What an off season for the Wild where they saw their head coach Jacques Lemaire depart and one of the franchises original draft pick and first superstar Marion Gaborik leave for the bright lights of New York and become a Ranger. It is pretty tough to rebound from two huge losses like that, and this from a team that missed the playoffs by two points. The same team from last season is back, but without Lemaire, a defensive guru, the Wild may struggle on the defensive end.
With Lemaire he kept the game simple, play smart defense and you’ll win games. That’s exactly what happened, but this season will be different. More than ever does the Minnesota defense have to play to their high standards. Hopefully for the team and their fans, the defensemen they have now all can play that air tight style of defense.
The Wild are looking good with Brent Burns and Nick Shultz. Burns only played in 59 games due to injuries last season, and was well on his way in putting up a career year, both defensively and offensively. The 27 points he had last season could’ve easily been 40 points. As for Shultz, this guy is a bruiser, and always takes the oppositions body if they ever come down the wing. With Burns and Shultz as the number one pair, the Wild should be okay, considering they have four other defensemen that are pretty good in their own right.
The other two defensive pairs could quite possibly look like this: Shane Hnidy and Kim Johnsson, Greg Zanon and Marek Zidlicky. Again, the same thing applies for all the defensive pairs, they will play tight defense. Scoring may be at a low from the blue line, but players like Johnsson and Zidlicky can chip in a few points each.
If the defense falters once in a while, the Wild have Niklas Backstrom in goal. Backstrom had an amazing 37 win season with a 2.33 GAA. He kept the Wild from failing last season and fall behind .500 to finish the season. The Minnesota defense was good last season, but not great like they used to be. With the loss of Lemaire, it will sting even more.
Offensively, a word that was seldom used in the locker room when Lemaire was around, and out of a negative, the loss of Lemaire, there comes a positive. Maybe, just maybe, the Wild will open up their game and let their players play the game at a high pace. We all know the fans in Minnesota are great, and sellout the Xcel Energy Centre every night, they deserve to see some exciting hockey now.
When Gaborik signed on with the Rangers in a mega deal, the Wild had to replace his production and skill, and the player that best fit Gaborik was Martin Havlat. The Wild made a smart move in signing Havlat, and now have an excellent number one line. In Havlat the Wild are getting a player that can lead his team in scoring, play on the number one power play unit, and score 25 goals and at least 70 points.
Rounding out the number one line are Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Mikko Koivu. In Koivu the Wild have a true playmaker that can dish out 40+ assists and score twenty goals. Bouchard had an off year last season scoring just 16 times. His 46 points were weak, compared to the 57 point average over the last three seasons before 2008. If Bouchard can get his game back on track, the Wild will be better off.
Filling out the rest of the offense will be two solid veteran players, Owen Nolan and Andrew Brunette. Nolan was able to score 25 goals last season, and he may not duplicate that total again, but can still hit the twenty goal mark. It is also the other things he can do, kill penalties, provide leadership and be an enforecer type of player. As for Brunette he finished second in team scoring with 50 points, and he should be a lock to duplicate that mark.
Anti Miettinen is another veteran that can get the job done, but isn’t your typical number one or two line player, but fits in just right on the third line. He will need to step up his game from the 44 points he produced last season. Kyle Brodziak and Eric Belanger will be two other players that can benefit if the Wild play a wide open style of hockey.
Three young prospects that can make an impact and be regulars in the Minnesota lineup are Colton Gillies, a hard hitting, fast skater and can also score goals as he showed in his junior career. Benoit Pouliot, if given a full season in the NHL he will be able to score 40 points, because this guy has some amazing hands and a good sense of each play. James Sheppard has been a solid playmaker in his junior career, and in two seasons with the Wild he has played in 160 games.
OVERALL--> THE WILD HAVE A GOOD OFFENSIVE UNIT AND IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THEY PLAY WITHOUT DEFENSE FIRST ON THEIR MINDS. DEFENSE CAN GET THE JOB DONE, AND GOALTENDING IS EXCELLENT.
POSITIVE--> GOALTENDER NIKLAS BACKSTROM IS A LOCK FOR ANOTHER 37+ WIN SEASON. BRENT BURNS AND NICK SHULTZ ON DEFENSE, WITH A GOOD NUMBER ONE OFFENSIVE LINE.
NEGATIVE--> DEFENSE WASN’T THE BEST LAST YEAR AND WERE BAILED OUT TIME AND TIME AGIN BY BACKSTROM. OFFENSE HAS ALWAYS RANKED IN THE BOTTOM OF THE LEAGUE IN TOTALS GOALS SCORED.
X-FACTOR--> GOALTENDER NIKLAS BACKSTROM, THIS IS HIS TEAM AND HAS TO PLAY LIKE AN MVP AND POST 40 OR MORE WINS IF THE WILD WANT TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS.
SLEEPER PICK--> OWEN NOLAN WILL ONCE AGAIN SURPRISE EVERYONE WITH HIS GOAL PRODUCTION.
PREDICTION--> THE MINNESOTA WILD WILL WIN 40-42 GAMES AND SERIOUSLY COMPETE FOR A PLAYOFF SPOT.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
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