Nico Sturm has signed a new contract with the Minnesota Wild.

The elite center the wild need

Better then Marcus Johansson.

i think this kid could be a 3C eventually. He's got all the tools

Solid signing, love it.

Damn this got me

I hope he turns into a great bottom 6 center. He seems to play a good 2-Way game. Clearly a ceiling to his game but we're not expecting him to be a 1C or even a 2C. Just need a consistent, shut down bottom 6 C and I think he can accomplish that.

25 forward like 8 nhl games.......why?

I mean, he's only being signed for $725,000 and to play 4th line minutes...who else should they get? Connor McDavid?

I don't know man, try the NCAA or something. At 25, he's not it.

That's where he came from the NCAA. Last year was his first pro season and MN put him the AHL so he could get quality playing time.

You do realize he came over from the NCAA? He had a great season at Clarkson, signed a 1 year deal and played in AHL to adjust to the speed of the pros. He actually looked good, too. As far as "At 25, he's not it" Carson Soucy just debuted this last season at 25, and he turned out well. Everyone has different development paths. But when you watch Sturm, you can see the kid's got some game.

Yes I realize he came from the NCAA. What I'm sayings is at 25, if he's not already there, he's done.
Go back, find a 22 year old kid, try again.

He's signed 2 years for cheap to fill a bottom-6 role. 22, 25, 30, 35, or 40 yo, who cares if he plays well in the role he's set for?

yeah you don't get it. guys coming into the NHL at 25 don't have track records of "playing well"

Have you watched him play yet? And did you miss my comment about Soucy? Literally an example from last year about coming into the league at 25.

when a guy is 25, and is coming in with a ceiling of 4C..... and you think you couldn't have done better?
I mean that's where this boils down.

I think the signing is just fine? League minimum for a 3/4C with some upside to bolster center depth. Can't have a team full of guys worth 10 million. Depth is necessary or else you end up like Toronto.

Okay, I'll bite, who could we have gotten that would've been better?

I think both Devin Brosseau and Cal Burke are still unsigned.
Look i'm not here to be your scouting department. But I know there are younger player on the market that have potential to be more than a 4C.
At 25, if you ain't made it, you probably aren't.
Scoucy is a different story. Defensemen can take longer to groom. Although that narrative is being challenged more. But at forward, you either sink or swim.

Alex. Iafallo.

he came in at 24.
And didn't play a year in the AHL. Which kind of proves the point. At that age, you either have it, or you don't.

1 year difference. Iafallo literally came out of nowhere and improved in a very short amount of time. There's a thing called 'Late Bloomer perhaps you've heard of it?

If you haven't watched the kid then you have no business making those statements and no one here holds your opinion with any weight.

If every team used your logic they wouldn't sign guys at that age.

Lafallo didn't come out of no where anymore than Marino did. They played well at the NCAA level and scouts thought they would immediately make a jump. They did.

The point being, advanced analytics show you forwards peak at 27. Then all down hill. The fall off it much faster in forwards than defense.
If you are leveling off at 25 as a 4C......you can find better.

And that's my point and where this whole thing is going.
You think, this is the best they could find. I disagree.

That's incorrect about Iafallo, he surprised the Kings in Training Camp. I know this because I was hoping Brodzinsky would get a look with Kopitar and Brown then Iafallo came out of no where. John Steven's even said so, during the beginning of preseason he was considering putting Brodzinsky on the top line.

I know you love to act like you know everything on here, but I hate to break it to you, you don't.

There's a reason why advanced analytics are the 3rd evaluation tool for a lot of NHL teams, they don’t tell the whole story. If they did, there wouldn't be scouts. That's a separate debate though.

If he turns out to be a quality 4C, then that's great. His ceiling appears to be a quality 3C. If he doesn't turn out to be that, who cares? Why are you so concerned about this signing? If he turns out to be a 3C or 4C that's 4-5 years they will get out of him.