The Minnesota Wild Enter Another Offseason With Huge Need for Top 6 Center
Minnesota Wild Center Position NHL Roster and Organizational Prospects
As we approach crunch time for offseason personnel decision, a familiar area of need for the Minnesota Wild is again at the forefront of what went wrong in a postseason cut short yet again. The need to supplement Mikael Granlund and Mikko Koivu with a pivot player to round out the top-nine is again a huge weakness of the current NHL roster and organization depth as well.
At current Granlund has done enough in my mind to cement his spot in the top six as one of two centermen going forward in 2015-16. In Koivu, you have a size/skill center who brings much more to the table production wise in the defensive end. Both Granlund and Koivu failed to meet even conservative expectations with regard to offensive production, that is not to say that both should not be given credit for how their defense and possession play affected the outcomes of games but for each to be afford the ice time and roles of a No. 1 and No. 2 center here and to only produce a combined 24 goals and 87 points during the 2014-15 regular season is pretty disappointing.
That lack of top end production between the wingers on the top two lines was only compounded by the dramatic step back taken by sophomore center Erik Haula and growing pains of Charlie Coyle as he attempted to take on the role full-time during the 2014-15 regular season. By the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, neither Haula nor Coyle was even playing the center position and in fact Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo had deferred to Kyle Brodziak in an elevated role as the third-line center.
Both Coyle and Haula have shown at different time in the past three seasons the ability to be difference makers at the NHL level with their speed and forechecking ability. Coyle at times this year looked like his playmaking and transition to the pivot was taking hold. For Coyle, because he has yet to establish himself as an NHL goal scorer, it looked as if the gears shifted on his development from the front office and coaching staff to have him transition from the wing to the center of the ice. This position swap certainly was all about taking advantage of Coyle's size/skill combination but many including myself have opening questioned if the young forward has the puck handle and positional aptitude to successfully man the position at the NHL level.
In Haula there is just a multitude of unanswered questions about what happened to derail his sophomore season as a professional and if the glimpse of outstanding he flashed during the 2013-14 post season wasn't just a run of hot play rather than the expected norm. I have heard conditioning, attitude, concussions, and confidence all mentioned as reasons why Haula found himself relegated to a rotational role on the bottom line for much of 2014-15 season.
What is clear from what we seen out of the former Gopher this past season, it is very hard to trust that he will come back this fall and be the best player on the ice as he was consistently for his alma mater during his last two season at the University of Minnesota and was also the case during his time with the Baby Wild in Des Moines.
I honestly still really like Coyle and Haula as key contributors to this hockey team next fall but i think both have been exposed as not being capable of fulfilling the obligations required of the center position for this club. That being said, push must come to shove and this glaring weakness for the Wild in the center of the ice must be addressed by adding a player from outside the organization this summer.
I have listed below the current organizational prospects at the position but none of them are on the verge of a consistent NHL contribution for the Minnesota Wild in 2015-16. In fact I am not convinced any of the prospects listed below even project to eventually become a top six center in the NHL either.
I think any fan with a pulse has read or heard about Tyler Graovac, he certainly has come a very long way in his development from lanky kid playing for the Ottawa 67ers. Graovac was one of assistant general manager Brent Flahr's late round magic type picks as the young pivot was selected by the Wild in the seventh round (191st overall) in the 2011 NHL draft.
Graovac went on to become the best player on a bad Ottawa team during his 4th year of Juniors, he was traded to Belleville in season. Graovac has certainly solidified his spot in the prospect ranks for the Wild since his late round selection in 2011. Graovac was arguably the best player last season on a terrible Baby Wild team in Iowa that produced another brutal last place AHL finish. Graovac will be afford an opportunity to win a roster spot this fall but I think it is reasonable to expect him to be a bottom of the roster contributor at best.
As far as the rest of the kids on the list go, the top five after Graovac is rounded out by college and juniors players who are talented kids but none of which is close to contributing in Iowa let alone St.Paul any time soon. Avery Peterson had a very nice freshman year at the University of Nebraska-Omaha where he scored some goals and will have a bigger role this season.
Both Reid Duke and Chase Lang are Canadian Juniors players who showed a healthy rivalry at last summer's Wild Prospect Development Camp. Duke and Lang were both late round fliers so the expectations of them to contribute even at the AHL level are low.
The Wild signed three centermen between the begin of the playoffs and the end of the season to supplement the depth at the position down in Iowa. In Cristoph Bertschy the brought over from the Swiss League a kid that is small-ish but electric with the puck on his stick.
Bertschy was all over the ice last summer during prospect camp and he dazzled with his creativity and ability to handle the puck to create scoring chances. Bertschy returned to his Swiss League team to lead them in scoring this year and earn his first professional contract.
Pavel Jenys was also selected late in the 2014 NHL Draft like fellow prospects Duke and Lang. Jenys was a relative unknown kid out of the Czech Republic who had some international tournament play under his belt in which he flashed NHL size and willingness to battle in the corners.
Jenys made the leap to Canadian Juniors last season with Sudbury where he amassed 15 goals and 45 points. Jenys was signed to an entry level contract and played 8 games with the Baby Wild. he will return to Juniors because of age rule but he has a shot to develop into a contributor in a couple years.
The reality is for the Wild although they have done well signing undrafted free agent kids and finding late round gems, there exists no top end talented centermen in their system and they really do not have help at the position on the horizon. This offseason I expect Kyle Brodziak to sign elsewhere given how he was able to perform down the stretch the past two seasons in a bottom 6 center role. I think Ryan Carter will be pursued by the Wild to return but that does little to address a huge need at the center position between Granlund and Koivu next fall.
I fear that Fletcher and Flahr will talk themselves into the idea that Coyle and Haula will be capable of handling the role in 2015-16 because that just proved to be flawed in 2014-15. Also I think Granlund and Koivu are very talented guys but they leave a ton to be desired offensively so adding a player to help supplement their lower production numbers could really help to balance out the consistency of the lineup.
Believe me I realize that over half the NHL teams have a need for a top 6 size/skill center so this is a heavy task to complete but Fletcher has to see that the pieces of this roster while talented don't completely fit together.
NHL Roster Players at Center Position
1. Mikael Granlund (RFA)
2. Mikko Koivu
3. Charlie Coyle
4. Erik Haula (RFA)
UFA
1. Kyle Brodziak
2. Ryan Carter
Organizational Prospects at Center Position
1. Tyler Graovac
2. Avery Peterson
3. Reid Duke
4. Chase Lang
5. Adam Gilmour
6. Christoph Bertschy
7. Pavel Jenys
8. Grayson Downing
9. Brady Brassart
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Just My Take,
Tony Dean
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