Nine games left for the Minnesota Wild and today they sit atop the Central Division with 93 points. They are a single point ahead of Colorado with the Avalanche having a game in hand on the Wild. They are also one point ahead of Dallas with the Stars having played 73 games just as have the Wild.

So did anyone expect the Wild to be fighting for first place in the Central Division as we enter the final three weeks of the season? Not exactly, most would have projected this team to be a playoff team but fighting for top spot in the Central, especially without Kirill Kaprizov for the last three weeks.

That is a testament to the work that Bill Guerin and his team have done and are doing with their highly organized plan. The no panic approach to making trades and the delegation of responsibilities to trusted hockey minds that Guerin has surrounded himself with are allowing the Wild to thrive.

The trade deadline was a fast and furious environment of some very high profile deals with high end talent being moved as teams loaded up for playoff runs. SOme of those moves will pay off for long playoff runs, but others will not.

Bill Guerin helped to broker a couple of those deals adding some organizational draft capital, but his main focus was to make the Wild team better now as well. He did that through the additions of Marcus Johansson, Oscar Sundqvist, John Klingberg, and Gustav Nyquist who has yet to play with his new mates. The only subtraction from the Wild roster was Jordan Greenway who was sent to Buffalo.

There was another decision made by Guerin at the deadline and that was the "non trade" of Matt Dumba who is on an expiring contract of his own. Add Dumba to the deadline rentals of Johansson, Sundqvist, Nyquist, and Klingberg. They are all key elements to the Wild's stretch run and their playoff aspirations.

The decision to keep Dumba made more sense that trying to get assets for the future on a team that is already deep in prospects and draft capital. Dumba was also a tough player to replace in the lineup if they were going to move #24, who would have replaced him on the Wild blueline?

Tonight the Wild catch the Kraken who are on their own playoff push with a seven point cushion on the Flames and two games in hand it appears to be just a matter of time. The second year franchise has made incredible strides already establishing the greatest increase in points from their inaugural season to the next year.

Every game for the Wild is huge from here on out, and tonight becomes the biggest before they head out on a tough road trip to Colorado and Vegas.

An update on Kaprizov was not the news anyone wanted to hear. We are coming up on the three week mark on his injury on Wednesday, and the original diagnosis was three to four weeks. Kaprizov is not yet skating which is not what any Wild fan wants to hear. However the Wild have also been taking care of business on the ice without #97 easing the concern of rushing their star winger back.

It's always Hockey Day in The State of Hockey!

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