The Wild have officially entered their annual mid-season swoon. Is this just a normal course of action from Mike Yeo's club, or is this the sign of things to come?
It is no secret that the Wild are in desperate need of an offensive spark to fulfill the true promise of this team. The defense and goaltending have been very good and have had to carry the team for a good majority of the season.
Is it time for Chuck Fletcher to pull the trigger on a deal? are there answers internally? is a blockbuster on the horizon?
The team is very good and can compete on a nightly basis with every team in the league, that we know. The problem is that the team lacks a true game breaker and when push comes to shove they are just not good enough to beat the top teams in a seven game series.
My thoughts are that the team plays a far too conservative game to ever really compete for a title regardless of who they bring in. So the true answer is not all in personnel, but more in an overall team approach to the game. Mike Yeo needs to make his own adjustments in how he prepares the team and in his game plan, when it comes to the offensive end of the rink.
I am not putting the teams' recent struggles solely on Yeo, but he does have to accept a certain degree of the blame. Ryan Suter plays far too many minutes for a team with such defensive depth. His overall effectiveness declines the more he plays, yet Yeo insists on burning him up night after night. Yeo's teams are always competitive, but they lack the swagger of a champion.
The strength of the team is clearly the defense and that is where they must deal in order to obtain the missing ingredients to the puzzle. Which of those defenseman though, can bring the most in return? That is the question.
Of course Suter is essentially untouchable being the true number one defenseman that every great team needs to be successful. So that leaves Scandella, who in my opinion is the Wild's most consistent defenseman night in and night out, Spurgeon, Brodin, Dumba, Prosser, Reilly, and Folin. These are the movable pieces either to trade or to move in for the traded player.
Matt Dumba in my opinion, is an X factor, as he brings a much greater skill level than any other member of the defense corps. Yes, Dumba can be a bit suspect in the defensive zone on occasion, which is the main reason Yeo has not shown complete confidence in him. When he is used on the power play, he makes quick decisions with the puck which generally lead to quality scoring opportunities. Dumba shows great vision on the ice and brings an element to the offensive game that none of the others possess. So with the team struggling for any kind of offensive identity, he probably should not be in the trade discussion.
One of the bigger names being bandied about in trade speculation, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins suffered what is being described as a significant hand injury last night. That makes him a bit more uncertain a solution for sure. Jonathan Drouin is currently playing in the AHL as Steve Yzerman pursues trade prospects for him. Is he a possibility? if so, is he really an answer? and at what price?
Last season Fletcher made the key trade to acquire Devan Dubnyk, a goaltender who was not even on the radar. So is there a forward that is not necessarily on the radar that can be pried loose for a lesser price? And if so who is it? and what does he bring to this team? Does Fletcher have the chips to cash for a blockbuster type deal? and if so who and for what?