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Guerin Must Stay the Course

March 30, 2021, 12:22 PM ET [8 Comments]
Dan Wallace
Minnesota Wild Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
It took 33 games for the Wild to have a game decided by shootout. The team's previous five contests that had gone beyond regulation were all decided in the five minute overtime period.

It was not the result the Wild wanted in the end as Erik Karlsson iced it with a slapshot ending the eight round shootout. Karlsson looked much like the player we got so used to seeing in Ottawa, where he dominated games offensively and bombed shots from the point at will. The Sharks blueliner had his first 2-goal game in over three years and then delivered the final dagger with his shootout winner.

It was another lackluster Wild performance and one that saw them get outshot by large margin once again. The Wild are being dominated in the faceoff circle and it is really showing in time of possession. The 3 on 3 was not good as the Wild lost every draw including the ones in which Nick Bonino was inserted solely for the purpose of winning the draw and gaining possession.

It may be a very good time for this to be happening as their really should not be a false sense of hope that this Wild team is ahead of schedule in their rebuild. They are still a team with significant holes in the roster despite their record and position in the standings.

Bill Guerin is working his plan and again he should be staying the course that he had set forth before the season began and not alter it one bit based on the team's performance to date. If there are team's that he can move either if the Wild's pending UFAs, Nick Bonino, Nick Bjugstad, Marcus Johansson, Ian Cole, or Brad Hunt, he should do what is best for the organization long term and let what plays out in 2021 be what it is. No band-aids need to be applied as the Wild best is yet to come.

Matt Dumba is back and healthy which is great news both for the player and the Wild of course. It also presents the opportunity to move Dumba should the right offer present itself. I have written here before that if no deal is made with Dumba prior to the expansion draft then so be it he becomes the casualty for the Wild. The key is to keep the loss to just one asset and not make any side deals. I know it is tough to swallow losing a player of Dumba's caliber for nothing, but remember his $6M is a number the Wild can not afford to pay either.

Less than two weeks until the April 12th deadline...unlike other years 8 am not saying this clock is ticking as Guerin does not have to make any moves in reality.
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