Uncover the uncanny similarities between Minnesota Wild's new forward Jakub Lauko and former fan favorite Brandon Duhaime. Can Lauko fill the void left by Duhaime's departure? Explore the potential impact of Lauko's speed and physicality on the Wild's lineup in the NHL.
Join the discussion as we break down Lauko's stats, comparing them to Duhaime's, and analyze how his playing style could influence the Minnesota Wild's performance this season. With insights into Lauko's role and potential contributions, this episode raises the question: Will Lauko become the next big hit for the Wild?
Discover how Lauko's speed and work ethic might shape his position on the fourth line and what it means for the team's strategy. Could his presence on the ice bring a new level of energy and physicality to the Wild's game?
Don't miss out on this in-depth analysis of Jakub Lauko's potential with the Minnesota Wild. Watch or listen now to see how he might redefine the team's dynamics this season!
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[MUSIC PLAYING] It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Well, we got a minute, and I'm going to buy that truck I've been wanting. Wait, don't you need, like, weeks to shop for a car? I don't. Carvana makes it super convenient to find exactly what I want. Hold up. You're buying a car on your phone? Isn't that more of a laptop thing? You can shop wherever you want. I like to do my research. Read reviews, compare models. Plus, Carvana has thousands of options. How'd you decide on that truck? Because I like it. Oh, that is a great reason. Go to Carvana.com to sell your car the convenient way. On today's episode of Lockdown Wild, the similarities between New Minnesota Wild Forward, Jacob Loco, and former Minnesota Wild Forward branded do-hamer, honestly uncanny. So will Loco fill the same role here? Let's discuss. [MUSIC PLAYING] Your Lockdown Wild, your daily podcast on the Minnesota Wild, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day. What's happening, everybody? Welcome in to another episode of Lockdown Wild, your daily Minnesota Wild podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day. We thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen, each and every day. Make sure to subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platforms, so you don't miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. Today's episode of Lockdown Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. Now, through September 22, all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Visit FanDuel.com to get started. On today's episode of Lockdown Wild, we take a look at the 2024-2025 season preview for Jacob Loco brought in during the NHL draft to hopefully fill a role that was vacated by a fan favorite in Brandon Duhame when he was traded last season. We'll talk about the similarities and what they bring to the table, because I've got to tell you folks, they are almost too similar. And we'll look at if he could fill the same role here with the Minnesota Wild this season. My name is Seth Topal, credentialed Wild Media Member and host all the Lockdown Wild since 2021. I'm not kidding, folks. Like the stats are almost to the number identical between these two guys. And so let's just take a peek. Loco comes in at six foot 196. Brandon Duhame comes in, I believe his build is pretty much exactly the same. But this past season, Loco had two goals, eight assists, 10 total points. Duhame did have a little bit more offensively, five goals, eight assists, 13 total points. But check out these 82-game averages. Four, Brandon Duhame, his 82-game average. Seven goals, eight assists, 15 total points. 215 hits, 31 blocks, 23 takeaways, 16 giveaways. Check out Jacob Loco's 82-game average. Six goals, 11 assists, 17 points. The shots are the big disparity. Duhame averages right around 100 shots per 82-games. Loco is at 59, but 217 hits. So again, that's just two off from Duhame. 30 blocks, which is just one off of Duhame's average. 21 takeaways, that's two off and 14 giveaways. That's two off. And I don't know how these numbers could be any closer than they are, but I think the thing as the self-proclaimed president of the Brandon Duhame fan club over the last couple of seasons, I think the thing that really helped turn him into a fan favorite was the hustle and the work ethic. And for somebody who is going to be like a fourth line, kind of a grind it out type player, those are two characteristics you really need to kind of set yourself apart from other NHL teams that are doing the same thing in the same role. And Duhame was second to none in both categories. One of the fastest, if not the fastest player on the team. And there was nobody out on the ice that was going to outwork him while he was out there. And so you look at the statistics lining up almost perfectly evenly, which is just, it's almost too similar to