When we last saw the Minnesota Wild skating off the ice in Winnipeg back in April, the thought was that next season the roster would look dramatically different.
The ax did fall on Chuck Fletcher ending his 9 year run as General Manager, as he was replaced by former Nashville Assistant GM, Paul Fenton. That move appeared to say that significant roster moves were right around the corner.
What we got though, was a trade market that was less than stellar combined with the Wild's most tradeable assets coming off injury riddled subpar seasons in 2017-18. Creating a difficult landscape for new GM, Fenton to navigate as he looks to make his mark on the roster, and get the Wild over the hump.
Fenton was also challenged in the fact that he was hired just one month ahead of the NHL entry draft, which presented him from really being able to truly evaluate his new team. We know that he explored the trade market very extensively but in the end elected to stand pat.
Fenton is here for the long haul and his tenure was never going to be defined by his first Summer as Wild GM. He knows what it takes to build a consistent winner and he is tirelessly going about his work to make the team on the ice the strongest it can be.
The 2018-19 Minnesota Wild will begin the season with a healthy Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreieter, and Zach Parise. Both Coyle and Niederreiter were hurt in the third game of the season last year and were hampered by additional injuries throughout the season. Parise missed the first 40 games of the season following back surgery, and really took the better part of his first month getting back to form. Once he did though, Parise was the Wild's most consistent forward the last month and half of the season and in the first three games of the playoffs until his season ended with a broken sternum.
The fact that the Wild finished with 45 wins and 101 points following their franchise record 2016-17, 49 wins 106 point season, is quite remarkable considering the injury issues they experienced last season.
Wild head coach, Bruce Boudreau, is one of the finest bench bosses in the league, and last season was just another example of just how good of a coach he is. There are never any excuses in professional sports, and injuries are a part of the game. The teams that can overcome those injuries and have the next man up approach are usually the one's that prevail in the end.
In the end of course last Spring the injuries were just a little too much and to too many of the Wild's key performers, Ryan Suter, Parise, and Jared Spurgeon who played, but was at a fraction of full strength. Not saying the Wild would have won their first round series with Jets either way, but without those three at full strength and the aforementioned Niederreiter and Coyle hampered as well, it was no contest as the Jets won in five games.
Through it all there were some significant bright spots for the Wild future. The first being Nick Seeler who was recalled from Iowa in February, after the Gustav Olofsson, Mikey Reilly experiment went absolutely nowhere. Seeler stepped in right away and became a physical presence in front of the Wild net playing a smart simple game partnering with Nate Prosser who was reclaimed off waivers from St. Louis in late November.
Jordan Greenway was signed following the Boston University season, and provided the Wild a different look up front with his 6'6" frame and ability to play a smart game in his own end. That immediately gave Boudreau the confidence to play Greenway a regular shift. Greenway got better with each game, ultimately being one of their best forwards in the five game playoff series with Winnipeg.
Both Seeler and Greenway are being counted on to build on their limited success from last season, and given the health of the top of the Wild roster they should be afforded a better chance to work their way into Boudreau's system this time around. But judging from the way they both handled themselves late last season, in much more challenging circumstances, they should be just fine.
Now the offseason did provide some player movement, as Matt Cullen decided to play one more season afterall, but elected tp rejoin the Penguins where he had his most recent success winning two straight Cups.
Daniel Winnik was not resigned and Tyler Ennis had his contract bought out. That left the fourth line open for Fenton to bring in his first class of free agents. He wasted no time signing Eric Fehr, the former Shark, who had previously played for Boudreau in Washington and in the AHL with Hershey. JT Brown and Matt Hendricks were also signed on July 1st as well.
Fenton's most significant offseason move was the signing of defenseman, Greg Pateryn who had been with Dallas. The 6'4" 225lb right handed shooting, Pateryn will team with Seeler to give the Wild a defense pair that is both big and physical. Something the Wild blueline had been lacking for far too long. Pateryn is an immediate upgrade to the Wild defense giving them the size, strength, shot blocking, and hits experience which will only accelerate the maturation of his partner Nick Seeler.
