ICYMI Michael Russo Interview | Punishment for Parise Suter explained | Minnesota Wild Training Camp

ICYMI Michael Russo Interview | Punishment for Parise Suter explained | Minnesota Wild Training Camp

Welcome back everybody. Latest edition of Fellowship of the Rink with our good friend uh and colleague here, Michael Russo here of the athletic uh training camp is about a week underway here. I know we’re both ready for it to be cut down to one practice as opposed to two or three. Um, you know, a lot of story lines to talk, you know, talk about this uh podcast from people we thought stood out to the roster uh battles, but I I know I wanted to get off the top just uh with real Capri off obviously dominating conversation a lot of times with contract negotiations or lack thereof. Just where do we feel it is right now? Um, and did anything that was said in Carrill’s presser or Billy’s presser um make you feel any different different direction about it? Um, I mean, no. uh you know I I you know I I think one disconcerting thing is that you know his agent Paul Theopanis uh came to the first practice and they sat with Matt cells for two hours and clearly nothing has come out of that. So um you know that that’s a bit concerning. Not that we know everything that’s going on. Um, obviously, uh, you know, uh, Paul’s not talking and Billy has made it, you know, crystal clear in his presser that he’s not going to be giving, you know, constant updates, but everything that you and I have have really, uh, looked at here in the last, uh, week, week and a half since since we, you know, knew that this was all going on and that he turned down this this monster contract is that there’s no negotiations going on uh, right now. And and um you know I don’t think the Wild are just going to up their offer like like like there just comes a point too like do you want to be here or not? And and if you don’t want to be here at 16 million like suddenly you’re going to want to be here at 16 and a half 17 and a half 18 like you’re just going to keep on offering money. Um you know I I mean maybe at some point they have to do that but right now I don’t think the Wild are inclined to do that. So, um, you know, we’ll see. We’ll see where this goes. Um, you know, I don’t know what’s next. I mean, you know, do you have to just have a, you know, heartto-he heart with Carrill at some point if you’re Billy Garren and hope that, you know, and without his agent there or and and find out point blank like what’s it going to take to get it done or is this it? Like, and if it is, then what’s the next step? Do you start talking trades and things like that? So, I don’t expect that we’re going to get, you know, blowby blow play by plays. Um, but right now, I I don’t think that um anything has really happened since um since day one of camp when we both saw Paul theis in the crowd talking to Matt Cells. And I’m speaking from a place of ignorance. So, tell me if I’m crazy here, but that feels positive to me. Like, that almost gave me the vibes from the outside looking in of, oh, Carilla is not happy that this got leaked. He doesn’t like the direction of this. And now we’ve got a random spot appearance from Theophonis at practice. Is that common or like what’s your read on just him showing up in that capacity? No, it’s it’s not common. Uh but he seems to show up all the time. Uh throughout the year, you know, four or five times a year, we’ll see him. Last year at the end of the season, uh you know, he was just standing in the middle of the press box watching the game. It might have even been Carl’s game uh first game back uh with the team with three games left in the season. uh he just suddenly was there. Um so yeah, I think that Joe and I both thought that that would probably be a positive thing, especially when we saw him and and and Matt Cell’s having a really affable conversation for a couple hours in the stands. I mean, you know, I don’t think they were talking about each other’s golf games and things like that, but you know, nothing has seemed to have happened since then and I don’t think it moved any it moved anything along. So maybe he just showed up at practice um because he knew that Carell was talking for the first time that day and maybe you know lend a little support, give him some advice on how to handle things. Maybe you know tell Carell the sort of which he did uh you know punt um all questions about contract negotiations to him the agent uh which is difficult because he has not responded to comment uh to Joe and myself since this process began. And my last thing on the Capri off front, just to make sure, I just don’t know from your end, what do you guys think the deadline is, quote unquote, where like you should actually be worried if a deal is not done? I don’t know. I’m worried right now, Joe. I mean, I don’t know about you. I mean, you know, I would say opening night, like if if if Carrilla is really willing to risk injury and not not bank 128 million guaranteed, I think I don’t know what’s next because I really don’t think the Wild are just going to keep on upping its offer. Um, you know, again, I I think that Bill and and you know, if I were them, I would