WildHBcommunity: Another December to Forget for Minnesota Wild
Chuck Fletcher has Downplayed Need to Look for Addition from Outside Organization
When Minnesota Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher recently sat down with Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, he downplayed any expectations that a move to add a player(s) from outside of the organization is imminent. Anyone that follows this team sees a huge need between the pipes and on the third pairing.
I am a huge fan of Fletcher because of how detailed and calculated he has proven to be in his complete rebuild of this franchise but he is certainly at a crossroads. Fletcher has added and graduated his first full class of prospects to the NHL roster. Fletcher has added an impressive group of veteran unrestricted free agents to this roster and supplemented via trade without mortgaging future draft assets or prospects.
Fletcher's current NHL roster group showed during the first month of the season they are capable of dominating possession and driving the play against any team in the NHL. What is not clear at this moment, is if this same roster will make the playoffs this season which certainly would be viewed by the fanbase and owner Craig Leipold as a huge step backwards for the franchise and brand here in the 'State of Hockey'.
The month of December has not been kind to the Wild, they are currently 3-4-3 which is even more damaging to their playoff aspirations when you consider that they are currently 9 points behind both Winnipeg and St. Louis in the Central Division and 6 points behind Vancouver for the last wild card in the Western Conference.
The Wild has only played 33 games so they still have plenty of opportunity to get their season back on track but this season was looked at before it began as the elevating of this franchise to a competitively elite status which has not be the case.
I think fans fixate on head coach Mike Yeo as being the most deserving of scorn and outrage but I am of the opinion that although Fletcher has done a fantastic job accumulating the MOST talented roster in franchise history, this current makeup has fatal flaws that can not be fixed within the organization.
Fletcher MUST find a way to add a #1 netminder to this team if they have ANY shot at winning Lord Stanley's Cup this season. Fletcher bet on Josh Harding and lost. Fletcher bet on Kuemper and lost. Fletcher bet on Backstrom and lost. We saw last season what it looks like to swing and miss on a consistent backstop between the pipes for months as Yeo was forced to goaltender shuffle down the stretch after the team's annual December collapse.
What we know right now about Kuemper and Backstrom, neither is capable of elevating their play beyond the ATROCIOUS .901 save percentage which doesn't really paint the picture because both were sub .900 for most this season. Anyone that reads my content knows I have been very excited to see Kuemper get this opportunity to be #1 guy here so I can not express it enough how concerned I am that he has failed to launch through 33 games this season.
On Backstrom he is past his moment in the sun and being honest he has been better than I expected of him. Backstrom is NOT capable of being the #1 guy anymore. I think Backstrom is only on the roster right now because Fletcher swung and missed on attempts to add Jonathon Bernier and Ben Bishop two offseasons ago.
Backstrom's current contract is KILLING any opportunity to swing a deal for a goaltender and played a major part in Kuemper's ability to leverage a straight one way deal from the Wild as a restricted free agent this past August.
Fletcher has painted himself into the corner here because although I realize he is posturing and leveraging with his no trades coming comments, he has to provide Yeo was a remedy to problems that can not be solved with players currently in the organization.
The top 4 pairings(Ryan Suter/Jonas Brodin and Marco Scandella/Jared Spurgeon) are very good and I would stack them up against any on the league in both ends. The bottom pair for this team is a huge weakness though and has been all season. Keith Ballard was another swing and miss for Fletcher as he gambled that the veteran defender could return to form on a discounted price tag in a return to his old stomping grounds.
Nate Prosser has been more bad than good this year which should come as no surprise to anyone. Prosser can flash at times an ability to play a very solid brand of hockey and even add some offense but in reality he is no better than a 7th NHL dman. Prosser left a deal on the table with the Wild to sign with the Blues this past offseason only to get cut and come back. He has been a band aid for Fletcher and Yeo but in not addressing the problem we have seen a butterfly affect result with the top 4 pairs playing too many minutes leaving them exposed at the end of shifts.
The two kid defenders Mathew Dumba and Christian Folin have just not been given a ton of opportunity even when they have been in the lineup on the bottom pair or elsewhere. Folin is the better positioned of the two kids to be successful at the NHL level right now but Yeo's been slow playing the 23 year old this season. Folin also got sick with the mumps and spent time with 'Baby Wild' before his most recent recall to the NHL. Dumba is down with the 'Baby Wild' scoring nearly a point a game and playing top pair minutes which is where he should have started this season in hindsight.
It is time for Fletcher to work the phones and come up with some solutions to lingering weaknesses that have cost this team points in a string of collapses this season. I realize that every phone call Fletcher makes will find teams mentioning Nino Niederreiter, Jason Zucker, Gustav Olofsson, and Dumba so maybe he will have to wait for a more reasonable conversation to be had BUT the longer it takes to come up with something from outside the organization, his team is suffering from a slow painful death.
Now with Mikael Granlund and Jonas Brodin possibly lost long term to injuries, the season is certainly at critical stage and Fletcher is at a crossroads at the top personnel guy here in Minnesota. I will be monitoring closely the next week or so for any indications of how Fletcher will look to proceed.
The Wild plays tomorrow night in Winnipeg, they better figure out how to get two points in regulation. Have to right the ship now for final stretch, leave December in the rear view!
Just My Take,
Tony Dean
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