From the “better late than never” side of life, here is my season ending blog regarding the Minnesota Wild.

On the positive side of life, the Wild made it back to the playoffs. Barely. But, they made it in. Hindsight being 20-20, the more interesting stories would have resulted from the Wild not making the playoffs as I believe heads would have rolled and Brian Burke may well have been running this franchise by now. But that was not the case and GM Chuck Fletcher and Head Coach Mike Yeo live to fight another season.

Fletcher’s job, however, will be very difficult. With the salary cap going down significantly and the Wild having big numbers already on their books, Fletcher has to figure out who will be this team’s number one goalie next season with Backstrom’s contract expiring (sign him or not and, if so, for how much; if not, who will be the #1 next season with Harding’s M.S. issues and Kuemper’s relative inexperience at the NHL level; or do you sign an established NHL goalie/back-up or dive into the European free agent market). Whew! And that’s just one area he has to address. He also needs to bolster this team’s blue line and find a natural goal scorer up front, not to mention decide which player(s) receive compliance buyouts, if any? Each team gets one for sure, but I believe I heard along the way that each team gets two overall over the next two years. The only thing I’m uncertain about is whether they can use two this off-season or if they are limited to one each of the next two off-seasons. Then you have the draft and potential trades, not to mention free agency later this summer. Fletcher and company will have some tough decisions to make over the next few weeks. So, stay tuned, it will definitely get interesting. However, I don’t expect to see many changes in player personnel. I think Backstrom re-signs and that Heatley gets bought out.

As for Mike Yeo, while his job is safe for now, he will definitely be on the hot seat when next season begins. I think you will start to see Coach Yeo take more risks and mix and match who plays with whom and juggle the lines throughout the season. He didn’t do that much during the regular season so, when the Wild were struggling in the playoffs, he could not do it then. Another HUGE focus for Yeo will be the powerplay. He was essentially let go in Pittsburgh because he could not get the Penguins’ powerplay to click and he had even more star power in Pitt than he has here. But, going 0-for-17 on the powerplay is embarrasing, even if Chicago has a good penalty kill. All said, however, this season was tough for all coaches as they had virtually no time to practice in between all of the games and/or extra days off per the new CBA for players thoughout this condensed season.

On the player personnel front, I would not be surprised to see Matt Cullen re-sign. I would be surprised to see Heatley and Bouchard in Wild uniforms come October. Also, I believe you will see guys like Prosser and Konopka on the trade block. Whether there are any takers is a totally different question. Gilbert probably stays. Setoguchi definitely stays in my opinion. Clutterbuck perhaps gets traded.

Then there is the question that keeps popping into my head. Do you trade Mikko Koivu if you get a good return? No doubt, Mikko is one of the cornerstones of this franchise and has been for a long time. However, he has good trade value as a very good two-way player and, if it gets you a guy like Vanek or Ryan Miller or someone of that ilk, is it a move worth considering? No doubt, Koivu works hard. And, I think we will only realize his effectiveness once he is gone. Heck, look at the last few seasons when he went out with injuries. The Wild were lost without him. But, back then it was Mikko Koivu and the Wild. Now, with the additions of Parise, Suter and Pominville, I believe the Wild could get along without him for a while and, if we got another star player for him, perhaps the Wild would not miss a beat without him at all.

Some will think I’m crazy for even putting this out there and hate on me. Others will love the idea. I have not heard anything like this out there, so it’s not even a rumor. Just a thought; a discussion point if you will.

That said, what are your season ending thoughts as the Wild are concerned. What do you see happening during the offseason. And, last but not least, how do you feel going forward at this point in time as the Wild are concerned?

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