https://theathletic.com/5162123/2023/12/27/danila-yurov-kirill-kaprizov-wild?source=user-shared-article
Selected bit:
“With Kaprizov locked up for two years after this season (and, the team hopes, way longer), Matt Boldy six after this, Joel Eriksson Ek five after this and Marco Rossi (second among NHL rookies with 11 goals and 21 points) likely here long-term, there are not a lot of top-six roles in the offing. And the recent extensions to the veterans have created a perception for prospects like Yurov, Ohgren, Khusnutdinov, Rasmus Kumpulainen, Hunter Haight, Riley Heidt that there’s little to no room for them.
However, Yurov is starting to develop into a high-end KHL player, so you can bet the Wild envision him to replace Marcus Johansson in 2025-26 or Zuccarello in 2026-27.
The great news is, Yurov is in a different spot developmentally than he was a year ago, when the Wild debated hard whether they needed to sign him immediately and get their paws on him. Now he’s playing a big role and improving constantly, so even if he’s getting pressure to re-sign, that would be OK for them. In other words, it makes a ton of sense for him to be a KHL star next season playing 18 minutes a night rather than play at the AHL level.”
2 comments
Really concerning if the upcoming prospects aren’t seeing a path to the roster. Some of that obviously falls on the extensions to JoJo, Freddy, Moose etc. much of that also falls on the front office, and their ongoing communication stream with the players and their agents. Not having a Asst GM and Dir of Player Ops isn’t helpful to this situation.
Like Russo says in this the extensions really feel premature. However, if you think Hartman and Foligno stay 3rd line. They won’t block those guys from the top two lines. Zuccarello is though. Mojo wont be here long term hopefully. Thats another roster spot. Everything up to this point is a crap shoot though. This front office might do something crazy and trade every prospect tomorrow.