talk to him about a short shorter term deal, but he’s given no indication that he has any interest in a shorter term deal. In fact, I get the indication that he does want a longer term deal. So, um I don’t know where this goes. Um but, you know, I’d be concerned, but I’m also the one that I was the beatw writer here when Marian Gabrick was here and and we saw how that went. Um and I’ll be interested. We’re, you know, both Joe and I are getting an opportunity with other reporters to talk to Craig Leopold on Thursday night. But Craig was the owner at that point, so I want to ask him if he’s worried about Miran Gabbert 2.0. Um, you know, and and when I when I say that, I’m talking about injuries. So, I don’t know. What do you think, Joe? Yeah. I, you know, Carrill had said like, and he was himself in that press conference and he was, you know, jovial and affable more than I thought he would be considering the circumstance. He said, “You have a lot of time, which I think to him maybe he considers a lot of time, but I don’t think for the Wild Brass or Wild fans, they feel, hey, it’s 2025 still, 2026, my contract’s up.” So I think there has to be some sort of line in the sand of of a decision right left or right like do you want to stay? Can we still push this forward in negotiations or is this just you saying I don’t want to stay and then we can find plan B of like okay let’s find a place uh that it’s not ideal but find a place to trade you or find a place to get something for you. I don’t think they can afford to go into the season and risking any injury both you know his point of view and for the Wild’s point of view like you mentioned Marian Gabri. So, um, that would be my concern level if he’s ready to punt it down the road. It’s easy for him to say, but then like the team has to figure out like there’s no plan for them that doesn’t include Koko Capri off. And if you’re going to trade Kerala Capri off, very rarely you win that trade. I don’t think you win that trade because your best player in that trade will be Kro Capri off. So, um, not not in a league where everybody has no move and no trade protection, you know, like, you know, yeah, I mean, there are a lot of teams that would love to trade for Kro Capri off right now. And and to do that, you’d probably have to give up a lot of money, which means significantly good players, but all these players have no move and no trade. They’re not just going to, you know, at the beginning of the season wave that to come to Minnesota right now. You know, one thing I wanted to, you know, point out too that I think is a little naive on on that’s being speculated about there is that Carl Capri off’s waiting for Conor McDavid to sign to set the market. No, I mean, by all conversations, if if Conor McDavid resigns in Edmonton, he’s going to do the Oilers a solid and make sure because his priority is winning that it’s going to be at a really quality price, teamfriendly price. you know, we’re talking 15 15 and a half 16 million. So, like that is extremely public. It’s obviously speculatory, but this is based on um you know, people knowing Connor and knowing his agent and things like that. So, like that is not what’s going on here. It might as a whole with all these group threes maybe somebody’s waiting for the first to go, but that is like trust me that is not what’s going on here. And I think we had a conversation earlier today, Mike. What’s interesting about the Kristoff situation is the Wild kind of got hurt by the new CBA in a sense where I think you wrote at the drafts which we all thought at the time that they have this big advantage be for eight years versus six years if the CBA came in in July but now like as you could probably explain like didn’t do them any good any solids here no CBA no absolutely last CBA screwed them with the cap recapture and this one absolutely did too um you know they in the new CBA BA um the max term limit another team can sign somebody is six years. Well, that will not go into effect of all they have different implementation plans for different facets of the thing. A batch of things start now. A lot of things start July 1 and a lot of things start next September 16, 2026 when the official beginning of the collective bargaining agreement starts. Of course, the term limits which would have been a huge coup for the wild um does not start until September 16, 2026. So next July 1, he will still be allowed to sign with seven years for another team or if traded eight years with another team. That does not help the Wild. The other thing that has really hurt the Wild here is for the first time ever they announce three straight years of the cap number. That has never happened before. Usually five days before free agency usually is when we know what the official cap number is going to be for the following year. So everybody knows that starting in 26 27 it’s going to be 104 and 2728 it’s going to be 113 and a half. So a lot of these agents are looking and and you know and I’m sure Paulis is looking and be like 16 million is not what he would get next summer on a seven-year deal and it’s not what he would get if it was two three years from now. So, um, so the wild