As Thanksgiving approaches this week it is sort of an unwritten NHL benchmark to determine just how teams really stack up. Nearly a quarter of the season is in the books and we have a pretty good idea of who each team is at this point.

That does not always tell the whole story as we don't have to go too far back when the Blues were the NHL's last place team and turned things around to hoist the Stanley Cup in 2019.

That said just where are the Wild and what do we know thus far.

We know this team is as resilient as any and their ability to come back is second to none. They proved that once again over the weekend scoring four goals with the goaltender pulled in the two games combined. They were only able to muster one point in the standings but the fact that they pulled this off against two of the NHL's best teams on the road says alot.

There is still a hole down the middle for the Wild who would like to find the playmaker to complement Kirill Kaprizov, however the overall production from Joel Eriksson Ek and Ryan Hartman has been great so far.

Cam Talbot has been very good between the pipes and the Wild defense has been very good both in their own zone and jump starting the offense.

Now there are rumblings with Kevin Fiala being benched in the third period of the Dallas game and then seemingly being removed from the powerplay. Is there something to this or is Dean Evason trying something to spark the struggling winger?

There is no secret that Fiala is on a one year deal and still under team control after the season, but given the Wild's cap situation moving beyond this season it begs the question is Fiala in the Wild's long term plans?

The Atheltic's, Michael Russo, has stated that their are issues present between Fiala and Evason, and that the time may be coming that he is moved.

There is an x-factor in this and that is Wild prospect, Matt Boldy, has returned to the ice following his broken ankle. And played his first two game with the Iowa Wild this past weekend. In the first game he scored two goals and added a helper and scored again in his second game. That brings his AHL totals to 16 games played, 9 goals, and 22 points dating back to last year when he joined the Iowa Wild following the completion of his second and final Boston College season, last Spring.

Now I am not saying that Boldy could step into Fiala's shoes but it is an interesting prospect for the local fan base to consider and of course debate.

Fiala has always been a slow starter so this may juys be another case of that, however the lack of attention to detail and the defensive lapses cannot be overlooked. It is one thing if the pucks are going in the net and a completely different story when they aren't. For Fiala they aren't...

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