be just a coincidence. Check out Loco's profile courtesy of Elite Prospects. This was back in 2018. Brings likable work ethic and attitude to the ice with his outstanding acceleration and straight line speed. He is a real threat on the rush. Ladies and gentlemen, Bill Guerin took Vinnie Littari and I don't remember which pick it was. The pick in the fourth round and found Brandon Duhame 2.0. So Loco brings speed, he brings physicality. We'll talk more about some of the things that he may be able to help contribute to for this team, but all told Loco this past season, he was 23 years old this past year. As we mentioned, two goals, eight assists, 10 total points. He had 43 shots on goal, 97 total shot attempts. So he's not somebody that shoots a ton. And he had 16 total face-offs this past year. So he played like a fourth line wing for the Boston Bruins. But the number that is the one, that's the reason that he was sought after by Bill Guerin, 176 hits, 176 hits in 60 games, roughly three per, three hits per game. This past season, he did have 32 penalty minutes in the 60 games. As you saw in the thumbnail today, him and Brandon Duhame actually fought. I believe it was this past season. It was either that or the season before, but they have gone toe to toe against each other to add just another level of irony to this entire thing. Loco averaged this past season, nine minutes, 49 seconds per night on the ice. Didn't have any points on either the power play or short-handed. We'll talk about that more coming up in a little bit. 176 hits, 14 takeaways, eight giveaways. And just to put that in perspective, for the Minnesota wild this past season, we talked about this with Yakov Trenen. But 176 hits would have been second on the team behind Marcus Fellino, who had 179 in 55 games. And again, hits are kind of an arbitrary stat, but what I like to do in a lot of these cases with things like hits, with things like shots on goal is it may not be the end-all be-all from a success standpoint. But what it does tell you is that that is how that player contributes while they're out there on the ice. And so Jacob Loco is the hit parade. And that was something that Bill Guerin mentioned this past off season, is that the wild needed to get a little more physical. And honestly, the fact that he added a guy that can do it while also being, it's gonna be interesting to see how he slots in from a speed perspective, but adding somebody that is known for their speed too, that's the way you wanna do it. You don't want, you don't want a bunch of these big, bulking, slow physical types. If you can have some that adds speed to the table too, that's when you can start to keep up with the other teams in the bunch. And so I'm really intrigued to see it now at the end of the day, as we'll discuss more with his role, he's not gonna be a high impact type player on this roster, but we saw, if he does what Brandon Doohame did while he was here, that can lead you to looking better compared to other players that don't bring that same thing to the table. So when we come back, we're going to take more of a look at where Loco can fit, how he can help out, and whether or not we see him factor into the special teams, like we did with Brandon Doohame during his wild tenure. And we'll talk about all that, as we continue today's episode of Lockdown Wilds after this. Today's episode of Lockdown Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. Folks, you have heard us talk a lot about FanDuel, America's number one sports book. Well, we have something a little different for you. Now through September 22nd, all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Then with a YouTube TV base plan, you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of market game. All you need is a Google account and a current form of payment, and you can cancel anytime. Just visit FanDuel.com and download America's number one sports book today, but don't wait. This deal is only good through September 22nd. So head to FanDuel.com to take advantage and give yourself the ultimate NFL viewing experience. Did I hear you're shopping for a car? 'Cause I've been at it for ages. Such a time suck, right? Not really. I bought it on Carvana, super convenient. Oh, then comes all the financing, research, am I right? Well, you can, but I got pre-qualified for a Carvana auto loan in like two minutes. Yeah, but then all the number crunching in terms, right? Nope, I saw real numbers as I shopped, found my dream car and got it in a couple of days. Wait, like you already have it? Yep. Go to Carvana.com to finance your car the convenient way. Today. Welcome back to today's episode of lockdown wild. Once again, we thank you for making lockdown wild your first listen each and every day. Reminder to make sure to check out our previous episode here for today. Isha Jerome, he joined us to take a look at the Metropolitan Division. We