Is Danila Yurov the Key Wild Prospect of the Future?

On today's episode of Locked on Wild, we react to Scott Wheeler's Wild prospect rankings. We look at Wheeler's prognosis for several key Wild prospects, including Jesper Wallstedt, Riley Heidt and more. We discuss why Danila Yurov may be the Wild prospect that holds the biggest potential influence, with his timeline setting up to be Mats Zuccarello's successor and a player who could keep Kirill Kaprizov in Minnesota if he pans out. We also discuss Charlie Stramel's development and why the Wild drafted him as a complement to the path that Marco Rossi has taken!
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#NHL #KirillKaprizov #MinnesotaWild

[@sharkboyben41]

Danila Yurov is definitely the key to the Wild keeping Kaprizov; a Russian peer that can play center. He's better than Kaprizov, Tarasenko, Kuznetsov, and Panarin were at his age. The way he plays almost reminds me of Sergei Fedorov or someone like Auston Matthews today; good hands, speedy, great shot, drives the play. He's got the tools to be a legit star in the NHL and if he hits, that puts the Wild into the legitimate Cup contenders territory. As for Stramel, I was dubious of the pick from the start and he hasn't made me feel any better about it this season. When the likes of Otto Stenberg and Gabe Perreault were available, I just don't see the justification for the pick beyond his physical stature. The stats and eye test just don't say "NHL power forward"...I just hope he doesn’t bust completely like James Sheppard did...Riley Heidt is the true 1st rounder from last year. He's a dynamic playmaker with a nasty streak. I see him as a meaner, more useful Kevin Fiala. I think he'll be on the team in a couple years and could be a real fan favorite!

[@Cinerary]

I think Kaprizov does sign an extension with the Wild, even if we miss the playoffs the next two years. He does like it here, and the Wild are going to make it very friendly for him in case he doesn’t like where we are going and wants to skip town a few years into his contract. Any team would trade a haul to get a perennial top 10 forward (top 5 with stars around him) in the league, even on an expensive, long term contract. The only thing that could derail him from being a lock first ballot hall of famer is injuries.

[@michaelowen6377]

Billy will pay about $2m over average...so probably more toward the $12M AAV instead of $10M max, where KK97 needs to be.

[@Cinerary]

@@michaelowen6377let’s hope not. But oh well if he does.

[@travzimmerman1340]

Kirill did the "so-so" hand sign when asked about Russian food in MN. Because of this, he's going to NY as soon as he can IMO. The only thing that keeps him here is some early 20s jugged-up corn-fed racked-out smokin'-hot smoke-show.........😂

[@Cinerary]

@@travzimmerman1340he can get Russian food imported to him here if he wants. There’s Russian markets all over the cities. There’s one in Hopkins that has everything from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine And his GF isn’t from here lol. She’s a Russian model, daughter of a famous Russian male singer.. but she speaks multiple languages including fluent English

[@travzimmerman1340]

​@@Cinerary Does imported Borscht, stale bread, Vodka or Stroganoff keep real well during transport??? Those are the only Russian foods known to man.

[@NathanMuckala-gb7is]

Keep up the great content Seth .

[@Dougeee-ei1zy]

I'd like to see Rossi put on another 5-10lbs of muscle this off-season as well. He's starting to get more comfortable in showing his skill as shown by his ability to score no matter where Hynes bounces him.

[@Cinerary]

Idk about Rossi but Boldy needs to do nothing but leg day this off-season. He gets knocked on his butt and off his feet more than any forward we have. Dudes soft for a not small guy.

[@michaelowen6377]

@@Cinerary agree with both comments - if you're not gonna be tall in the NHL, you had better have tree trunks for legs, Marty St Louis style. Boldy has the frame, he just needs to grow into it, and training to help that along is so important. seemed like a lot of "training" this past off-season with the summer of "yes" crew.

[@dajuice7030]

I know I am living in the past but wonder where Jimmy Snuggerud and Gabe Perreault would rank on this list? Two guys we could of picked instead.

[@LockedonWild]

I'd imagine Perreault would be at least 3rd Denny. As far as Suuggerud he would probably be 4th. It's hard for me to drop Heidt because he is just dominating the WHL. Yurov is dominating the KHL. Those are good picks but as we will find out in our "Prospect Stock Reports" which are coming soon, Stramel hasn't had a great season. So I'd probably slot Snuggerud at worst 5th on this list, but that's just me as I try to get further into the prospect world!

