Minnesota Wild

Apr 9, 2013; St. Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund (64) against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Xcel Energy Center. The Blackhawks defeated the Wild 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports After the Minnesota Wild were eliminated by the Chicago Blackhawks in Round One of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, top prospect Mikael Granlund headed overseas to reinforce Finland’s run at the World Championships. Playing in the final four of 10 games played by Finland in the 2013 Men’s IIHF World Championship Tournament, Granlund scored a goal and two assists for three points in leading his country to fourth place in the tournament. In 23 career Men’s World Championship games, Granlund has been exceptional, scoring four goals and 13 assists for 17 points and a plus-3 rating. Considered the Minnesota Wild’s top prospect heading into last season, the 9th overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft scored in his NHL debut, then seemed to struggle for the rest of the season as other youngsters like Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker and Jonas Brodin seemed to pass him on the top prospect list. Part of the reason is that Granlund’s game particularly shines on the European/International level, considering the size of the ice rink. His vision, passing and hockey I.Q. are ideally suited for the larger Olympic-sized rink. The playoff-like intensity of a lockout-shortened season is no time to break a prospect into the North American style of game. With a year of NA pro hockey under his belt, “Granny” should be much more prepared for next season and gives Minnesota another top-6 forward option with the almost guaranteed departure of Pierre-Marc Bouchard and the possible departure of Matt Cullen.

Welcome back Wilderness. Today starts week 2 of season grades, where everyone will get to sound off on the blue line and the goalies. Today's grades are one editor short because JS got caught doing some moosey stuff and couldn't get his grades in. (What a slacker right?!). So, without any more distractions, bring on the left side defenders! Ryan Suter Bryan- Ryan Suter - Suter for Norris. That is all. Grade: A Dan- Norris candidate, 30 minutes a night. What else is there to say? A++ Emilie- Honest to God, anyone who doesn't think Suter deserves an A+ for this season should hand in their fan card. Even though he got off to a rocky start, he was by far the best player on the ice. Instrumental to helping Brodin adjust to the NHL. Worth the whole 98 mil and more. A+ Clayton Stoner Bryan- This one is a bit more tricky. Stoner had some really rough patches this season. Simple mistakes that led to real consequences for his team, and yet Mike Yeo never wavered in his support for Stoner. While Stoner is likely playing a bit outside of his usefulness being on the second pairing, that does not forgive the level of play he has given this season. He looked slow, behind the play, and far too often could not make the little play that needed to be made to break up a scoring chance. Some basic hockey level things, like... don't pass the puck across ice in your own zone when Marian Hossa is standing right there. Grade: D Dan- Some people might not like him but I love him. He's a cheap, reliable option at the #4/#5 slot and gives the team some grit on the blueline. Took him awhile to arrive in Minnesota but when he did, he played like a vet. B Emilie- The main issue for Stoner is that he was forced to play a top 4 spot this year when he has no business doing so. And frankly, that isn't his fault at all. I know he was someone everyone loved to hate this season, but with the exception on a few boneheaded plays I don't think he was THAT bad. Would love to see him round out the bottom six, where there's no doubt in my mind he would thrive. C- Justin Falk Bryan- Going to be a rough day for D grades, apparently. Falk is one player who I honestly cannot figure out how he continues to stay in the NHL. A few times, here and there, he figures out that he is bigger than most guys on the ice, throws his weight around, and is a decent enough player. Then, there is the other 99% of the time, when Falk is tripping over himself, making bad plays, struggling to do the absolute minimum, and just all around being bad at what he does. THere really is no reason to heap on here. If I'm the Wild, I'm looking for a way to offload him as soon as I can. Grade: F Dan- Some people REALLY don't like him but he doesn't deserve the crap he gets. He may be a big defenseman that doesn't play big but I love the way he sometimes steps up and helps out the offense. Consistency is a bit of an issue but really doesn't deserve to be our whipping boy this year. I can think of two other players that deserve that title more than Falk. B- Emilie- Honestly, I don't remember much of Falk's season. I was looking up stats on Hockey DB thinking he must not have played very many games, but apparently he actually played in 36 regular season games. No goals, 3 assists, 40 PIM and a -19. C- Marco Scandella Bryan- It seems we have a Dr. Jeckl and Mr. Hyde thing going on with Scandella. Sent to Houston, mostly because he could be, Scandella had a rough season for the Aeros. Imagine Falk, but worse. However, when the Aeros hit the stretch run, the AHL playoffs, and the Wild called him up for the NHL playoffs, Scandella was a revelation. Confident, fast thinking, puck moving... what Scandella should be. If the Wild get the Scandella from the playoffs for next season, the D-corps is vastly better than it was this year. Grade: B- Dan- Fell out of existence during the entire year but when it came to the most important games of the year during the playoffs, he played like a boss! I