as usual really, um, the the new collective bargaining agreement really did not help them. And how convinced are we that camping, whether light or heavy, is going on? You know, I’m not going to make those accusations. I mean, you know, I think that that uh you know, Elliot Friedman on his podcast has speculated a lot that maybe that they’re assuming or know that certain teams out there are are floating a a price that they could maybe maybe uh uh pay him in free agency. But a lot of this could be assumptions, too. Just knowing that the cap’s going up and looking at teams out there that might be going after him. very similar to what we did with Marco Rossi this summer and offer sheets is that you know you could figure out what are the teams that could afford it what are teams that could give up compensation and I’m sure that any good agent and we know that Paul Fifanis works very hard for his clients is is looking at it and say all right that team could maybe give you this amount that team could maybe give you this mount this team if they make a couple trades or lose a couple players could give you this mount I think that’s uh you know that’s stuff that’s that’s going to happen but it’s not that we know that that’s going to happen I A lot of it is just assumptions. Another couple Russians are also big storylines in this training camp. Uh Teraraenko was the big offseason find uh for the Wilds. Uh basically given away by the Red Wings after a down season. And I know Mike, you know, training camp scrimmages or practices in the first week don’t tell the whole story, but it feels like he’s made a really good impression so far on the staff and the team. And you know, they’re hoping to squeeze more out of him. And it seems like he’s pretty motivated for this fresh start here. Yeah, he’s coming to camp in fabulous shape. who looks outstanding on a line with Erikson and and youngster Liam Ogen right now. I’ve been really impressed with that line through every practice that we’ve watched in every scrimmage that we’ve watched. Um and Terasenko is a big reason for that. You know, he looks like he could absolutely still shoot the puck. He had four goals and two assists in those two scrimmages that we saw last week. Um Harrison X as usual complements um any line that he’s on perfectly and he he looks great on that line. And then Ogen to me has been just outstanding in camp. What I love is that he’s shooting the puck. We’re seeing his speed. He’s not deferring to those two guys at Sunday’s practice. Um Joe, he had he had to have like a dozen goals. And we’re talking like single-handed like through traffic, whistling pucks. I mean, he what we’re seeing is that we all know that Liam Ogrren has an NHL shot, but we’re seeing him use it now. And I think a lot of that is learning lessons from last year where he had a couple opportunities to play in the top six and maybe deferred a little too much to his more veteran linemates and and now we’re seeing a guy that’s willing to trigger it. So, um, you know, I think that he he looks really good. And I think the Terraasenko, you know, again, we’re not not to make too much of what we’re seeing in scrimmages and practices, but he certainly looks like somebody that can, you know, really make an impact and he’s going to play with really good players, we know as long as he’s healthy this year. I mean, he has always played really well against the Wild, so Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So, if you can’t beat him, join him. Or the opposite, maybe. Oh, maybe that’s why he’s tearing up camp. Yeah. It feels like and you’re off and John Hines said today to us like he just seems less overwhelmed now with the moment. I think we saw that a little bit in rookie showcase that he had a little bit headlights look to him. Um how do you feel he’s settled in and like with the way Ogrren’s playing and the roster set up? Is there a space for him really? This interview is brought to you by our friends at Waggle Golf. Waggle Golf believes what you wear on the course should reflect your individuality. who you are, where you’re from, your hobbies, interests, and passions. All the stuff that makes you, well, you. That’s why every design is inspired by the desire to create a piece of apparel that strikes a chord when you see it. That makes you say, “Wow, that was made for me.” Because in a lot of ways, it was. Ready to get your wagon? Go to getyouwagalon.com. Throw in promo code sp10 at checkout to take 10% off your entire order. I think there’s a chance that he can, but like you wonder what role is great for him. Is it better to be a fourth line in the wire not by Iowa? Like I don’t know what’s your impressions of him so far and where do you think there’s a spot right now for him? I think he looks great. I mean, I loved uh the way, you know, I thought he really epitomized the team the other night in Winnipeg where the first couple periods the team was not they were playing stagnant, they were playing slow, they weren’t playing north, and then the third period happened and everybody got better and I thought he was the leader of that. He just looked so much more comfortable. John talked today that on the