Tonight the Wild have an opportunity to win their 50th game of the season, which would be the first time in franchise history they were to hit that mark. Entering this season their were five NHL franchises that had never notched 50 wins in a single season. They of course included the Wild, Florida (currently with 56 wins), Toronto (currently with 51 wins), Los Angeles and Seattle who are in their inaugural season.
Last night's Wild victory also put them at 105 points in the standings just a single point shy of their all time franchise best of 106 points established back in the 2016-17 season. Yes, it is a season full of new heights for this Minnesota Wild franchise both as a collective unit and on the individual scene as well.
Kirill Kaprizov with every goal and point he scores he is establishing new franchise single season marks, and his 97 points has him chasing the century mark as the season heads into the final five games. Mats Zuccarello is currently holding the franchise single season assists mark with 55 and sits just helpers ahead of his favorite dish recipient, Kaprizov.
The career years are numerous up and down the Wild lineup with maybe the hottest player in the league leading the way in Kevin Fiala. Fiala scored another two goals last night and now has nine goals in the last eight Wild games and 16 points over that stretch. He briefly passed Ryan Hartman for second place on the team in goals, when he potted his 32nd goal of the season to break the 3-3 tie. Hartman however added to his career best notching his 32nd into the empty net.
Bill Guerin and his staff have done a masterful job of working this roster into a cohesive unit where they can roll four lines with each bringing a different dynamic and elements that make opponents matchups all the more difficult.
A lot has been made lately of the Fiala contract situation and just how is this going to play out in the off-season. We know the cap constraints the Wild will be under the next three seasons and it appears to be quite challenging to say the least. However, that said, Bill Guerin did not just walk into his conversations with Wild owner, Craig Leipold, and make the proposal to buy out the remaining years of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, without a rock solid plan in place well beyond the first year of the process.
To try and guess exactly what will happen is just that a guess. None of us knows what the rest of the plan is. We do know this though, Bill Guerin is working his plan and he knows exactly what he is doing.
Kevin Fiala and Matt Dumba have had their names bandied about as one or the other mist go in order to make things work within the cap. That in itself presents a very difficult decision as the pure goal scorer who is just now entering his prime is virtually impossible to replace, while trying to get a top pair right hand shot defenseman who brings energy and leadership to the room is equally difficult to replace.
Many fans have their feelings when it comes to Dumba positive and negative. Dumba is a huge part of this Wild team both on and off the ice, and finally there is a GM, that has fully embraced #24. The buyout of Suter yells one all they need to know about the way this organization regards Matt Dumba.
My feeling is that both Dumba and Fiala are in the Wild lineup next season and Bill Guerin's plan will be unfolding after the season is completed.
That is hopefully a long way away as the Wild continue to chase home ice advantage for their first round matchup with St. Louis.
Tonight the Kraken make their first ever visit to the XCEL Energy Center. They are a loose bunch and playing forbtheir jobs. That was evident in their 3-2 victory over Colorado on Wednesday night. Seattle has won three straight and don't look now but guess who is heating up for the Kraken. Yes, Victor Rask, who is on a personal four game scoring streak with two goals and five points over that stretch.
No game is a given and the Wild need to keep winning to maintain their tenuous hold on second place in the Central.
It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!