Prepare yourself for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft! This will be the first time in Minnesota Wild history that the team will be without a first round pick but silver lining is that all rounds will be on a single day instead of separated into two so we Wild fans will have something to do! And do not fret! The Wild have found some real gems in the second round. Jason Zucker, Johan Larsson, Marco Scandella, Josh Harding, Nick Schultz etc. Below, you'll find alot of draft resources (including HW stuff) to prepare for the very special day! Book mark this post as we'll update this daily! Minnesota Wild 2013 NHL Draft Picks Round Pick Name Position Team 2 46 3 70* 3 81** 4 107 5 137 6 167 7 197 * Traded Marek Zidlicky to Devils for Kurtis Foster, Nick Palmieri, Stephane Veilleux, 2012 second round pick (#46-Raphael Bussier), 2013 conditional third round pick (if Devils reach 2012 Eastern Conference Finals and Zidlicky plays in 75% of games in first two rounds of 2012 playoffs) ** Traded James Sheppard to Sharks for 2013 third round pick Thanks to prosportstransactions.com for the info Pre-Draft Materials Minnesota Wild Draft History Draft Resources Future Considerations (tons of draft insight + rankings) The Scouting Report (alot of draft information) OHLProspects (great, detailed stuff on the OHL) WHLFrom-Above (great, detailed stuff on the WHL) The Hockey Writers (tons of stuff) TSN Draft Centre (includes Bob Mackenzie's rankings, Craig Button's rankings, Central Scouting's rankings and International Scouting Services' rankings) HW 2013 Draft Prospects (click on player name to visit each post) Rank Name Position Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Good morning Wilderness! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the moisture falling from the sky, not in snow form. We had a busy day in the hockey yesterday as the Hockey World Tournament finished up in Sweden with the host country claiming gold over Switzerland and USA found a way to win the bronze medal in a shootout over Finland. If your in the Twin Cities area it was a good day to have a 'stay in bed and watch hockey' day. Our afternoon and evening hours gave us a pair of NHL playoff games where we saw the Boston Bruins beat up on the New York Rangers, and your evening game between the Ottawa Senators and the Pittsburgh Penguins could not be decided in 60 minutes, or 80 minutes for that matter. I won't bore you with the details folks, that's what the links are for. Wild News Rand: Here's what local pro teams are missing | StarTribune.comWith all 4 big local teams "getting better", we ask why what we have is not enough, and what is needed to break through to the next level. Off The Trail Sunday Funnies: Choker’s Anonymous | Backhand ShelfBecause who doesn't like to have chuckle at other peoples expense? Don Cherry says NHLers 'nuts' to play at hockey worlds - Yahoo! SportsDon Cherry, never short on words, gives you his take as to why hockey players shouldn't play hockey. Pittsburgh’s Gulf Tower turns into goal light for Penguins’ playoff run (Video) | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! SportsThe Penguins are not a team I have an appreciation for, but this is pretty cool. Greening scores in 2nd OT; Senators rally to beat Penguins to cut series hole to 2-1 | StarTribune.comOttawa ties the game very late in regulation. Then both teams felt like playing almost half of another game before they would finish up. Johnny Boychuk breaks tie, Bruins beat Rangers 5-2, take 2-0 lead in Eastern Conference semis | StarTribune.comBoston wins convincingly at home, and we also saw the rare playoff hockey fight. Sweden nabs gold at hockey worlds on home soilSweden won the world hockey championship Sunday, defeating Switzerland 5-1 in the gold-medal game in Stockholm. U.S. beats Finland, claims bronze at World Hockey Championship - CBSSports.comThe U.S. downed Finland in a shootout to claim its first medal at the World Hockey Championship since 2004. First Round Bust: #NHLDraft2013: Minnesota High School Hockey Part I: The Headliners...Connor Hurley, Edina HSEdina standout Connor Hurley on the Wild's radar? 2013 Central Scouting Final Rankings Movement Tracker | The State of Hockey NewsWith the Wild's season over, a welcome distraction from what might have been is to focus on what can be. Awkward: this rendition of the American national anthem | Backhand ShelfTo those who would point fingers and laugh, you try singing in front of thousands of people sometime. That being said, you should at least know the song your going to sing in front of so many, props to her for finishing it.

