2009-2010 Minnesota Wild Preview

This summer, Minnesota underwent their first major leadership transition since the team came into the NHL nearly a decade ago. That began at the top, where former Pittsburgh assistant GM Cliff Fletcher was named the team’s general manager in April. Soon thereafter, he hired San Jose assistant coach Todd Richards to take over behind the bench. The other major change was that franchise superstar Marian Gaborik departed in free agency. In short, it was truly a changing of the guard in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Looking Back at 2008-2009

Last season was an agonizing affair for the Wild. Minnesota finished with a 40-33-9 record, a mere two points out of playoff position despite significant time lost to injury for Gaborik and powerplay catalyst Brett Burns! However, there were a lot of bright spots. Goaltender Nicklas Backstrom had a great season and established himself as one of the league’s elite at his position and earned recognition as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy. The Wild saw a number of young stars establish themselves as scoring threats and Owen Nolan had a major comeback season to lead the team in goals despite missing 20 games. In short, the Wild were very close to a playoff berth.

The Offseason

As mentioned before, the Wild had a very eventful offseason. Fletcher’s first major move as GM was trading picks to acquire the rights to promising young winger Kyle Brodziak and signed him to a three year contract. Then after bidding adieu to Gaborik, Fletcher brought in hypertalented but oft-injured winger Martin Havlat to fill the scoring void. Other moves included acquiring steady defensemen Greg Zanon and Shane Hnidy while allowing Martin Skoula and Kurtis Foster to leave. In short, there was a major overhaul on the blue line.

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2009-2010 Outlook

For starters, this is going to be significantly more fun Wild group to watch. Under former coach Jaques Lemaire, the Wild routinely trapped and bored their opponents into submission. This worked well at times, as only Boston allowed fewer goals last season, but the Wild often didn’t score enough to win and frustrated players and fans alike with their passive play.

This season should produce a much more up-tempo group of forwards. Putting Havlat on the wing with talented center Mikko Koivu (67 points last year) and Andrew Brunette (22 goals, 50 points) gives the Wild a bonafide #1 line, assuming Havlat can stay healthy. Remember, his 77 points in 81 games last year was the first time in half of a decade that Havlat managed to play in more than 70 games. If he stays healthy, both he and Koivu could approach the 100 point mark.

Behind the new first line is a bevy of solid contributors as well, led by Nolan and young stars Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Antti Miettinen. Also keep an eye on Cal Cutterbuck, whose extremely physical style could result in a bevy of goals during his 2 nd year in the NHL. There is a lot of depth on hand and the Wild should find scoring from a lot of sources.

Another asset to the scoring is the presence of a highly mobile set of defensemen. Brett Burns, Kim Johnsson and Marek Zidlicky are extremely talented at hitting big breakout passes and should contribute heavily in both ends. Furthermore, the acquisition of Zanon and Hnidy gives Minnesota a solid group of defensemen in front of Backstrom. Expect another strong season in their own end.

PREDICTION: Despite losing the world class talents of Gaborik, I really think that Minnesota will be a much improved team this season. First of all, the Wild have the talent and the wheels to play a much more up-tempo game and their scoring should increase noticeably. Furthermore, I expect that their great group of defensemen will have a little more latitude to join the rush and that should also help jumpstart their offense. On top of that, this team should still be quite sound defensively, especially with the new defense-first pair of Hnidy and Zanon. Finally, Backstrom is one of the NHL’s best goalies and should have another strong year.

The Wild play in a very competitive division that features Vancouver and Calgary, both of whom were in the playoffs a year ago. However, it is not just those two talented teams as Edmonton finished last year right on the Wild’s heels in the playoff chase. Thus, there is no doubt that there will be a ton of competition but I think that the Wild have improved enough to finish 2 nd in the Northwest Division and that means a playoff berth. However, I don’t think the Wild are good enough to make a deep run into the playoffs and would be surprised if they make it beyond the second round.

By Matt Baxendall
DFN Sports & ProHockey-fans.com Staff Writer

Feel your team is underrated? Tell Matt Baxendell why at matt.baxendell@gmail.com

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