[@ErikHeying]

Agreed. I thought the pick should have been Perreault. First time I truly disagreed with a pick made by BG/Brackett.

[@keithwilliams7755]

Seth you mentioned leaving questions on an earlier episode. My question is… would you find it interesting to research the cumulative draft positions of each team’s roster? Then compare the totals (each team would have only 1 number) with the current NHL standings. This data should help clarify how draft position ( especially over time) affects t overall team success. Who knows maybe the results will surprise us?

[@LockedonWild]

This is a great idea Keith. I put this on my calendar for some digging Wednesday next week! Schedule is pretty packed until then lol

[@keithwilliams7755]

Awesome!! No hurry here. Today’s podcast was really helpful. Tnx

[@Dougeee-ei1zy]

With Wallstedt we have to also consider this year he's not had a good defense in front of him most of the year. Lots of youngsters just starting to develop. Honestly I think that's a good thing as it exposes weaknesses for him to work on

[@michaelowen6377]

good take. I'd say the forward core cabinet is pretty well stocked. this club needs to get bigger, faster, younger on the back end...whether it be thru trades instead of drafts...whatever..so be it. Wally can't play in front of that scrub core that we're blessed to watch this entire season once he gets up to the big club. We're seeing Gus and Flower's stats both get nuked by the same scrubs, so it's really undeniable, regardless of their overall record.

[@LockedonWild]

And that was the other thing about his first NHL start not going according to plan. Gave him an opportunity to see the speed of NHL shots and gave him things to work on before he comes back

[@michaelowen6377]

@@LockedonWild not gonna lie, If I'm Wally....I'm thinking the exact opposite, like "don't call me back up here until you fix this crap in front of me" LOL 😆

[@Cinerary]

Don’t kill me but I think Wallstedt’s ceiling is Cam Talbot At times Cam Talbot was able to be shut down, like the year that we got Fleury. But he’s so technically and mechanically robotic in his approach and in game play, that there’s very little in the way of improvisation to be found for players who can beat him, and also overcoming nagging injuries or when you physically feel “off”. Goalies that are hyper technical to a fault tend not to do well when something gets in the way of their routine or what has worked. I feel like that’s Wallstedt. A goalie like Yaroslav Askarov I feel like has a much higher ceiling, being very athletic and very Fleury like in his approach. Using his feel for the game and athleticism to prevent goals in certain situations rather than being a robot and following the book always. He follows it enough though to not nosedive. Wally will be good but not elite, but never terrible. And if he is elite in season it will be because of elite top 3 defense around him. But Askarov will be elite, Vezina caliber, but also may be so brutal at times that he could risk demotion. Also I think Wallstedt has a chance to be more durable

[@Dougeee-ei1zy]

@@LockedonWild the only problem with that thought is that he's facing about the same crap in Iowa. LOL

[@briangeary7684]

I remember not too long ago when the Wild really didn’t have a pipeline. The signings of Pairise / Suter was partly due to the fact there was no pipeline or prospects to bring up. I also think fan interest was waining and while we’re paying the piper now, those signings did inject life back into the franchise and sold seats. The issue was the 13 year term… Stramel could be another Filip Johansson from 2018 when even the media covering the draft that day (2018) said it was a big stretch. I hope we’re wrong as time is on Stramel’s side and big guys sometimes take a tinge longer to develop. I am beyond excited for the day Guerin has 15 million in his pocket and these kids are playing in St. Paul. Maybe the Detroit Red Wings of days gone by, with all the Russian players. Great podcast as always… 😊

[@seand1892]

Imo Eks development was barricaded by some locker room entitlement stuff.

[@michaelowen6377]

good take. Ek was a late bloomer for sure, most effective 2 way centers do take a little more time, but Parise & Suter cast a long shadow, and that whole era was toxic city for the young guys. I think it makes Ek who he is, keeps that chip on his shoulder. By far my fav player on the team right now.

[@big_red01027]

Beckman at 10 is interesting. I guess Wheeler is a close relation of his too. And since you brought up the Rangers: if Stramel develops into a Kakko/Lafreniere type of player, I hope you are able to look at him realistically and not like how Rangers fans drastically overvalue their guys.