Good morning Wilderness, and welcome to your second consecutive stormy morning here in MN. If your not here, insert your own weather quip here. The Wild are still out of the playoffs, and my entire family aside from me is ill at the moment so pardon me for being brief this morning. Reminder: This week the HW editors and staff will bring you the defense and goalie grades for the Wild. Everyday their is more content being published so you can get your hockey fix in summer so stick around would ya!? Wild News Minnesota Wild: Evaluating Franchise After Round 1 ExitExamining the Minnesota Wild's trajectory after their return to the playoffs in 2013. Minnesota Wild: Free agent Bouchard wants more ice time, not money - TwinCities.comPierre-Marc Bouchard has spent 11 years in Minnesota, playing for three head coaches and two front office regimes while battling concussions that sidelined him for almost 150 games over four seasons. Off The Trail Crosby's hat trick puts Penguins firmly in control of series with Senators | StarTribune.comDan Bylsma has spent more than four years watching Sidney Crosby be Sidney Crosby Brunner, Smith lead charge as Red Wings beat Blackhawks 4-1 in Game 2 to tie Western semifinal | StarTribune.comIn case they weren't aware already, the Chicago Blackhawks now know they're going to have to earn it if they want to get past Detroit Ottawa star Jason Spezza to return to Senators lineup for Game 3 against Penguins | StarTribune.comJason Spezza doesn't have much time to return to form if the Ottawa Senators want to extend their season Sharks fined $100,000 for GM Doug Wilson's comments about Raffi Torres' suspension | StarTribune.comNHL to the Sharks, "If we wanted your opinion we'd give it to you." Logan Couture scores PP goal in OT to give Sharks 2-1 victory over Kings in Game 3 | StarTribune.comI didn't have time to watch anything last night, but the Sharks don't lose at home either so it wasn't too torn. Rangers (the other kind) help motivate Boston Bruins as they push toward Stanley Cup | StarTribune.comNo, not the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.... NHL’s awesome ‘Playoff Sounds of Round 1′ video is your ‘24/7’ fix | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! SportsSome audio/video clips put together for your enjoyment. Penner blasts refs for having ‘gall to guess’ on goalie interference call | ProHockeyTalkEveryone's a critic... Switzerland shuts out Team USA, faces Sweden in gold medal game | ProHockeyTalkIt's their first finals appearance since 1935. NHL Three Stars: Niemi, Couture shine for Sharks; Wings even up Hawks | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! SportsSelf explanatory Kings goalie Jonathan Quick abuses officials, gets game misconduct and $200 fine (Video) | Puck Daddy - Yahoo! SportsStill not as good as this

Good day, Wilderness! As boring as the offseason can be, the Walk still must go on. It's going to be a relatively short one, and most of it will be off the beaten path. Have your hiking boots on? Good. Now, let's take a Walk. Wild News Wild have options in net, but even more questions - FOX Sports North - Will this mean that the Wild finally trade Backstrom? We'll just have to wait and see what happens later in this offseason. Minnesota Wild's Xcel Energy Center Named Best Arena Experience in NHL - Gone Puck Wild - Yeah buddy! While the X has been the only arena that I've gone to (so far) for watching hockey, it sure is something being there. To the energy that goes through the building when a goal is scored (plus the goal horn that sounds awesome in person), to the singing of the Wild anthem, there's a lot of things to love about the Xcel Energy Center. Jason Zucker Has Earned Bigger Role With Minnesota Wild For 2013-14 - Rant Sports - Here's some more perspective about the Wild's best rookie this season. Off the Trail Crosby leads Penguins to NHL playoff win | SBS World News - Go Penguins! Sharks critical of NHL for suspension of Torres | Big News Network - I would have to agree. Here's what GM Doug Wilson had to say about Torres' hit, and I quote: "Upon review of the incident, it is abundantly clear that this was a clean hockey hit. As noted by the NHL, Raffi's initial point of contact was a shoulder-to-shoulder hit on an opponent who was playing the puck. He did not leave his feet or elevate. He kept his shoulder tucked and elbow down at his side, and he was gliding -- not skating or charging." Red Wings need to create goals, not havoc | Canada.com - Yeah they do. This is what they will need to do if they want to have a shot at taking down the big bad Blackhawks. 2013 NHL Draft Spotlight: The Masked Men - The Hockey Writers - Even though the NHL's draft is still a little over a month away, mock drafts are already being created by many. NHL Playoffs: Grades for Night 18 - CBSSports.com - Here's a look at some grades of some key players in the playoffs.