There is a lot to be optimistic about as the new season gets ready to begin for the Wild tomorrow night in Denver. There is also a level of doubt and unknown with the Central Division on paper shaping up as the league's toughest from top to bottom.
The season will start with the Wild having their best top line arguably in their history, with Eric Staal, centering Jason Zucker and Mikael Granlund. When that trio was put together midway through last season they clicked immediately. Granlund, the Wild's most dynamic offensive player, makes the line go, while Zucker with his speed combined with Eric Staal's offensive pedigree, they create scoring opportunities nearly every shift.
Mikko Koivu took a step back last season in the scoring and faceoff departments, but he is still the shutdown center he has always been. He will begin the season playing with Parise and Niederreiter formulating a very productive 2nd line.
The third line brings the most intrigue heading into the new season as Jordan Greenway, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Charlie Coyle make up a line that has size, skill, and speed, the likes of which have never been seen on a single line in Wild history. Eriksson Ek struggled to put the puck in the net for most of last season, but that is expected to change with him playing the wing and having more opportunities to unleash his highly underrated shot.
The Wild fourth line will consist of Eric Fehr, Marcus Foligno, Matt Hendricks, and JT Brown, with the odd man out being determined by a combination of who is playing well, and the Wild opponent on that particular night. Matt Read was signed to a two way contract but was a late cut, primarily due to his two way contract status. Make no mistake, if all things were equal JT Brown most likely would have been the odd man out, but for now he is here and his opportunity is very clear, step it up, or Read will be back up.
The Wild defense has long been the staple of the organization, but last season the loss of Marco Scandella was felt throughout the year. Bringing in Pateryn addresses that issue and Seeler taking over for Olofsson and Reilly combo allows Nate Prosser to slot in at his normal seventh defenseman position with the ability to step in at a moments notice and provide stabilizing defense regardless of the situation.
Matt Dumba took another huge leap forward last season reaching the 50 point plateau for the first time in his career. Dumba fresh off his new five year $30 million deal, is poised to take his place among the league's elite defenseman.
Ryan Suter for the first time in his career is coming back from a significant injury, one that was far more serious than anyone first thought. But in true Ryan Suter fashion he worked tirelessly to get himself ready for training camp. Suter is a beast, he just goes about his business each and every day like a true professional. The question of course is how will he respond to the workload and how quickly will Boudreau get him back to his typical workload?
Jonas Broding and Jared Spurgeon are the Wild's most reliable defenders, and Boudreau refers to Spurgeon as his barometer. Both Spurgeon and Brodin missed extended time last season which put added pressure on the Wild organizationaldefense depth.
Devan Dubnyk has been one of the top two or three goalies in the NHL ever since his arrival to the State of Hockey in January of 2015. Dubnyk gives the Wild a chance to win nearly every night, and the more he plays the better his game is. Boudreau expects Dubs to get 60 games this season.That is made easier with Alex Stalock solidifying the backup role last season.
Stalock answered a solid challenge from Andrew Hammond who was signed as a free agent in July, to give the Wild better organizational depth between the pipes. Hammond showed himself very well, and if the situation calls he is ready for the call.
Overall the Wild may look like the same team as last season, but that could not be further from the truth. This team knows that they are not being measured on their regular season. What matters is what occurs after the 82 game playin season. The playoffs are not a foregone conclusion for anyone, especially in the tough Central Division.
My take heading into the season is that Paul Fenton will put his stamp on the roster at some point, and that Bruce Boudreau will get this team into the playoffs once again, and their Spring will be an extended affair in 2019.
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UPDATE: Paul Fenton has completed his first trade sending Gustav Olofsson to Monteeal for prospect center and former 2016 3rd round pick William Bitten. Tha move alleviates the issue of what to do with Olofsson, who would have had to clear waivers to be assigned to Iowa. Can't help but think of the irony that last season the Wild had Olofsson and Reilly competing for the left defense position on the 3rd pair, and now a year later both players have been dealt to Montreal...things that make one go hmmm