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Central Preview: Minnesota Wild |
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The Central Division preview continues and the next stop is Minnesota.
The biggest news as of late was the abrupt firing of Paul Fenton and the recent hiring of Bill Guerin.
The first time GM has a lot of work to do today and for the future.
Let's get right into it.
2018-19 Recap:
The Wild didn't make the playoffs last year for the first time since 2011-12. However, the previous three season in the playoffs from 2015 to 2018, they were ousted in the 1st round.
They had an equally bad season to the Blackhawks in 2018-19, finishing just 1-point behind the Hawks in the Central.
However, with the Wild, it seems like they are trending downwards while the Hawks showed promise with guys like DeBrincat and Strome – and now have Kirby Dach waiting in the wings.
I am sure Wild fans will challenge me on that as they recently drafted Boldy, highly ranked Kirill Kaprizov and a 25-year old Mathew Dumba poised to take the next level on the backend.
I honestly just have a difficult time seeing this team turning it around anytime soon.
They finished 11th in the conference and 21st overall in the NHL.
They couldn't score (27th in the league) but weren't bad at keeping it out (12th).
The Xcel Energy Center is normally a tough place to place, however, last year they were 30th in the NHL with just 16 wins. I expect that to change but will it be enough?
Let's see what the Wild did in the offseason:
Who's IN: Zuccarello, Hartman, J.T. Brown, Brad Hunt, Luke Johnson
Who's OUT: Aberg, Fehr
Projected Lineup:
Zucker – E. Staal – Zuccarello
Greenway – Rask - Donato
Parise – Koivu – Fiala
M. Foligno – Eriksson Ek – Hartman/J.T Brown
Suter – Spurgeon
Brodin – Dumba
Seeler – Pateryn
Dubnyk
Stalock
2019-20 Outlook:
Sorry Wild fans, I see Minnesota staying in the 7th seed in the Central Division.
They are coming back with essentially the same team with additions of Mats Zuccarello, J.T Brown and Mr. Ryan Hartman.
Are those guys enough to build off of their 210 goals for total?
They also swapped Nino Niederreiter for Victor Rask and Mikael Granlund for Kevin Fiala last year.
Bruce Boudreau claims that the Wild have a playoff-caliber team, however, with the Central being so competitive, I just don't see it.
Their core of Koivu, Staal, Parise, Suter and Dubnyk are all 33+ and are getting long in the tooth; who is in that next wave of game-changers in the State of Hockey?
Not sure, but GM Guerin has a lot of work to do. As long as he treats people better than Paul Fenton he should keep his job – that is if his team can find some sort of success in the next few years.
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Below, we have fellow HB writer, Dan Wallace, who covers the Wild on what Bill Guerin has inherited:
Dan Wallace's Take:
Looking quickly at the Wild team that Guerin inherits, things are not as rosy as he may state nor as gloomy as the rest of the so called experts say.
They have a confident mix of veterans of course led by Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, along with Eric Staal, captain Mikko Koivu and the newest addition Mats Zuccarello.
All of the above are in different stages of their lengthy NHL careers with different expectations on the ice while off the ice they are the guys that are leaned on to bring the team together.
That is an area the Wild have sorely lacked over the previous decade. The leadership has not been there enough to have everyone on the same page.
Jason Zucker must be the most relieved player on the team that Paul Fenton is gone and his fate is now in the hands of Bill Guerin. The almost deals that would have sent Zucker to Calgary and then Pittsburgh never materialized and we are all grateful for that. Now Zucker has the drive to show that he belongs here in the State of Hockey yo help this team get back to the playoffs.
The cap situation is much better than when Fenton took over largely due to the deals that Fenton made.
There is youth that is ready to take the next step in Ryan Donato, Kevin Fiala, Luke Kunin, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jordan Greenway, and Nick Seeler."
(Source: Dan Wallace, https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Dan-Wallace/What-Does-Guerin-Have/227/101075)
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Thoughts on the Wild?
See ya out there!
TC
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Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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