bench he was asking him questions and things like that. But to your point, Joe, without injuries, you know, you do just wonder, are they really going to keep him as a 13th forward? Um, or are they going to try to convince him? Not to convince him. I mean, technically he’d have to go to Iowa, but there is an out clause like a lot of Europeans have in his contract where technically his agent could could resign him in the KHL or elsewhere in Europe. Um, but are you really going to make that long-term decision if the Wild are saying, “Look, we just feel like he needs three weeks a month in the minors.” I think a lot of times players know if they’re ready or not. The problem is is like, is he going to get that opportunity? You know, the hope is at some point in camp he can maybe play with better players and fourth liners. Um but again, right now if they’re healthy, which they are, um you know, you know, your top line is probably Capriasi and and Baldi. Right now, your second line, Liam Oren seems to be doing what he can to grab that spot with Eric Reneck and Teraraenko. Hartman’s had a really good camp up the middle on that third line with Johansson who could technically be a 13th forward um with Marcus Felino. Would you maybe give your off a spot there? And then your fourth line right now is Brett Leon who is a PTO um with Nico Sturm in the middle and Yakob Trenan. You know, could you maybe put Europ there? Do you want him as a 14 as a as a fourth liner if not if if Johansson’s not there? So, there’s a lot of camp left to see how these guys do. Um, tonight is a huge um game in Dallas where they are bringing a really young lineup playing a minor league goalie against the A squad of the the Dallas Stars. So, this is going to be a tough game for Danella Eurovv. Um, so we’ll see how he handles that, but I want to see him in some home games with some really good players on his line. The problem is is that they’re trying to get ready for the season and they have their lines pretty much set. So, we’ll see if Eurov gets that opportunity. Um, but I really like the way that he has improved um since the rookie camp. And if I know you said the line was kind of set to be Rossi Capri, Baldi at the top. Was that a reaction to Zukarella being out or where was Zukarella going to be slotting in to start? Sucarella was supposed to be the winger on that line, but they moved up Baldi and and you know, at least in Michigan, they they indicated to me when I was there for the US Olympic camp that Ericson Ek was going to start there. I will say that that at day one of camp, John Hines kind of indicated that Rossi was going to eventually be the guy that they wanted to see there with Zukarelloo on the right because, you know, Eric Sak has had such good chemistry uh with Baldi in the past. Uh so maybe that was going to be your second line. But with Zukarelloo hurt right now and expected to miss the start of the season, uh they’ve they’ve unleashed this Rossy Baldi and Capri up line. And I’ll tell you what, I don’t know about you, Joe, but Baldi looks like he could have a freaking monster year if he gets consistent time with uh with um with Carilla at even strength. He’s looked terrific and like a kind of a carryover from the playoffs and they were two dominant dominant players against Vegas. So, I know there’s theories of not loading up and having one on each line, but when it works like that, um, and you have some more depth now with Terasenko and if Ogrren can kind of shoot one of the best shots on the team, I think Liam Ogrren has. So, um, beneficial. Um, I think as far as injury front, Zerella, we know we’ll miss start of the season. Rodin’s been skating with the group off and on. Like, obviously, he looks like he’s will be conditioning wise in good shape. Uh, when the season starts, we won’t be missing much time. Zoo return after missing last few practices with upper body injury. took a puck off the hand. Um I guess my question is now for the young defenseman on the blue line. It seems like Uric will be given a chance on the second power play in the exhibition game tonight in entering camp. Zoom we all assume or think he’ll get that top power play uh spot uh running point there. Um are we pretty set on those two guys most likely making the team and and playing? I mean I know Ze was making the team but like think making the team too and like how often will he play I guess? Yeah, I mean a lot of it might depend on Zack Begoian, right? And I mean, they like Zach in the lineup. He adds a physical element and so we’ll see what happens with Urak. I mean Uric was up and down the other night in Winnipeg, but so was the entire team and I thought he got better as the game got along. I don’t blame him at all for the penalty that he took in overtime. Um so um you a lot will depend like you know like we talked to John Hines today, Joe, about about the the power play units and we’re going to start to see that on Saturday. Wednesday is going to be more of a PK type of practice. Um, but I I’ll be interested. How Zam does and how David Urice does in camp will really determine if Jared Spurgeon and Brock Faber on the p power play. Right now, it sounds like they