May 7, 2013; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Fans gather outside the Xcel Energy Center prior to game four of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports In a shocking move—unless you’re a Wild fan—Stadium Journey Magazine has ranked Minnesota’s home rink as the top arena experience in the National Hockey League in 2013. Here’s what the magazine had to say about their experience in the State of Hockey:                 The fans know the game and appreciate the little things, such as clearing the puck on the penalty kill, or a good defensive play to prevent a scoring chance. That is what gives the Xcel a truly special atmosphere and, even though the initial luster of having the NHL back in Minnesota has worn off, there is still a buzz around the building. Considering the audience’s knack of yelling “shoot!” on the power play when there are no shooting lanes, I can only assume Minnesota had no man advantage opportunities during the magazine representative’s  visit. Other than that, I have to say I agree whole-heartedly with the statement above. Being one of the 19,238 people in attendance on May 5th at Minnesota’s Game Three overtime victory over the Blackhawks, there was certainly something very special about singing along with fellow fans to the Wild anthem at the end of the game.  And who didn’t have goose bumps when Jack Jablonski wheeled out on the ice with the State of Hockey flag before the game? Yes, there’s something very special about the atmosphere of the Xcel Energy Center during hockey season.

What first struck me as a comment unfit for consideration at The SHP the other day by Lemmiwinks about Heatley staying on with the Wild after this season now has me thinking about it.A lot of people assumed that Heatley would be a buyout candidate after this season, given that the cap is expected to fall to 64.3 million dollars for the 13-14 season. Indeed, the Wild find themselves in a pickle with regard to the salary cap going into next year. This much was assumed, but with the acquisition of Jason Pominville, the Wild seemed to be shutting the door on the Dany Heatley Era. Consider that the Wild have $55.1MM committed to next season (which includes nearly a million dollars of The Stink of Doug Risebrough, aka Mark Parrish). That leaves the Wild with an asshair less than $9.2MM from the cap. Not so bad until you have to consider that the Wild need to either re-sign Matt Cullen or another second line center and have three Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) in Cal Clutterbuck ($1.4M last year), Jared Spurgeon ($527K), and Justin Falk ($825K).Did I mention they also need a Number 1 goalie, and another forward or two? Assuming that Cullen's next contract is about the same as what he got from the last one, that Clutterbuck, Spurgeon and Falk will all garner modest (or immodest) raises, then the Wild GM Chuck Fletcher will likely have less than two million dollars for a couple healthy scratch forwards and a goalie. Not even League minimums will pay for that. If Jason Zucker earns a roster spot (and I think he has), his 830K eats up a lot of that money.Something's got to give.Enter a "Compliance Buyout," aka an Amnesty Buyout. This allows a team to buy out a player who's not earning his salary, or just a player who owns a big cap hit. Assuming the Wild can't move a big salary, this is how they'll get the cap space needed to put together a roster for next season. And Dany Heatley seems like the leading candidate for that.But back to Lemmiwinks' point. Heatley was effective on the third line last season with Brodziak (and either Clutterbuck or Bouchard) before getting hurt. Without Heater in the lineup, Jason Pominville stepped in nicely. But with Bouchard and his $4MM salary riding off into le coucher de soleil, the Wild have need of a third line winger. Clutterbuck can fill that role, but seeing him out there with Mitchell and Rupp was a sight late in the season. That line was effective, and I want to see more of that. It also puts pressure on that line knowing that Zenon Konopka is ready to jump into the lineup (That depth is a Good Thing, more on that later.) So if the Wild want to retain Heatley's services and cap hit, they need to come up with some cash.And that brings us to Jar Jar Binks, aka Tom Gilbert.While it may rile the provincials who love them some local boys, Tom Gilbert might be the odd man out, and there are a couple reasons why. First, he was as effective as