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Evason Up For Top Coach Honors |
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A result of a successful season typically ends with several nominees up for individual honors. That is the case from the 2020-21 Minnesota Wild.
Kirill Kaprizov is of course the front runner for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year after his phenomenal first season in the NHL. Kaprizov has been joined by Dean Evason up for the Jack Adam's as top coach, and Matt Dumba who has been named a finalist for the Masterton Trophy.
Truly great individual honors, but a credit to Evason on his message and consistency of instilling the team first with everyone pulling together to achieve the desired results. Individual awards are usually tied to team success and these Wild nominees are perfect examples of that.
As the Wild improve there should be more nominees for individual honors in the future, but you can ask any one of then they would absolutely trade those nominations for winning playoff series and success when it matters most.
The mission is clear Bill Guerin is building a team to compete for the Stanley Cup.
We have debated here the off season issues and decisions that Guerin and the Wild must make before we see them hit the ice in September. The need for a center is absolutely a priority regardless of Guerin's comments that he made last week. He knows that in order for the Wild to get the most from Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala they need to be playing with better pivots.
Marco Rossi is going to be an option now that he is back on the ice skating. The real question with Rossi is how will his lack of playing competitive hockey for the better part 18 months combined with the serious nature of the after affects of his bout with COVID-19, caution will be front and center with the Wild's top prospect.
We also know now where the Wild will be drafting with Vegas knocking out the Avalanche last night the pick that the Wild received from Pittsburgh for Jason Zucker will be #25 and their own 1st round selection will be #21.
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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