It is pretty amazing where the Wild were just 2 short years ago. They were a slow aging vanilla team playing a game hoping to stay competitive which they were with the league's lower tier opponents. Against the elites they were no match for the speed and skill and at the time wavering between the last playoff spot and 11th or 12th in the Western Conference.

Bill Guerin went to work and finally worked out a deal that made sense to send Jason Zucker to Pittsburgh with the key pieces in return being Calen Addison and the Penguins 1st round pick which was used to select Carson Lambos. Those two defensemen are key assets in the Wild system and we have seen Addison play with the Wild with a glimpse of what he can do. Yes, Alex Galchenyuk, was in this deal too but more as a salary dump for the Pens and no real future value to the Wild.

Just after the Zucker deal was complete, Guerin made the coaching change that signaled the new era in Minnesota Wild hockey. Dean Evason came in and wiped the slate clean. No longer were the inmates running the asylum and the veterans being handed ice time because of their place in the seniority pecking order.

Evason worked with what he had to claw the Wild to within a point of the eighth and final Western Conference playoff position with games in hand, when the season was halted in March of 2020 due to the pandemic.

When the watered down playoff/play-in round of the playoffs resumed in the bubble the Wild were quickly sent packing in four games by the Vancouver Canucks. Guerin went to work immediately stating that the goaltending had to improve among other areas that had to be addressed.

Guerin adds Cam Talbot via free agency, trades Devan Dubnyk to free up some cap space and gives Kaapo Kahkonen a shot to earn the backup role when Alex Stalock was unable to go when training camp rolled around last January, due to complications of COVID-19.

Mikko Koivu was not re-signed and Jared Spurgeon was named the team's new captain. Eric Staal was dealt to Buffalo for Marcus Johansson in hopes that the younger faster Johansson would compete for one ofbthebtop two center roles. There was also some anticipation that Johansson would have some extra juice provided that he was playing for a new contract. None of that played out with Johansson as he was oft injured and when he was in the lineup he was not much of a factor. However the win in this transaction was turning the room over and eliminating Staal's presence as part of the old guard.

Enter Kirill Kaprizov and the Wild instantly had a dynamic talent who from his very first NHL game has wowed the Wild faithful and taken the league by storm. That gave the rebuild a solid shot in the arm and combined with a healthy Mats Zuccarello the dynamic duo led the Wild offensively. Kevin Fiala continued to provide offense but he was no longer the lone focal point.

Fast forward to 2022 and this Wild team is absolutely one of the league's most exciting with theirbspeed and skill and Evason's high octane approach behind the Wild bench. The comebacks and late game heroics are mind boggling.

Now Matt Boldy has emerged and complemented Kevin Fiala much the way Zuccarello does for Kaprizov. That is giving the Wild two legit scoring lines, to go along with arguably the best shutdown line in hockey, the GREEF line as they are affectionately known with Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno, and Jordan Greenway. Oh by the way they are far from just a shutdown line as they can score just like the Wild's other top lines.

The fourth line is the heart and sole of Evason's approach with Nico Sturm, Nick Bjugstad, and rookie Brandon Duhaime using their speed and strength to create havoc for the opposition. Of late Connor Dewar has stepped in for the injured Bjugstad and given the line another dynamic with his tremendous speed.

Gone are Parise and Suter and the defense has been revamped with stellar additions of Jon Merrill, Dmitry Kulikov, Alex Goligoski, and Jordie Benn. Addison has contributed too when called upon making the Wild a far deeper team and one that can over come adversity much better than the Wild teams of the recent past.

It is still a work in progress but wow, has this team come a very long way in a short period of time.

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