Cam Barker - and that says a lot considering that Gilbert could skate halfway across Rohan before Barker passes the Gates of Isengard. And at $4MM a year, that hurts. Second, the Wild loves Clayton Stoner and Justin Falk for their physical play, and with Marco Scandella's playoff performance, he's earned a spot in the lineup. Unless they want to carry 8 defensemen again, Scandella will displace someone. (The Wild could trade Nate Prosser, true, but he earns a paltry $825,000 compared to Gilbert's $4MM.) Third, as I said above, they may place a priority on Heater and his bigger salary.So the next question becomes what the Wild could do with what money they have, and there are four scenarios:They can leave the roster as is. As you can see below, if they do that, they're fucked.They can buyout Heatley and keep Gilbert. This gives them a good amount of money to work with.They can buyout Gilbert and keep Heatley. This gives them a modest amount of money.They can buyout both (this is the Deion Sanders Option). This gives the Wild a shitload of money to use. As

Today is a great day for you, WIlderness! You get 2 grades posts in the same day! Earlier today, the editors put up their grades for the Wild's right wingers, now it's time to see how us staff writers graded them. Dan Czarnecki (WIMinnesotaWildFan) Devin Setoguchi: B Seto had an ok season with the Wild this year. It really helps when Cullen is there with him on his line, but when he was gone, Seto seemed to disappear too. Finishing as the 5th best player of the season for the team is "B" worthy in my books though. Cal Clutterbuck: C Not the best season for Clutterbuck, but it wasn't all that terrible. He simply didn't live up to our expectations this season. Sometimes, I felt like he was trying to get physical and throw some hits on other players, but failed to do so. Other games, he would come out ready to spring into action and just pounce all over the opposition. I thought one of the best moments Clutterbuck had during our regular season was when I got to see him score one of our 2 goals in an aggressive game against the Los Angeles Kings. All players have their good games and bad games, and it was especially evident with Clutterbuck. Jason Pominville: B+ Pominville's debut with the Wild wasn't as great as expected. Being a former captain for the Buffalo Sabres, we thought he would have done more out on the ice. In my opinion, I think his only best moment during this season was during his debut in our 2nd last game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. We all just need to give him some time, and come next season, he'll be an entirely different animal for the Wild. Charlie Coyle: A Sensational start for this kid. He knows what he's doing out on the ice, and best of all, he had Parise and Koivu to help him out along the way. I see a great future for him. Torrey Mitchell: B Man, is Mitchell fast! Along with Zucker and Coyle, I think he really knows how to get into the offensive zone, and just be aggressive on our forecheck. He brought a lot of life to our 4th line. Aaron Holm (The Nooge) Devin Setoguchi: B When the Gooch was acquired during the 2011 entry draft along with Charlie Coyle I was pretty pumped. I really want to like this guy, but his streaky behavior gets in the way sometimes. His 27 points this year (13g/14a) ties him with the ageless wonder Matt Cullen at 4th for the Wild's regular season points leaders. His +5 was also 2nd for the Wild behind Cullen as well. His 5 PP goals were 2nd again, behind Zach Parise. He's got a great shot, and he really vamped up his physical play this year. All in all it was a pretty good year for the Gooch, and with next season being a contract year one might hope he finds some consistency. Cal Clutterbuck: C- I'm sorry Pascal William Clutterbuck, it was a rough season for you. Your shots seemed to sail high and wide of the net almost instinctively, your physical play seemed to be missing at times, and to top it off you had some über jerk from Edmonton cheap shot you in the waining moments of a game that was decided early. Overall it was an off year, and a contract year to boot. And while you may be a fan favorite around these parts, I get this feeling your time here is up. Your 10 points (4g/6a) was not up to snuff and we certainly cannot blame your missing 6 games this year as the culprit. On the bright side, you will always be my wife's favorite player so for that you don't get a D. Jason Pominville: B In just 10 regular season games played you racked up 9 points (4g/5a). While the cost to obtain Pom-Pom may have been larger than most would like, I have reminded a lot of these folks that you are not a 10 game rental and we get to look forward to seeing what you can do with a full season starting this fall. We didn't get much a sample size from Pominville this year in a Wild uniform, but from what we did see I'm a big fan. He's a leader, he has a nose for points and how can you not like calling this guy Pom-Pom? Charl

