can't see minny moving zucc quite yet maybe 23-24 if Yurov/Beckman/Rossi and Ohgren start pushing for a spot.

Also your description is funny because Minnesota is in a way better position then Rags are to compete for a cup and if any team would be looking to move cap and start a retool it would be the rags

I've toyed with the idea of moving Zucc with retention, but it makes it really hard to be retaining anything past the 22-23 season with their dead cap charges going up $2M more in 23/24&24/25

Minnesota declines. Not only because Zuccarello is kaprizov's mentor and best friends, Minnesota isn't in any position to retain being in cap hell

Wwwwhat

Thats cap

To be fair I'd say lundqvist is probably a better friend than kaprizov but...

What exactly are you trying to say in the second part because I know nobody who is sane is saying the wild are in a better position to win over the rangers

yes they are lol. you replaced copp,braun,strome, vatrano and replaced them with only trocheck.

also panarin's actual impact last season wasn't good as his point production showed, any hockey page or analyst can show you that panarin isn't the same player as he once was. he's still very good but his decline is beginning. also kreider will be lucky if he hits 30 this year he scored more on the PP then during 5v5 which is unsustainable and also 70% of his goals came from deflections which is literally the most unsustainable way to score long term. NYR needs big breakouts from laffy, kakko, schneider, chytil if they want to compete that metro divison is very competitive with philly being the only team that for sure won't make PO's


Minnesota is a better team their depth shows up they have a better coach and they Kaprizov who is arguably a top 2 winger in the league, they also have emerging stars like rossi/ boldy who are actually performing unlike rangers young guys. the defence is better brodin/dumba/spurgeron/ goligoski are a better core then lindgren/fox/miller/trouba. you are clearly biased if you think rangers are better. rangers aren't even a top 5 team in the east, wild are easily top 3 only colorado and st louis competing with them for number 1 and i don't want to hear the oh the east is way stronger, no the east has more depth but if teams like colorado/ st louis/ calgary/ edmonton/ minnesota were in the east they would still be at the top of the divisions.


another thing wild were a very good 5v5 scoring team, rangers were a bottom of the league 5v5 scoring team they relied heavy on the PP and chances are they won't get so lucky next year relying on PP your 2 top goal scorers had more PP goals then 5v5 good luck with that lasting

reasons why wild are better then rangers
1. rangers were a bottom what 8 team 5v5 scoring
2. their 2 top goal scorers had more PP goals then 5v5 goal
3. Panarin is declining every stat and analytic shows he isn't as good as he once was, rangers PP just perfromed very well this year boosting his points, is overall impact isn't what it used to be.
4. minnesota has a better coach/ better system/ better depth/ better defence and don't even try to tell me they don't brodin/ dumba/ goligoski/ spurgeron is a top 5 top 4 in the league, Rags rely rather heavily on fox
5. Shestorykin is very good but he just had a top 5 season by a goalie all time, PO's showed he can't maintain that forever, though i still think he will be a top 3 goalie next year he will not be able to carry Rags as much as he did this year
6. no room to make improvements, rags have no cap space and the contracts they can move will cost big time, minnesota has 4.3 mill in cap with easier contracts to move and little positions to fill. Minnesota only needs a 1C but hartman played very well and they have rossi who could potentially step up, Rags if Kakko/ Miller/ Chytil/ Kravstov don't step up they need 3C/ 2RW/ 2LHD/ 3RW

go look at my other comments im not explaining this 3 times to delusional rangers fan that clearly can't see if Shestorkin doesn't put up another historic goalie season like last year Rags will not be a PO team not with how competitive the metro is. Everyone forgets just how good the isles were, carolina is a way better team, pitsburgh improved a lot and are now better, washington has a ton of cap space because backstrom LTIR and will probably be making a very big trade (all in for OVI), Jersey is only getting better and made very solid improvements, Columbus is stacked lots of young talent/ gaudreau addition in his prime/ laine is becoming a star again/ defence is actually pretty solid/ depth.

rags may have the best goalie but im taking
Pitsburgh, Carolina, Jerseys, Columbus top 6 over theirs
pitsburgh, carolinas, isles top 4 over theirs
pitsburgh, carolinas, columbus, jersey depth at each position over theirs
even isles sorokin isn't that much of a downgrade from shestorkin