would like to have uh Spurgeon on the power play. He’s usually their most reliable defenseman. Um, I get the impression that they really want, you know, obviously depending on Boyam and Urachek and then game situations, if one of them is in the box, health situations, I think they really don’t want Faber on the power play to start the season. I think they want to lower his ice time a bit, manage it a little better, and really turn him into just an elite penalty killer that could help this team. the penalty kill is one area where Brock actually has not done very well at the NHL level, but yet we saw him at the Four Nations um kill with Jacob Slavven and look outstanding there. So, you know, can they really if they lower his ice time and he’s not worrying about power play really focus in on being a great penalty killer and be better there because right now the last couple years he’s been on the ice for a ton of goals against on the PK. Um, but I get the impression that they like to, you know, maybe have even a year Spurgeon on your second unit and then have Boyam on your first unit. Um, I don’t think they’re going to just totally remove Spurgeon from the from the power play. I think that would be a mistake personally, but again, if you’re going to have Urak on the team, you got to put him in an area of success. And that is an area where he, you know, was build as as being somebody that could add. He obviously has a great shot. he can make plays as we saw on the trending goal last year in Colorado. And so, um, it really will be, uh, fascinating to watch, uh, how he how he excels the rest of camp. And on the blue line, have we been seeing pretty consistent pairing utilizations or with Brody out, have we seen a lot of shuffling? Yeah, we’ve seen a lot of shuffling. I mean, we’ve seen Middleton with Favor. We’ve seen also u, you know, like if I were me and I think that we’re see we’re starting to see this. I think they want to go Buham and Spurgeon and Middleton in favor. I think just the the safety net of Boyham with Spurgeon is something that you want to do with the Young D until Broaddin is back. But then it’s from there you know you know is your what is your third pair? Does Jack Johnson make the team with Begoian? Can one of Begoian or Urk play you know the left side? You know my guess is that if Jack Johnson makes the team he’s he might enter as a 13th you know as a seventh D. Um, but I will say I thought Jack Johnson was really good the other night in Winnipeg. So, um, you know, and and we know that he is somebody that that, uh, that they have a, you know, a high regard for. So, maybe it is Jack Johnson with Urachek to start or, you know, and every now and then maybe Urachek is replaced by Bug Goian. Uh, we’ll see. I know when they I I know that they they have a lot of respect for Bosian, but I also think that they’ve talked to him about potentially being, you know, are you okay if you’re the seven D this year? that’s the way that John seemed to talk this summer. Um, but you know, sometimes in practice it’s it’s a little different if if you have just a lot of respect for a guy and and also you think that maybe the one area there you’re lacking in the lineup is physicality and we know that’s Bogo’s best asset. Nico Sturm talked to us the other day and I know you covered him before, Mike, but just what a you know a fascinating guy. what a guy who’s very descriptive and very honest with with what he you know what he sees and what he does and uh breaking down the penalty kill and different versions that he’s played in his career and talk about learning from faceoffs from McKinnon and and Barkoff just pick and brain like he really seems like a really good cerebral player and I’m wondering what kind of impact he’ll have on the PK this year I know John wants to tinker a little bit with the penalty kill whether it’s a slight system thing or personnel and maybe having him as faceoffs and Baldi fulltime at PK will make an impact but what do you see what Nico Sterm’s impact will be and like any other subtle changes to the PK. Yeah. And and I could see other personnel changes like if Johnson makes the team, him on there. Brett Leon is another PTO that they that that played a lot of penalty kill in Anaheim. And um so there are going to be some personnel changes if those guys make the team. In terms of Nico, you know, five when he turned down that five-year contract in the Wild at that point, he looked at the Wild lineup and just said, you know what, if I sign this deal, I’m not going to be any more than a fourth liner here. and he felt like he owed it himself to give himself the opportunity to move up in the league. And then he goes, um, he leaves here for a couple years, four, three, four years, um, starting in 22, goes to Colorado, wins a cup, plays in San Jose, goes to Florida and wins a cup. And I think at this stage in his career, he realizes this is who I am as a player, and now I’m just going to really embrace that. And so, he’s come back here as a very mature player. or not that he wasn’t a couple years ago, but he had every right to just say, you know what, and I give him credit to turn down five-year deal with that security