WildHBcommunity:Wild Come up Short in Camo Look to Rebound in Nashville
Avalanche Find Perfect Blend of Young Skill and Tough Coach
I find it truly fascinating to see the complete change in fortunes of the Colorado Avalanche from last season in which they looked completely hopeless to this year where they are currently positioned to make a run at Lord Stanley’s Cup. The Avalanche has not made dramatic wholesale personnel changes besides adding Nathan Mackinnon with the top overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft. The Avalanche selected slight of build speedster Mackinnon despite a perceived need in their defensive corps which surely could have made young NHL-ready defender Seth Jones a perfect fit.
The Avalanche brass sure looks like they got it right in selecting Mackinnon, he has 15 goals and 29 points in 44 games this season and he is just 18 years old. In addition to the young 1st overall pick, Colorado is led by their kid captain Gabriel Ladeskog who is just 21 years of age. The Avalanche’s top 6 leading point producers this season also include a pair of 22 year old superstars in Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly with the group rounded out by 27 year old Paul Stastny.
I think the difference for the Avalanche can be attributed to the fiery competiveness and leadership of first year head coach Patrick Roy. His arrival in Colorado has meant the empowered young team he is leading plays with an attitude and edge it was clearly missing last season. Although this team has scored a ton of goals this season, the difference in my opinion has been on the back end for this squad.
The Avalanche last year were plagued with complacency and effort issues in their defensive corps which created collapses for the team early and often during the lockout shortened season in 2012-13. This season the team has been so solid in their defensive zone playing physical responsible hockey. The Avalanche has also benefitted from improved offensive play on their blue line this year, with Erik Johnson leading the way with 7 goals and 20 points on the season. The team has also gotten significant contributions from Jan Hedja 5 goals and 13 points and Andre Benoit 2 goals and 16 points. Their goalie dup has been challenged by Roy to step up their play this season and Semyon Varlamov 20-8-5 2.36 GAA and Jean-Sebastian Giguere 7-4-0 2.65 GAA have responded.
Pressure is on Chuck Fletcher to Provide Relief to Young Injury Plagued Roster After a disastrous December collapse it appeared this season was quickly slipping between the fingers of embattled Wild bench boss Mike Yeo. A string of bad luck lower body injuries to significant contributors Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, and Jared Spurgeon in addition to top netminder Josh Harding again battling illness associated with the treatment of multiple sclerosis seemed to mark the end of hopes at a deep playoff run this season.
A funny thing happened though, despite having their youngest roster in franchise history the Wild has rallied to put together a 4 game winning streak to include 2 hard fought road victories against Western Conference opponents before returning home tonight for a matchup with Colorado. The Wild has captured the underdog mentality and Yeo’s ability to get young players to respond has at minimum prolonged the hopes that this current squad can keep themselves in contention.
The 2009 NHL Draft was Fletcher First here in Minnesota and has Provided Talent for Team
In Los Angeles the Wild got a lights out signature performance from highly touted goalie prospect Darcy Kuemper to defeat the Kings in a shootout. Kuemper has previously made appearances for the Wild this season and last but had yet to find any success at the NHL level. Kuemper is a player Wild fans will forever tie to the Jason Pominville trade because his acquisition meant the inclusion of Matt Hackett. With Niklas Backstrom struggling to find his game this year, not having the near NHL ready Hackett who is now property of the Buffalo Sabres has put Kuemper under the microscope.
Kuemper showed great confidence and competitiveness in defeating the Kings, which is going to be something to keep a close eye on going forward. If Kuemper can string together a series of performances in which he competes like he did in LA, he could accelerate the team’s plans for his future. The 23 year old goaltender was a 6th round selection by the Wild in the 2009 NHL draft which was Fletcher’s first as general manager here in MN. The 2009 class also included other notable and infamous selection for Fletcher and assistant general manager Brent Flahr.
In 2009 the Wild selected Eden Prairie native Nick Leddy with the 16th overall pick which was such an important decision for the franchise in that moment and then later as well. The selection of a MN kid by a franchise that had almost entirely avoided it previous was a clear statement by the new front office. Fletcher then swapped the young defender along with veteran Kim Johnsson to Chicago for the under achieving Cam Barker on February 12th 2010. The move will forever haunt Fletcher as he was bitten badly by a misdiagnosis of Barker’s abilities and why he was not performing up to his potential. Also in that 2009 class the Wild selected Matt Hackett in the 3rd round and a pair of Shattuck-St. Mary’s winger Alexander Fallstrom in the 4th round and Erik Haula in the 7th round. Hackett found himself included in the Buffalo Jason Pominville traded which has to be due in part to the Wild’s evaluation of Kuemper’s potential. Fallstrom at the time of the draft and after was thought to have a ceiling and NHL potential than Haula due in large part to his size and production in highschool. Fallstrom was included in a 2009 trade with Boston that brought Chuck Kobasew to MN. Fallstrom made his pro debut this year in AHL but Haula to this point has proven to be the more productive of the two.
My Take on Last Night and Going Forward the Rest of the Year
The Avalanche team that defeated the Wild 4-2 last night at the Excel Energy Center last night, was built by general manager Greg Sherman who was all but replaced by the duo of Roy and team president Joe Sakic who now have final say on the roster. The clear difference between the Avalanche and the Wild right now in my mind is the utilization of their young core of players and a clear synergy between the new leadership front office and coaching.
It will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out for this current Wild squad. Yeo has been bailed out by the significance of the injuries to his team, his job was clearly in jeopardy but with Koivu, Parise, Harding, and Spurgeon all out for extended periods the calls for his head have subsided. It my contention that those injuries are more important to Yeo keeping his job than the previous 4 game win streak. This Wild team is more likely than not going to miss the playoffs because of how strong the Western Conference is this year. Yeo will at least get the rest of the season to show his impact on the young players is a tangible and important.
I doubt Yeo does enough to have him return for next season but maybe he is able to help along the development of Coyle, Granlund, Niederreiter, Zucker, Haula, Kuemper enough between now and the end of the season to have the Wild positioned next year to be a major player in the Western Conference with a veteran bench boss. We will see how the team responds tonight in Nashville.
Just My Take, Tony Dean
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