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Never Business as Usual With Boudreau |
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Wild Game Day number 58
Wild Record (38-13-6 82 pts)
Home Record (20-7-1)
Opponent: Nashville Predators (27-21-8 62 pts)
Road Record (11-14-2)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
Last season result:
11/4 Predators 3 @ Wild 2
11/21 Predators 0 @ Wild 4
12/19 Wild 2 @ Predators 3
1/16 Wild 0 @ Predators 3
Last result;
12/15 Wild 5 @ Predators 2
12/27 Wild 3 @ Predators 2
1/22 Predators 4 @ Wild 2
Tonight the Wild play host to the Predators, who are coming off of their bye week. Much has been made of teams records coming out of the mandatory bye week, with the combined record of the prior 13 teams being 3-9-1.
The Wild took the first two meetings with the Predators, both in Nashville, while the Preds defeated the Wild 4-2 in January at the Xcel Energy Center.
The Predators are currently holding the top wildcard position in the west, and trail the surging Blues for third place in the Central by five points with two games in hand on St. Louis.
Every game going forward is magnified as the season enters the final third and teams make the push toward the playoffs. The trade deadline is looming and the rumors are starting to heat up.
Trade deadline day in the NHL is like no other in any sport, which can be very exciting for the fans of course. On the other hand it becomes very nerve racking for the players and the potential uncertainty of their future, especially those with families. Of course it is all a part of the business they are in but it still does not make it any easier.
What makes this year's trade deadline a bit more intriguing is the looming expansion draft and the limited number of player protection options for league GMs. Much has been made of the Wild's growing dilemma considering that they have a wealth of defensemen and only the ability to protect three, compounded by the fact that several of their young forwards , primarily Jason Zucker are having breakout seasons.
When teams fare well in a salary cap league they will always experience the pain of how to reward and pay the players that are contributing to the team's success. The Wild are no different and that will be an issue for Chuck Fletcher to address at season's end.
The fact is that each and every team is going to lose a good player to Las Vegas. There really is no way around that. Chuck Fletcher us well aware of that fact so don't expect any kind of significant move in preparation of the expansion draft to occur in season for the Wild.
The next point I will make on that is, due to the abundance of defensemen the Wild have and have to expose, it seems to me that Vegas would absolutely be looking there to potentially grab a top four defenseman which in today's NHL are very hard to come by.
The next point I will make is right handed shooting defenseman are scarce and the price for them often times is much higher. Case in point the off season deal between the Oilers and Devils that saw Edmonton deal former 1st overall pick, Taylor Hall, for Adam Larsson, a trade that by most accounts appears lopsided in New Jersey's favor. That just goes to show the premium in having good right handed shot defensemen.
The Wild have four right shot defensemen led of course by Jared Spurgeon and Matt Dumba. Christian Folin and Nate Prosser also shoot right giving the Wild some valuable depth. You may recall last season when Ryan Suter made it a point with then Wild head coach, Mike Yeo, that he preferred to be paired exclusively with a right handed shooting partner.
Take a look around the league and you will see many teams forced to play a left handed defenseman on the right side. This presents challenges in both the offensive zone as well as the defensive zone. Where it is especially noticeable is on the powerplay where the left handed shooting defenseman playing the right point will have to pull the puck off the boards in order to make a play. That extra move or handcuff, can lead to lost zone possession or even worse, turnovers leading to quality shorthanded scoring opportunities.
Gustav Olofsson has played well in place of Matt Dumba, which is another good sign as Boudreau continues to tinker with the lineup in an effort to not only keep his team sharp as they play each and every night for their ice time, but also to see what kind of organizational depth the Wild really have.
It's always Hockey Day in the State of Hockey!
Let's Play Hockey!
Follow me on Twitter @dwallace17
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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