to just say, hey, I feel like I owe it myself to get a new opportunity and try to excel. I I I think that’s awesome. What did it do for him? Not only did, you know, he got two Stanley Cup rings out of it and now he comes back here anyway and and he understands and embraces who he is. So, you know, he’s turned himself into a really quality penalty killer. He’s turned himself into a really elite faceoff guy. he’s really studied that part of the game and as we all know being around the Wild that is their one of their biggest deficiencies is penalty kill and faceoff. Um so two of their biggest deficiencies and so the hope is you know again that he’s going to be able to come here and and maybe help stabilize some of their their weaknesses. So we’ll see how it happens but you know he’s somebody that skates incredibly well. He adds size to this lineup. He does have some sneaky skill I feel. Um and and um you know he’s just a I think a really strong forch checker as well. Um so I think he’s going to help out and I think that John Hines is going to really respect his work ethic and probably move him up in the lineup in certain occasions as well. What’s it going to take for Hunter Hate to crack the opening night lineup? Uh you know probably injuries in the opening night lineup. Uh because again I don’t think that they’re going to be the 13th. He’s they’re going to have a young guy like that on the 13th forward. But he’s had a really really quality camp so far. And um I I think that they I know that you know I was watching him work out on the ice today after practice with Marcus Bolino. I know there’s a lot of respect level there as Marcus always treats these young guys with uh you know incredible uh regard and he you know that’s such a huge coup for the Wild to have a leader like that that would work with a kid like that after practice today. Um but you know again if there’s injuries there’s probably not a room right now but he has absolutely elevated himself on the radar had a really good rookie year scored 20 goals for Iowa uh last year but I do think that you know even in on a team that added Ube Kobel and and Tyler Pitlick and have a chance to you know uh you know maybe sign a Brett Leon um you know even though they have these veterans that they’ve added to their roster to add some depth I think Hunter Hay has shown in camp that he is really close to being somebody that they could call up and put in the lineup and feel very very comfortable. Nice. One of the more interesting things that Craig Leopold said a few weeks ago at the Grand Casino Arena unveiling other than Carl Capri off contract stuff was that he feels that they’ll have some of the best goalending in the league this year. Um and we all know what Gustoson did to the last three years and I think you know they’ll be approaching him potentially about extension uh sometime during camp. But um how do you feel about the goalending situation especially Walstead who will he’ll have to play 25 games or so with the connect schedule this year. So yeah. Yeah. So like how comfortable you know should Wild fans be about kind of what they have as far as depth concerning wise in the uh goalends department? Yeah. I mean I I look until we see it in in practice and in the regular season um you know I I’ve liked so far what I’ve seen from Ballad. He’s come into camp in great shape. Um, you know, Gus also looks outstanding in these practices. Um, I I read yesterday’s Athletic where you tried to turn him into an $8 million player. Um, we’ll see if that comes into fruition. Um, but, uh, you know, Bat um, you know, like I was a little concerned watching his first couple goals that he gave up the other night in in Winnipeg, but then man, did he just settle in and I thought he looked good behind a team that was not definitely had far from its agame the other night. Um, and what I really loved about him was in that overtime, um, you know, Joe, I don’t know if you had a chance to watch the game, um, but there is an overtime play the other night where Hunter they’re they’re killing a threeon four power play and Hunter hate broke his stick and that so it’s essentially a fouron two and they desperately needed, you know, they couldn’t clear the zone. They desperately needed uh, Walstat to essentially freeze the puck, not just make a save. and he made a really difficult save um offbalance and was able to freeze that puck to allow um you know Hunter allow a whistle for them to you know get three players with with you know fully uh unbroken sticks on the ice and then it created the fouron four when urek came out of the box and obviously um you know which led to the trend scoring on the four on four in overtime. So, um I was impressed, you know, that that could have really uh rattled him those two early goals the other night, especially the second goal where, you know, even though it was a bang bang play, um you know, probably a seeing eye shot, he probably should have made the save. Um so, look, he’s come back in great shape. It seems like, you know, as he always talks about, his mind is really clear right now as well. He knows essentially where he’s going to be. Um, and so I I liked it, but until