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Who Is 12-13 LA Kings & Team To Watch Now? The Minnesota Wild.

June 20, 2012, 1:15 PM ET [483 Comments]
Eklund
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Rumors are coming fast and furious and I will update, along with a Chart update in a few hours here, but one club that keeps coming up in various rumors is...the Minnesota Wild.

This is interesting on quite a few levels, the first being Minnesota has rarely been mentioned in rumors since they entered the NHL. They have a rabid fan base and have tended to build a strong group from within. A hockey culture in the State of Hockey. Not a hard sell. In 2011 Minnesota passed an ordnance naming ice hockey the official sport of the state.

Given their past tendency to be passive and try to grow from within, last season the Wild were very active and very much in the news. They made headlines with the move thant sent Devin Setoguchi, a prospect and some picks to Minnesota, and then a few days later trading Havlat for Heatley.

During the 2011-12 season, the Wild started off like gangbusters until December 14th, when the team's 7 game win streak came to an end in Winnipeg and Zach Bogosian drove Pierre-Marc Bouchard into the boards behind the Winnipeg net...ending his season...One night later, December 15th, Latendresse was shut down for the season with post concussion symptoms. Then captain, and team leader in every aspect Koivu got hurt a week later missing four games, then again in January Koivu went down..(Mikko played a career low 55 games in 2011-12). That spelled doom for the season.

You may not remember this...but on December 15th the Minnesota Wild were 20-8-4 with 44 points...the most points of any team in the NHL...On January 15th they were 22-16-7 and sat eighth in the West...On February 15th...they were 12th in the West at 25-23-8. March 15th 29-31-10...13th in the West.


So after going 20-8-4 as a healthy team, they were hit hard by injuries and they went 9-23-7 over the next three months.

But the Wild, when healthy, were a force last year.

And now some serious prospects are NHL ready...

Center Mikael Granlund, 9th overall in 2010, put up huge numbers in Finland's SM-liiga for HIFK, won a Finnish championship and World Championship gold medal in 2011 and looks almost definite to be on the Wild roster this season. That is a top 6 guy right there, with long-term first-line potential.

Two more prospects: Charlie Coyle and Zach Phillips lead St. Johns to the Championship in the Q. Coyle had 15 goals and 19 assists and was named Tourney MVP in the Q. Phillips was right behind him in points and BOTH could find their way to the Wild roster sooner than later...if not the AHL.

Last year's 10th overall, top defensive prospect, Swede Jonas Brodin can mover the puck and play solid D. He is considered a can't miss in North America and will get a long look in camp as well.

Add to that Brett Bullmer, a big kid who is smart in his own end with tons of heart, who played 9 games for the Wild last year before being sent back...He will have every chance to make a permanent jump to Minny.

Also throw in USA Junior Standout Jason Zucker who could be a force in the next few seasons.

So you take a team who started off last year in dominant fashion. Add virtually an entire line of top breed prospects...and now realize this...

The Wild have a TON of money to spend and are willing to do so.

They are going to do their best to bring in Ryan Suter (who I keep hearing may be a two horse race between Detroit and Minnesota) and Zach Parise. I get the impression, from sources around the NHL, the Wild know they have something special here and are going to "go for it." If they don't get Suter and/or Parise they will get help from elsewhere...They have the money and the desire to make something happen.

When all is said and done I see the Wild as the next LA Kings...meaning , "The next team to come out of nowhere to be a major force." We have seen it many times over the past few years...A team can go from looking terrible to looking dominant very quickly. The other thing I really like about this Wild team is there ability to play tough nosed hockey...something i once again compare to the LA Kings. It could serve the Wild very well in next year's playoffs.

rumors to come

To see the most current team speculation on all the possible trade-able players and some comments updated regularly, go to The Rumor Chart. Players are added and adjusted throughout the days as to what percentages I feel are their most likely destinations based on the hundreds of phone calls, emails, texts, IMs and telegrams I receive.
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