Some minor news causing an odd stir today. The Wild re-signed James Sheppard. I didn't think much of it personally - former first round pick who stuck as a 20 year old but hasn't put up numbers in the big league yet. No big deal - 22 year olds who make the dance straight from junior are guys you re-sign as RFA's as a matter of course.
Except that Wild fans apparently hate the guy. Which is a fairly strong reaction towards what is a depth player making less than 1 million bucks. Especially one that is bound to improve.
What's the source of this animosity? Well, he's not an amazing player, sure...but to cause that kind of reaction he's either terrible, or has been caused to look terrible by either the gods or his coaches.
Turns out it's the latter (and both). He had nominal possession stats this year (-9.42 corsi/60...worst on the team) and a terrible ES scoring rate (0.44 ESP/60) but those things have a lot to do with his circumstances: bad teammates and a team worst PDO (97.9) come to mind. He also had one of the toughest zone starts ratios in the league: 39.7%. That's a tough gig as a 21 year old sophomore, even if you're only playing other scrubs. His offensive stats were further depressed by spending all of 19 seconds per night on the PP.
So while I don't think Minny has a star on their hands, Sheppard probably isn't nearly as bad as last year made him seem. On top of that, he's bound to improve. Most guys haven't even made the dance by his age.
