t willing to put Rossi’s name down in Sharpie…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Look at Dallas they are loaded with like 3 first lines… seems to be working

Dallas is living the good life this season with big time producers all on ELC’s, their future is going to change alot soon due to having too many good players.. Harley is likely going to get a huge deal, Wyatt Johnson is going to get $9+ aav in 2 years, Robertson is looking at $11+ in 3 years, Stankhoven likely a big deal if he maintains his pace (Yes Benn comes off in 2 years to help)

tswoboda wrote:

The “there’s no room for him” take is silly. Let’s not pretend like this team has too many good forwards, and even if they did how is that a problem? Look at Dallas they are loaded with like 3 first lines… seems to be working.

it’s said because it’s really the ONLY example of why trading him is plausible based on how this team is laid out with prospects and contracts…he’s also due a new contract next season (its most likely a 2 year bridge deal) but then what do you do after that when his agent is asking for $7+ million per? Are you going to pay him $7+ to be a 3rd liner? It’s only an option if it makes sense…

Rossi is our best & realistically only young tradable asset with upper level Value (we’re not trading Boldy or Wallstedt) that’s really the story here…IF there’s a way that trading Rossi can improve this team, then its an OPTION GMBG needs to at least listen to…but its ONLY an option if it makes sense for the Wild…
I’m a huge Rossi fan, he was absolutely robbed early in the season with hitting pipes, not scoring on breakaways, 3 overturned video review goals, etc, the kid could have had 30+ goals easy…plus the kid is the perfect type of player you want on your team, full effort, can stay healthy and is a team guy first, it would need to be alot to trade him away…

Yurov is projecting to be an AllStar level player who has had success playing Center in the KHL…IF he meets those expectations, that potentially pushes Rossi to the 3rd line or Wing (either not optimal for Rossi’s game)

If trading Rossi can turn into a young RH scoring Wing with size (like a Ryan Leonard or Cutter Gauthier) then its something to look at…

Wonder if the Capitals would be a team interested in Rossi? they are pretty bare at Center and Ryan Leonard would be a great fit for the Wild…

Joe Jarl wrote:

Interesting. I’ve refused to pay for Bally’s up to this point. I wonder if now I’ll be able to access games through our Amazon Prime. The one article I checked out seems to indicate that may be the case.

The NHL and Amazon deal is still being finalized, it will likely be similar to how they televise Thursday Night Football games, Its an additional tier to pay for with your Prime Membership…

gimruis wrote:

Does this only affect the Twins? I’d hate to not be able to watch the Timberwolves playoff games at this point.

I know that most of the NBA playoff games are a national telecast on TNT or ESPN but if you inside the regional zone, you can only view them on the regional network, which in this case is Bally’s.

All Bally content is off Comcast, thankfully the rest of the NBA Playoff games this season will be Nationally televised on ABC and TNT/TBS

I was just listing out their potential center depth in the future (for sure some of them could move to Wings) and if all things worked out, where would Rossi rank on that list? especially top 6? I was always against the move Rossi thinking, but I can understand it now…the incoming player would need to perfectly fit the need though…

obviously the biggest worry is trading away Rossi and he turns into a Brayden Point type of center where their size doesn’t really effect their game much. Point is 5’10” 175 and had 18 goals and 40 points his first NHL season, sound familiar? He also has the benefit of playing with Kucherov or Stamkos most of his career…I think Rossi and Heidt can use Point as the player to strive to be…

I think Stramel at 4C sounds intriguing (Freddy’s contract might get in the way though for a few years)

KP wrote:

How about the news that Bally Sports will no longer be aired on Comcast. For me I’m pissed about it not just for the Wild but the random Twins games I watch and the good ol fishing shows they have on the weekend mornings.

we knew this was coming, I think the NHL has an Amazon streaming deal in their back pocket ready to roll out nationally…

Ripjiggen wrote:

Strammel is not part of the center conversation or equation at this point.

for sure when thinking if he’s a future 1C/2C and maybe even 3C, but he could be a great forecheking 4C in the NHL with his size and skating ability…He was always a 55%+ faceoff guy at the USNTDP…

CaptainMusky wrote:

There should be value in trading Rossi I would think. He really had a bounceback year. His FO % is really improved too. It would be nice to get some size and with the other prospects coming in recent years they would project to kind of force him down the lineup likely. I dont think Strammel is going to pan out. He has the tools, but we will see how this next year goes for him.

yeah, I also think they like the idea of selling high IF they are going to sell, again it will depend on what the return is, they aren’t going to trade him, just to trade him…Kent Johnson, Cutter Gauthier, Morgan Frost were the player comps Russo gave as the type of player the Wild would be interested in…

Stramel is a ? still, he was in that top 25 USNTDP just a few years ago and he’s young for his birth year…Obviously this next season is make or break for him and the Wild will need to make a contract decision or risk losing him as a UFA if he plays out his senior season…

Russo/Smith Videocast where they discuss that there’s alot of smoke around the idea of shopping Rossi this offseason for another young Forward that adds more size and scoring…

If you think about the current/future young Center depth (Ek, Rossi, Yurov, Haight, Heidt, Stramel) it starts to make a little more sense if they could turn him into a young stud winger with size (Cutter Gauthier was the example given)…Yes, Yurov and Heidt aren’t proven NHL centers yet, so there’s that positive for Rossi in that he is proven and his size really didn’t hamper him much this season…

CaptainMusky wrote:

Joe did comcast and bally not get a deal done or what? Glad I have directv stream. It has all the channels I want and seems to be the most stable of all the carriers.

nope, Ballys were dragging their feet and Comcast shut the signal off nationally last night (midway through the Nashville Predators game)
I figured something like this would happen so I only signed a 1 year locked in rate deal with them several months ago, this will be my last cable contract…really hope Pro Sports move to a streaming model…at least the Timberwolves playoff games will be nationally televised from now on…

That was our last chance to watch them on TV (unless they are on a national broadcast)

As soon as my yearly contract has expired I’m done with Comcast!

lol

Bedard, Faber and Hughes are the finalists for the Calder…Rossi likely 4th or 5th…

Denver vs Wolves second round series, this will be a battle! it’s likely going to come down to who gets into early foul trouble and needs to replace their top guys, I think the Wolves have better depth…Kat needs to stay away from the dumb ticky-tack fouls he’s prone to getting…

Murray will be this round’s Devon Booker, except he’s nowhere as fast as Booker so it will be harder to get to the line for easy free throws… Joker vs Gobert will be fun to watch…