will also take a look at the other two, including the Central Division before we are done. And before the season gets started. So just taking a look around the league as well. And reminder, we will have a show for you Sunday night. Denny has many things to discuss. So you are not going to want to miss what Denny has to say on Sunday night at eight p.m. on YouTube. So let's talk about where Jacob Loco can help. Where he fits into this lineup. And a lot of it from a playing perspective, still getting ironed out in training camp. And so I feel pretty confident in saying that Loco will be one of the guys in the mix for a fourth line spot. But I don't think his role will elevate any more than that unless he just really impresses with his speed and what he does when he's out there on the ice. Similar to what we saw with Brandon Duhaem throughout his tenure. Beyond that, I actually went back and looked at how the Boston Bruins structured their power play and penalty kill. Loco did not, and I should mention too, he did have a goal in the postseason for the Boston Bruins. So Loco did have a goal in the five games that he played and eight shots in those five games. So just played right around nine minutes. Standard fourth line, fourth line role. In terms of the special teams, Loco didn't factor into the power play really at all. And that's not a surprise because the offensive numbers, they don't really jump out at you on the page. And honestly, he didn't factor in the penalty kill really at all either. Played on average, you know, four seconds per game on the power play, six seconds per game on the penalty kill. But when you've got guys such as Charlie Coyle, Brad Marshans, Jake DeBrusque, Danton Hyenen, those guys all played, those are the guys on the penalty kill from a forward perspective in front of him in the lineup. And so it's not necessarily that Loco wasn't capable of providing some penalty kill for the Bruins. They just, they had an awful lot of guys that were very capable of performing in that role. And so it would be interesting to see 'cause, you know, we, the everydayers know that we've talked about the special teams quite a bit. And I am of the belief that it probably makes a lot of sense for the Minnesota wild to have multiple options on the penalty kill as opposed to locking into unit one, unit two, have a rotation of guys that are available to be able to help out on those units depending on who you're playing, depending on the situations. You know, you might have somebody that gets a little banged up during a game. Do you really wanna throw them out there on the penalty kill late in the game if they're not playing 100%? No, that doesn't, that doesn't seem like a solid idea to me. So I would have a rotation. And that will allow John Hines to kind of game plan to be tactical a little more throughout the course of the season. But we'll, I'm sure we'll see some of that ironed out once it's more, once it's a little more clear as to who is going to be on the roster. But I'm just gonna put that as kind of a footnote is don't be surprised, especially if the wild, you know, go out of their way to try to add a little more speed to the penalty kill. Guys like Morat, who's Nadine off, maybe a guy like Jacob Loco. Don't be surprised if those are looked at to try to help out from a speed perspective. Beyond that, I just don't think from an offensive perspective, I don't think you're going to see Loco factor in really to any of those units. You know, fourth line, kind of a change of pace. At this point, at least early in camp, seems like he's going to be mixed in pretty regularly with Freddie on that fourth line. And whether that ends up being Morat, who's Nadine off on that line? Or if, you know, if ultimately, Jakov Trennan gets bumped down there, but it's a situation here, much like in a similar vein with what we saw with Pat Maroon, you're bringing these guys in to fill lower spots in the lineup. And if you end up elevating them into higher roles out of necessity, that tends to lead to some problems. Now, if it's merited, like if a guy's just absolutely going nuts and we saw this with Dewheim from time to time, if a guy is playing out of his mind to where you're like, "Hey, let's mix it in and see if we can take advantage "of this and maybe ride the hot hand." Situations like that, sure, why not? But I get a little leery when you're in a bind and you're like, well, let's elevate this guy and see if he's capable of providing the same sorts of things that are needed for a second or even a top line. So don't be surprised if it's fourth line or bust for Jakov Loco. Now, from the sounds of it, he does have a two-way contract. And so depending on how crowded it is in front, that could be a possibility, but my guess is that he factors into at minimum one of the 13 forwards that make the team out of camp. Now, it would seem that a guy who's 23 years