Wild Game Day number 25 Wild Record (11-10-3 25 pts) Home Record (6-3-2)
Opponent: Vegas Golden Knights (15-7-1 31 pts) Road Record (6-5-1)
Site: Xcel Energy Center, St.Paul, MN
Time: 7:00PM CT
TV: Fox Sports North (FSN)
The Wild get their first look at the Vegas Golden Knights tonight as they look to rebound off of their two dismal road losses to St. Louis and Winnipeg. For Vegas they are the surprise of the league for sure, through the first quarter of the season.
Yes, the expansion rules were absolutely set up for the Golden Knights to be a more competitive team than your typical expansion organization. That said no one expected them to be leading the Pacific Division, and more surprising is the fact that they have the 3rd highest scoring offense in the NHL.
Tonight's game also marks the return of Erik Haula and Alex Tuch to the State of Hockey. Both were lost as part of the expansion process, as Wild GM, Chuck Fletcher, wheeled and dealed to keep his stable of defensemen intact.
The talk of late has been why didn't Fletcher just let Vegas take Dumba or Scandella as they were both left unprotected. That of course is in response to the Wild's 11-10-3 start and an easy target to place the blame.
it isn't that easy as Erik Haula was due a significant raise, and Scandella was used to make a move to get Marcus Foligno. To facilitate the deal the Wild took on Tyler Ennis ($4.6 million per year thru 2018-19) in exchange for Buffalo ridding the Wild of Jason Pominville's $5.6 million deal that had two years remaining.
Those deals have not worked out as planned to this point from a Wild perspective but again there are more factors at play here than just what we see on the surface.
Yesterday Chuck Fletcher spoke publicly about the state of the Wild. He of course, is not happy with the results thus far and pinned a lot of the issue on the forwards not playing the game the right way. He made the statement that he was surprised that the two most recent lopsided losses hadn’t happened sooner.
If that was his thinking, then why did he wait until the team lost those games to speak up? It was also brought to light by The Athletic’s, Michael Russo, that Fletcher is in the final year of his contract. This would be the first time during Fletcher’s tenure that this has been made public. If nothing else the timing is a bit interesting to say the least.
Getting on to tonight’s game, the Wild will once again be without Jared Spurgeon who will miss at least two more games including tonight, with a groin injury.
That in itself, is a huge challenge as the Wild defense has been suspect beyond the top three, which of course includes Spurgeon. Bruce Boudreau refers to Spurgeon as his gauge to assess how his team is performing on a game by game basis. That is a high compliment for Spurgeon, and one that is well earned.
The move to waive Quincey was to help Mike Reilly and Gustav Olofsson, by giving them the ability to play without having to look over their shoulders and worrying about making mistakes. Again, if that is the case then neither should be in the NHL. This is not an on the job training league, this is the top hockey league in the World.
We will see how this all plays out, but the fact is the Wild will continue to be a .500 team until they become tougher to play against. With the roster the way it is today, I don’t see that happening on a consistent basis.
A shakeup is needed, not a complete overhaul, but there are several teams struggling and there could be some moves to be made. Who knows there have already been two trades today, could Chuck be working the phones too?
UPDATE: As anticipated yesterday, Chuck Fletcher has confirmed the Wild have claimed Nate Prosser, who was waived by the Blues. Prosser played in just one game with the Blues this season and his return gives the Wild that veteran presence on the blueline, and more importantly a right handed shot.
It's Always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!
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