Yesterday the Minnesota Wild trimmed their roster further to prepare for the regular season. This time the cuts affected players who were once thought to have a big chance to make this team, and Head Coach Bruce Boudreau would say it was a simple matter of them not taking the opportunity given to them.
Tuesday’s game in Colorado was a disappointment as the Wild put forth a lack luster and erratic effort that led to 2-0 loss on a night when many of the Wild’s roster hopefuls needed to shine. Head Coach Bruce Boudreau had told this group in the morning before they departed for Colorado to “Show me what you’ve got and put your best foot forward tonight.” It was a challenge where Boudreau tried to communicate that if a player went out and gave his all he might be able to make the team.
His comments after the game and the team’s action yesterday explain how the Wild coach felt those players did in meeting his challenge. After the game in Colorado Boudreau explained that to Michael Russ of the Star Tribune that “We keep waiting, and we keep looking for signs,” he said. “We see little signs here and there, but no consistent sign of anything. Like, you can like one guy one period or one game and not the next, and the one thing about the NHL is that you’ve got to be consistent.”
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And that was what has really been at the heart of the matter for the Wild roster hopefuls this season, consistency. None of them have strung together anything approaching three, four, or five games of strong games for 60 minutes. The ones who have even come close are the ones who are left after yesterday’s cut down.
The Wild announced yesterday that Alex Tuch, Kurtis Gabriel, Jordan Schroeder, and Hunter Warner would all be assigned to Iowa. Gabriel and Schroeder had cleared waivers and were on their way to Iowa when lack of player availability allowed them to play one more game in Colorado, this move is their actual assignment to Iowa. Hunter Warner was scrappy and physical could have fit in, but Reilly, Prosser, and Folin have all played just a bit better.
Tuch had strong flashes of brilliant play but couldn’t convert it to results on the scoresheet. He showed his potential this camp and Boudreau noticed on many occasions. But in the end it seemed as if Tuch couldn’t shake the status quo path of required seasoning in the AHL after playing in the NCAA. Once again Boudreau explains it best by saying “A guy like Tuch, we need him to play 50 games in the American League. He’s going to get better and better. His camp was real good. We just need him to play more, rather than play eight minutes a night . That wouldn’t be in his best interest.”
Then there’s Graovac. This might be one of the bigger let downs in a while. Almost everyone would have said before camp that the 4th line center job was his to lose, but he did just that he lost it. The strong thinkers on this subject felt that because he required waivers to be sent to Iowa that he was almost immune from a send down. Apparently that was not case.
“But the job was there for him, and he just didn’t take It” – Wild Head Coach Bruce Boudreau, via Michael Russo Star Tribune
Boudreau himself explained why Graovac failed to make the team. “It’s just important that he competes a little harder,” Boudreau said. “I mean, he’s a guy that’s 6-foot-4, 200 and some pounds. Everyone wants that kind of guy. But the job was there for him, and he just didn’t take it.” Bottom line if Graovac wanted to secure his space on the team he needed to impress the head coach, and he just didn’t do that. Will he be back up in the future? Sure, but he’ll need to earn that down in Iowa.
So who’s left to fill out the team. Right now the forward hopefuls still in camp are Joel Eriksson-Ek, Zac Dalpe, Christoph Bertschy, and tryout forward Ryan Carter. These players have two days of practice and the final preseason game on Saturday to make their case iron clad.
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But for ones who have been optioned to Iowa, the biggest thing to remember is that those players are not done with NHL action this year. Injuries happen, players regress, and sometimes a player just plays too well in the AHL not to get a call-up. Making the opening day roster is not the end of the road for these players, and their cutting off the roster might actually be more about establishing the expectations of Bruce Boudreau than an indictment on their play.
Some of these players might have made the squad under Mike Yeo, but this is part of Boudreau’s culture change for this team. He wants all the players to know that there’s a standard that you need to live up to in order to play for the Wild. “That’s what got me upset at a lot of these guys. The jobs were there to be had, and some guys just didn’t take their opportunity” Boudreau explained.
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Boudreau set a standard and these players haven’t lived up to it. The State of Hockey needs to get used to it because Boudreau expects all of his players to reach that standard to play, and we’re going to see plenty more moments like this in the Boudreau era if players don’t live up to those standards.