As the week wraps up, your Wilderness editors bring you the last of our grades for the forwards. The staff will be post their grades for the RWs later today as well. Devin Setoguchi Bryan- Clearly the greatest right wing ever to play the game, Setoguchi is without fault, and has absolutely no negatives to mention whatsoever. The Wild should violate the CBA and renegotiate Setoguchi's contract right now and give him the maximum contract. If they have to trade Niklas Backstrom and Mikko Koivu to do it, so be it. There just is absolutely no way they can let Setoguchi go another day without paying him more than Sidney Crosby.* Grade: A++++* Dan- Last season, if he wasn't scoring, he was pretty much useless. This season, he introduced a gritty side to his game and it has paid huge dividends. Not only does he hit and forechecks hard now, his new found skills have also helped his offensive production as now he can start creating his own chances rather than just rely on a playmaking linemate. (Dan forgot to give him a actual grade) Emilie- Setoguchi's grade is really tough (I actually left his for last). As far as scoring goes, He was 2nd on the team for goals scored (although the beginning of the season was horrible for him) 5th for assists and 4th for overall points. But I can't help but think that Seto is better than what his stats are saying. Parise had almost twice as many shots as Seto did. Seto picked up his physical game a lot this season, and it suited him very well. If he continues to improve on that area of his game (as well as improving his goal scoring), he has a real threat to be handful for every single team that plays against him. I still feel like Seto can play much better than he did throughout the season, so that knocks his grade just a bit. B- JS- He's kind of hard to grade as well. Sure, he found a physical side to his game, had a good offensive season and was generally working hard on the ice, but he mostly rode Matt Cullen's coattails. He proved himself to be utterly useless without Cullen and he really just had a good mid-season. What happens if Cullen isn't re-signed? Will Setoguchi disappear into nothingness? Could he find chemistry with Jason Pominville? Was it just a strange year? Well, based off what we've seen of him before, I'm kind of scared. It's like he became only slightly better than Cal Clutterbuck was supposed to be. Grade: C+ Cal Clutterbuck Bryan- Clutterbuck's hitting has become predictable, his irritation of other players subdued, and his agitation lessened. Maybe it was the short season, maybe it was something else, but Clutterbuck just did not seem as effective as he has been in the past. Usually players up their game in a contract year, but Clutterbuck seemed to lose a step somewhere. It's difficult to place it exactly, but something was missing. Grade: C Dan- What happened? Clutterbuck seems to be a neutered version of himself. He still skates hard and forechecks with energy, but gone are the days where he delivers devasting hits that agitate the bejusus out of opponents. He has turned from the perfect third line forward to just a good third. C Emilie- Cal had a rough year. He was all but invisible on the scoreboard, and even his trademark high hit count was pretty low (Setoguchi often end the game with more hits than Cal). For the firsts half of the season, it seemed like Cal's heart wasn't in the game, and while it got better as time went on I can't help but think how much better the team would have been if he had preformed to the level he played last season. He's made himself pretty expendable and honestly I wouldn't be surprised if he is traded in the offseason. C- JS- Speaking of Clutterbuck, where the hell was he this season? Seriously, I barely noticed him. Sure, he still led the team in hits, but he also posted the worst point per game average since his rookie season, and that's mostly thanks to his ghastly 4.3% shooting percentage, 3rd worst among regular team forward