old could probably give you a little bit more than somebody a little higher up in age. So I don't know if he ends up being the 13th forward or if he ends up carving out a spot on that fourth line, but it's one of those two options. Those are really the only two scenarios that I see possible for what Loco brings to the table. We will finish the show by taking a look at some other numbers for what Loco brings to the table and we'll also take a look at what to project for Jakov Loco for the 2024-2025 season. That's all on the way as we finish today's episode of Lockdown Wild after this. Today's episode of Lockdown Wild is also brought to you by Game Time. Folks, we are in the thick of the college football and the NFL season, but guess what is just around the corner as well? NHL season. And there's no better time to get in on the action to see your favorite team go toe-to-toe against their hated rivals than by heading to game time and picking up some tickets. You can wait all the way up to the day of and Game Time will still give you great deals and great seats. Plus, best of all, Game Time has made it so that it's possible for you to see exactly what you're going to pay with the all-in pricing. When you toggle that feature, you'll see exactly what the tickets will cost and not get hit in the face by fees when you head to checkout. Not only that, but Game Time also offers seat views and their lowest price guarantee. If you find tickets that are cheaper, Game Time will credit you 100 and 10% of the difference. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account and use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms applied, again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-H-L for $20 off. Download Game Time today. What time is it? It's... - Well, we got a minute, and I'm gonna buy that truck I've been wanting. - Wait, don't you need like weeks to shop for a car? - I don't. Carvana makes it super convenient to find exactly what I want. - Hold up, you're buying a car on your phone? Isn't that more of a laptop thing? - You can shop wherever you want. - I like to do my research. Read reviews, compare models. Plus, Carvana has thousands of options. How'd you decide on that truck? - Because I like it. - Oh, that is a great reason. Go to Carvana.com to sell your car the convenient way. - Game Time. One final segment of today's episode of Lockdown Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild's or first listen each and every day. We've got a couple of, well, at least one crossover coming up for you next week as we get closer to the start of the season, we're gonna be grabbing all the central division hosts and doing some crossovers to get a sense of where the rest of the central division in particular is at and gonna just get us all that much closer to the start of the season. We will finish up all these player previews as well. And if you missed any and you wanna go back and hear our thoughts as to pretty much everybody that is expected to make the roster, we get a playlist of those for you on YouTube. So just looking at a couple of other numbers for Jacob Loco, I like to use point shares as an indicator of a player's performance on the ice, their value to a team. Jacob Loco this past season was worth 0.6 defensive point shares. His offense was actually negative 0.5. And so total of 0.1 point shares in 60 games for the Boston Bruins, pretty much what you'd expect from a fourth line guy in that role. As far as where that sits on the team that would be just ahead of Mason Shaw and ahead of pretty much all the guys that factored in regularly to the fourth line. And it actually was a better number than what Brandon Doohame had this past season for the Minnesota wild. He was at negative 0.2 point shares, 0.5 on defense and negative 0.7 on offense. So Loco a little better in that regard, but look, the reality of the situation here is that these guys are just the hit magnets. Skate around, you know, skate around with your speed and just go take somebody's head off along the boards. They're kind of energy, like high energy, come in off the bench, lay a big hit, get the team back into it or help kind of further amp them up as the game is unfolding. And so for me, it comes down to it 100% comes down to speed and work ethic. Like if Loco can capture and provide a lot of what Brandon Doohame did, then he's gonna be a good fit on this team because there were a lot of inconsistencies this past year, especially, but one guy that routinely just every time he was out on the ice, he just skated around like he just had been shot out of a cannon and, you know, battled hard, battled hard on the boards. Those are the kinds of things that you want from those fourth line guys. And so for Jacob Loco, I want to set this as his over-under because honestly, let's just say, let's just say for argument's sake, that as we look at this roster, let's