The Bruce Boudreau era in the State of Hockey is about to begin for real tomorrow night in St. Louis. What a difference a year makes as last year at this time Boudreau was leading the Anaheim Ducks with Stanley Cup aspirations, while Mike Yeo was beginning his 5th season behind the Wild bench. Now the two will face off in the opening game of the 2016-17 NHL season in new surroundings, Boudreau with the Wild of course and Yeo (the heir apparent to Ken Hitchcock) associate head coach with St. Louis.
The Wild roster has a very similar look to the team that finished 2015-16, with a couple of new/old additions. The most notable addition is Eric Staal, who will center the Wild top line with Zach Parise and Charlie Coyle. Chris Stewart is also back for his second tour of duty with the Wild. Zac Dalpe will start the season with the Wild but his days may be numbered as it is expected that 19 year old Joel Eriksson Ek will be up once his immigration paperwork gets sorted out.
It is now for this group, no excuses!
Boudreau was the big off season acquisition, and he is the right guy to lead the Wild in this critical time. He not only brings a winning pedigree, but also an overall presence that exudes confidence throughout the organization. Boudreau has instilled a new culture into the Wild, a culture that is more player friendly combined with accountability. He is a welcome breath of fresh air, with his down to earth common man approach.
The key to the 2016-17 Minnesota Wild is how well the younger core of this team performs. Jason Zucker, Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, Erik Haula have all shown signs that they can score at this level. So in order for the Wild to take that next step some or all of the aforementioned will need to deliver on a more consistent basis. The Wild do not have the star power that other top teams have, but what they lack in star power, they more than make up for in overall team depth.
Boudreau is not the only new face behind the Wild bench. Assistant coaches John Anderson and Scott Stevens were hired to bring even more experience to the Wild as they make the push to get this team to new heights. Anderson, is another hockey lifer who has NHL head coaching experience, but also brings a fresh new approach to the offense and especially the powerplay. Stevens, the hall of fame defenseman, was brought in to guide the very deep Wild defensive unit.
Stevens has a wide array of talent on the Wild blueline to work with. The Wild defense has been Ryan Suter and company the past four seasons. This year Suter is still the leader of the group, but the days of 28-30 minutes a night are gone. One of the first questions Boudreau fielded in his initial press conference back in the spring was in reference to Suter's ice time. His response was it was a bit too soon to discuss those kinds of details, but in his past he has not played any of his defenseman more than 25 minutes per game.
The defense is and has been the Wild's strength over their four year playoff streak. Marco Scandella, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, join Suter to form one of the very best top four D units in the league. But the Wild are more than the top four, Matt Dumba enters his third year with high expectations, along with second year D man Mike Reilly, the Wild have a pair of offensive talents on their back line. Nate Prosser and Christian Folin give the Wild even greater depth.
No team can go very far in this league without good goaltending. Devan Dubnyk is the guy in the Wild net. We all know what he did when he arrived a season and a half ago, almost single handedly taking the team on his back to the playoffs. Last season was a good season for Dubnyk, but not as good as he nor the Wild were hoping. Darcy Kuemper asserted himself last year as a very solid backup that when called upon is capable of being a stopgap number 1 goalie. Dubnyk will once again be counted on to take the lions share of the load. In order for the Wild to take that next step, Dubnyk must return to the form that he displayed when he arrived in 2015.
It is very clear from owner Craig Leipold to Chuck Fletcher to Bruce Boudreau to the players, the 2016-17 Minnesota Wild are gunning for the Stanley Cup. There are no excuses, there is no more wait til next year, the time is now. The team has been assembled, the coaching staff is in place, let the games begin.
It is now for this group, no excuses, end of story!
Let's Go Crazy!
Let's Go Wild!