The Wild are now 8-0-1 in their last nine following their five game skid. That hiccup coincided with all of the postponements and some key injuries to essential players as the calendar turned from 2021 to 2022.
It also opened the door for some of the Wild's future to make their mark. Matt Boldy and Kaapo Kahkonen have seized the opportunity and firmly grabbed hold and the Wild are far better in large part to their contributions.
Kaapo Kahkonen has been outstanding in the Wild net and without him some of these points the Wild have gained in the standings, quite honestly would not be. Yesterday's game was a case in point where the Islanders controlled much of the territorial play and if not for Kahkonen standing tall and turning aside 40 of New York's 43 shots, we would be summing up a Wild loss.
Kahkonen is 6-0-1 in his last seven starts and has stopped 256 of 274 shots faced (.934 save %) over his last nine appearances which includes two games where he came in to relieve Cam Talbot due to injury to the Wild's number one goaltender. His season totals of 10-2-2 with a 2.53 GAA and .922 save percentage tell us that kahkonen is going to be relied on heavily in the second half of the season.
Boldy scored his fourth goal yesterday and contributed his fifth assist to give him nine points through his first nine NHL games. That is a Wild rookie record and yes even better than last season's rookie of the year, Kirill Kaprizov's first nine (7 points).
In addition to the offensive production Boldy has given the Wild another scoring line and ignited Kevin Fiala who extended his personal 11 game point streak, drawing within one game of the club record of 12 held by Mikael Granlund. Fiala and Boldy have become a lethal combination much the same way as Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello have been on the Wild top line.
Kaprizov also extended his personal streak to seven games (11 straight in games he has played). The NHL does not recognoze the eleven games as he missed the game on January 8th versus the Capitals due to injury.
In other Boldy news he has been informed by Wild GM, Bill Guerin, to find a place to live as he is here to stay. That said Boldy is not taking anything for granted and knows he must continue to earn his ice time just as he has done through his first nine games.
As for what that means for the Wild future it does create some salary cap questions. We know Fiala has been red hot and more importantly he is on a one year deal and is a restricted free agent at year's end once again.
The Wild cap situation will be very challenging the next three years of course, and players like Boldy and 2020 first round pick, Marco Rossi are being counted on to be key contributors on entry level contracts while the Wild proceed through those years. Now that Boldy is here to stay that creates a challenge in year three of that process as he will need a new contract.
'Jordan Greenway and Kaapo Kahkonen are RFAs at season's end along with Fiala, Guerin has his work cut out for him. That is what happens with good teams as we have seen all over the NHL since the salary cap was incorporated.
What we don't know is exactly what Guerin's plan that he sold to Wild Owner, Craig Leipold. We have no idea of the intracacies or interworkings of all of the pieces involved. So that is what makes it fun to be a fan and to play scenarios out in our minds and on blogs like this.
Guerin is going to make some moves, we know that. This team is built to compete this season and for years to come. The decisions that Guerin and the Wild front office make over the next few months will go a long way in shaping the long term future of the Wild.
Is Greenway extended? UPDATE WE GOT THIS ANSWER TORAY: YES 3 years, AAV: $3M/YR
Do the Wild trust Fiala or do they cash in that enormous asset to address some other needs?
Alex Goligoski is a UFA and does he have some "handhsake" deal to stay for less money than his $5M one-year contract for this season?
What deals does Guerin orchestrate in the coming weeks?