say the guys that you have in the mix for that fourth line include Freddy Goudreau, Morat, who's Nadine off, Jacob Loco, and I'm just throwing the names out there, where they fit in the lineup, my thoughts on where players should be at are pretty clear. But as we talked about before, the roster seems pretty set with the likes of only players really that are likely to not make the roster, at least according to Puckpedia, is probably Reese Johnson. He is the 14th forward listed on the Minnesota Wild roster right now. I highly doubt that he'll factor into the NHL roster at this point. And so Caprizoff, Boldy, Eric Sinack, Zukarello, Felino, Hartman, Trenton Goudreau, Johansson, who's Nadine off, Ogren, Rossi, and Loco, seems pretty set that that's going to be your 13. And depending on who ends up on the second line, you could have players like Morat, like Freddy, like Jacob Loco in the mix for that fourth line. And so, whether or not Loco plays in close to 82 games, Doohame was always good for 80 to 82 games because I think the low amount of minutes, he did have one season where he ended up playing I think around 50 games, but the last two, the last couple, 82, 80 games. And so if Loco can give them, if Loco can give the wilds, I think around 70, 75 games, just to be consistent on that fourth line. We talked about the fourth line stats from last season. And like, there were just a bunch of guys in that spot at the end of last season. After Connor Doohar and Brandon Doohame both got traded, coincidence, I think not. After those guys got moved, the play on that fourth line just really, it was just a lot of guys kind of just being there. So if Loco can come in, throw his body around, just be, you know, maybe not, just be aware of the penalties, don't get crazy with them. If he can fill that role and he can help that fourth line improve their performance, I'd call that a win. And so for the over under, I'm just gonna set it, I'm gonna set it at 190 hits. Because again, it's all indicative of how many games he gets to play, if he's in the lineup consistently. I'm gonna take the under, but not by much because I think when Loco plays close to 80 games, he's pretty much a guarantee for 200 hits. I just, until we see this kind of flush out, I'm just not sure what the game load is going to be. So I'll put it at 190, I'll take the under, but I fully reserve the right to come back and say, yeah, it turns out I was wrong about that. The interesting thing is gonna be the goals because as elite prospects noted, good on the rush, I see this being a situation if he's used on special teams, where you can take advantage of turnovers at the top and even on offense too, like just using speed to get to the net faster than anybody else and cashing in on a few goal opportunities as well, that's all what you're looking for in a fourth line guy. And so I'm gonna be really interested to see where Loco factors in, but let's all still keep in mind. You're talking about a fourth line guy. So the impact is gonna probably be the impact in the grand scheme of things is gonna be minimal, but you need to have contributing lines, all the way up and down the lineup. And if you just have a like a zombie fourth line again, that's not gonna help you out. So gonna be excited to see, especially if he gets put in situations to utilize that speed. We could see a nice little breakout here for Jacob Loco. So let me know in the comments, do you think over or under 190 hits this season for Jacob Loco and we'll take it one step further. What would be deemed a success for Jacob Loco this season to come in and take one of those fourth line spots and provide not a ton of production, but consistent play. Would that be a win? Do you wanna see 10 goals? Let me know in the comments section what you're looking for from Jacob Loco on that fourth line. As mentioned, we got a lot coming up for you next week. Some crossovers within the central division are on tap. And make sure to join us on Sunday at 8 p.m. for the latest live edition of lockdown wild. Make sure to hit that like button as well so you don't miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. You still have a few weeks to be part of the lockdown wild sweepstakes. All you need to do is send a screenshot proof that you are subscribed to lockdown wild on YouTube. Send that to lockdownwild@gmail.com with your name and you are entered in for a chance to win two tickets on opening night to see the wild take on the Columbus blue jackets. Full contest description can be found in the description to this episode. Beyond that, have a great weekend and we'll catch you again on Monday with another episode of lockdown wild. We're keeping you up to date every Monday through Friday as part of the lockdown podcast network. A prime member. You can listen to this lockdown podcast ad-free on Amazon music. Download the Amazon music app today. (upbeat music)