we see it in the regular season when it matters, you know, one game in Winnipeg against uh their C squad as well doesn’t really make a big difference. Last question for me before I Waggle question is regards to goalending. I think we’ve seen Gus establish himself as a number one goalender. Is there any reason to wait a little bit, see how Walet does before making a decision on long-term with Gusson? Or do you maybe have make that distinction if the ask from Gustoson’s way too high where you’re like, okay, when we have another guy we can look at to see if he can be that guy because it seems like the last three years he’s supposed to be the bridge into Walad. Now he’s turned into number one. So you have a good problem of having two goalies, but absolutely. Any way to like they can that variable plays into this discussion whether to sign? Yeah, I I mean to me waiting makes no sense. Um, you know, I think that if you can get them done at a quality contract, um, I think you try it. Now, obviously, Overheard is is looking, you know, at at the huge prices that goalies are getting right now and is going to be shooting for the moon here. And the Wild have to be comfortable with whatever number they’re going to get. Let’s put it this way, you’re not getting them at five and a half anymore, and not after Spencer Knight. You’re probably not even, even though Aiden Hills won a cup, you’re probably not getting him in the low sixes. Um, so you’re, you know, he’s he’s going to have to get paid and you have to be comfortable with that. the cap is going up. Obviously, we know that Kisses is going to want to get done. Um, but I don’t think it’s illegal to have two great goalies and if Walstat pops, all the better for it. Like, he’s signed for 2.2 the next two years and then his next contract there, even if you resign him there, he’s not a UFA yet. So you you know if you can get you know Gus in the six and a half to seven range let’s just say and then while that you resign in the three three and a half range you know like if you have in a rising cap world your goal is making 10 and a half 11 million that’s not bad and the worst thing that happens is you trade one of them you know if one if they’re both great you’re going to be able to trade them in a league that we all know everybody needs goalies so I don’t think that waiting makes a ton of sense they’ve waited all summer and the contracts have kept on going up and up and up and up. Not that Overheart was going to take some sort of lower dealum necessarily. This is a veteran agent that knows where the contracts were going. Um but you know, waiting usually um only hurts you and makes things a lot tougher. Like if he’s a type winner this year, not you’re going to get him at you’re not going to be able to sign him at lower than even. So like like to me, you might as well get the conversation started now and and uh see if you can get it done. Question brought to you as always by our good friends at Waggle Golf. First, make sure you head over to getyouwagalon.com. Throw in promo code sp10 to take 10% off your entire order. Mike, last time we had John earlier in the summer, we were talking about how some of the CBA changes are going into effect now. Some are pushing out until September of 2026. And it just teed up the question of what happened? Why did the Minnesota Wild retroactively get punished for signing contracts with Parisian Sudter that were legal at the time when like we see teams right now sprinting to get people in under the the clock for whether it’s longer term or having bonus structure? Like why was the league able to go back and retroactively punish the Wild? Because um you know, Bill Delhi claims that he warned all these teams that that we will come back after you if you deem that you were retroactively um you know trying to circumvent the cap. And so they, you know, what they warned people about is that in the next CBA, they were going to get rid of these backdals that paid guys 3 million, 2 million, 1 million in the final days of their contract when they felt that there was no real belief that those guys were going to fulfill those contracts that it was going to essentially be circumvention and that uh you know guys were going to have you know career-ending injuries or just you know essentially retire early. um which we had seen in in in the previous collective bargaining agreement. So that was that was the reason that when I sat in Bill Deliy’s office in um 2013 or 14 after that was um changed. Uh that’s what he told me and it was on the record. I did a story. I remember I did a column in the Star Tribune that the Wild will eventually pay the Piper for this and and the pay the piper turned out to be that Bill Garin the other part of the cap recapture is that if you traded a player, you weren’t off the hook. Now both teams would sort of be on the hook and you’d still get the brunt of the problem if a player retired early. Um, the only thing that did eventually change is that at one point the Wild were going to be dinged like an insane amount of money and they c they came up with this thing that you would never be charged more than the, you know, the the the AAV. So essentially