[@Cinerary]

Wheeler is also very high on us. Overtly. Id say it’s fair to temper expectations by at least 33% on anything Wheeler says about Wild prospects If Stramel gets anywhere near Kakko that would be a massive win. Rn his in game processing speed is grading out to be a guy who never makes the NHL.

[@LockedonWild]

The guy who does Locked on NHL Prospects said at the time of Stramel "he is the worst skater of any player I profiled for this draft" That has stuck with me ever since. I'm not going to put the verdict out on him before he has a chance to develop but that issssssssssssss certainly a hill that he is going to have to climb

[@big_red01027]

@@LockedonWild I'll be interested to see if he turns that narrative on its head.

[@jonpruse4692]

Is Kaprizov or Yurov even gonna be here in the 25-26 season? I have my doubts.

[@westb1028]

Um, yes, yes they will be.

[@michaelowen6377]

spent some time yesterday thinking about what the Wild's final record will be at the end of the year. My prediction: 38-36-8, and 84 total points. they'll miss the big show by between 4 - 7 points, somewhere in that range, and either the Blues or Preds will grab the final spot. ppl should also study the Preds' contract sheet...they are positioned incredibly well to make several BIG moves at the deadline. rentals would make sense for them. Maybe we can dump Maroon back on the Blues for a 2nd tour???

[@LockedonWild]

I'd love nothing more than to see this team ship off the players that they can at the deadline and just kind of play it out, but that requires the GM to admit that this isn't a Stanley Cup contender this year, something he has yet to do lol. These next 2 weeks will hopefully make that decision for him

[@michaelowen6377]

that pinnacle moment of realization is on its way, slowly but surely!

[@travzimmerman1340]

Miss playoffs and miss draft lottery 😫

[@michaelowen6377]

@@travzimmerman1340 yea I mean, it's hard to deny the statistical trajectory this team is headed by the end of the season...and the MN curse has always been alive and well this whole time. Another bubble team mid-pick, this time missing the post-season instead of squeaking by to get in.

[@travzimmerman1340]

​@@michaelowen6377 Agreed

[@michaelowen6377]

the Blues, Flames, Kraken AND Preds all won last night lol.

[@LockedonWild]

Everybody seeing now why it is just way easier to simply handle your business rather than worry about 5 teams to not handle theirs? lol

[@michaelowen6377]

@@LockedonWild great point! and hey I'll commend any team for clawing their way back and making a deep run...but I mean, the hockey gods are def not smiling on the Wild this year. I don't enjoy losing, but if it takes more pain before it gets better, bring it on!

[@travzimmerman1340]

If Heidt, Volschtedt, Ohgren, Khusnutdinov and ESPECIALLY YUROV are a "miss" you might as well pack up shop and move the team elsewhere.......

[@Cinerary]

If we’re gonna have that much simultaneous bad luck we’ll probably get hit with a meteor too so you won’t have to worry about anything.

[@westb1028]

Lol

[@Scalptrash]

How appropriate, “big rig” will be exactly that, just another Greenway. Definitely not worthy of a first round pick, the laugh of the draft.

[@AnthonyEdwardsGOAT1]

Funny how many times the wild have tried the power forward prospect. Greenway, Coyle, and Boldy. Obviously Boldy is way better than those other two but I would still like him to try to use his size more he sometimes tries to be too flashy when he could just use his big size to get to the net but he’s having a good second half of the season this year just need him to be more consistent throughout the year.

[@travzimmerman1340]

3 times? Anyway, Boldy is in no way, shape, or form a power forward. Perfect example of a true "power forward" is a guy like John LeClair.

[@Cinerary]

@@AnthonyEdwardsGOAT1Boldy doesn’t know the meaning of the word Power. Dude is soft, gets knocked off his feet and off the puck easily. He has very little core strength compared to defenders he’s up against. He needs to hang out with Rossi and hit the gym

[@travzimmerman1340]

​@@Cinerary In Boldy's defense, if you bulk up too much it starts messin' with your golf swing.

[@Cinerary]

@@travzimmerman1340 that’s right. Don’t want to sabotage his bread & butter. That’s what brings home the bacon. Not this silly hockey nonsense