that seven and a half would be seven and a half that you’d be not remember at one point it was going to be like the wild organ. Yeah. It was it was insane amount of money where you wouldn’t be able to operate your team. Um, so what the what Bill Garren decided to do is instead of even though at one point, remember, he came very close to trading um, Zach Perezy to the New York Islanders and then it fell apart um, right on the right at the minutes leading up to the trade deadline. what he decided to do is just get fiscal, you know, you know, clarity essentially or and cement it and he decided to go the buyout and not risk cap recapture by either going to suitor and trying to get him to wave his no trade and and going somewhere else or or same thing with Perez. And remember, if they retired early, you would have still been dinged even if they agreed to trade since and in Zach Perez’s case, he did retire one year before his contract would have ended with a while. Now, who knows if that would have happened if he was here where Ryan Sudter wound up playing the final four years of his deal and um you know on multiple different contracts that that wound up uh allowing him to make uh really maximize his dollars. Sure. So, as I parse that then the real difference is they don’t view getting an extra year on term or having uh these different bonus structures that are at play today. like that’s not really viewed as cap circumvention where signing a guy to a contract under the current collective bargain agreement it’s it’s very very different and from the NHLPA’s perspective so they so essentially the way it worked is that they have all these different changes in the collective bargain agreement that technically starts September 16th 2026 but then they have different implementation plans that start you know some start right away like no dress codes um some start next July 1, some start in September 16th. What the PA decided is they fought in these implementation plans that there would still be a seven-year max term starting July 1, that the bonus that the bo uh bonuses would still be in place. And we we already know that the three years of cap had already been previously announced negotiating with the NHL PA, but it makes sense from the PA to fight for that because you have so many of these players that are up right now, incredible players. you know, Carell Capri up, Conor McDavid, Jack Eel, Adrien Kempe, Art Tammy Paderan, Kyle Connor, Alex Tuck, I mean, over and over and over again. And so, from the PA standpoint, it makes all the sense in the world that they fought with the not fought, but they they fought to ensure that from those guys perspectives that that would not start until September 16th, 2026. that on July 1 next year that they would still be allowed to sign seven-year contracts because they’re trying to maximize the amount of money not only for superstars in the league but those specific players. And in the players standpoint, it made absolutely it seems completely unfair for them to change that term right away. And so the Wild gets screwed in that sit circumstance, but it’s it’s perfectly legal. Um, technically the collective bargaining agreement for all these things weren’t supposed to start until September of 2026 anyway. So the PA fought for that in the implementation plan and clearly wound up winning it. Well, I appreciate you coming on again with us, Mike, and we’ll see you at tomorrow practice again. But uh, appreciate you as always and we’ll talk soon. No problem. By the way, uh Joe Smith is our NHLPA beat writer. So, you know, I think that this is all stuff that he should be uh you know, writing about for the athletic and uh you know, get in on how they won this. Yeah. Well, like as the first year NHLPA beat writer, they had this historically fast CBA negotiations where I didn’t have to cover any lockouts or anything big tumultuous things. So, felt like, you know, it became very smoothly once I took over the beat. So, Yep. Exactly. But the wild gets screwed because of it. So there you go. I think he story on it. Thanks so much and we’ll talk soon. All right. See you. Yeah.

For those that missed it, here’s the full Michael Russo interview during 2025 Minnesota Wild training camp on “Fellowship of the Rink” Episode 82 https://youtu.be/JuvFhPA9pQc

10% off Waggle hats, polos, quarter zips, and MORE https://tinyurl.com/45bh24ch

THE SOTA POD feed: link.chtbl.com/thesotapod
FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINK feed: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fellowship-of-the-rink
THE ATHLETIC https://theathletic.com/author/joe-smith/
TWITTER https://twitter.com/joesmithnhl

———————————————————————————————-

ICYMI Michael Russo Interview | Punishment for Parise Suter explained | Minnesota Wild Training Camp

SUBSCRIBE – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCII9sBxB0pF5SjSIso28DKg
BUSINESS – isha.jahromi@gmail.com
TWITTER – https://twitter.com/visportstalk

#mnwild #minnesotawild #kirillkaprizov #kaprizov #minnesota #wild #nhlhockey #hockey #nhl #interview #thesotapod #fellowshipoftherink #fotr #podcast #podcasts #hockeypodcast #podcastclips #podcastshow #hockeypodcast