Eight “Wild” Predictions

The off season is winding down and teams are, for the most part, set.  Soon everyone and their mothers will be coming out with season previews (myself included), but I’d like to get a head start on some of this — not with a season preview, but with some “Wild” predictions for this upcoming season.

1) The Minnesota Wild will have home ice for the first round of the playoffs.  Let’s be honest.  The Wild were just a few points from making the show last season…Without Marian Gaborik.  This season, they’ll get a healthy (we hope) Martin Havlat, along with growth from both Mikko Koivu and Pierre-Marc Bouchard, and a full season from Brent Burns.  Throw Vezina finalist Niklas Backstrom in the mix and you have yourself the formula for a solid team.  It could honestly be stated that all four of the team’s division rivals either maintained the status quo, or got a little worse.  The Wild, meanwhile, have the looks of a team that could be poised to shoot out of the gate with a new superstar and a new, up-tempo system.  Not only that, they still have all of the key aspects from Lemaire’s system that made them so difficult to play against.  The Wild will be sitting atop the Northwest Division at the end of this season.

2) James Sheppard will have his breakout season.  It was supposed to be last season, but Lemaire’s gameplan just simply didn’t fit Shep’s style of play.  Under Todd Richards, he’ll be given the opportunity to be a little more aggressive, both on the forecheck and with the puck, and this should benefit in a large upswing in his point production.  He’ll be given second line duties, likely between Nolan and Bouchard and that should greatly help both his confidence and his numbers.

3) Owen Nolan will lead the team in goals.  If he’s healthy, Nolan is still the dynamic goal scorer he once was.  He proved that last season with 25 goals in 59 games.  If he plays a whole season (which I believe he will), Nolan will top the 40 goal mark for the third time in his career.

4) Josh Harding will finish the season with the Wild.  Let’s face it.  If he hasn’t been traded by now, he’s not going to be.  Unless Fletcher gets a killer deal for the young goalie, he’s going to stay in Iron Range Red at least through this season.  The more I think about it, the more the signing of Dubie as the team’s third string goalie was much more about an insurance plan for Backstrom’s hip and much less about giving the Wild the luxury of being able to trade Harding.  The Wild are looking to make a push towards the playoffs again this season and Harding backing Backstrom up gives them the best opportunity to do just that.

5) Benoit Pouliot will actually make a difference.  It’s do or die for Benny Poo this season.  Last season was supposed to be the season where he proved that he was a 4^th overall draft pick and, instead, he found himself set squarely in Lemaire’s doghouse.  This season, I would put his odds at making the team at about 90%, meaning that he’ll have the opportunity to show his stuff in a system that will allow him to be a little bit more creative with the puck.  My guess?  He’ll flourish under Richards’ system and show the promise that caused the Wild to draft him 4^th overall.

6) Marian Gaborik won’t play at the Xcel Energy Center this season.  Initially, your reaction might be “No **** Sherlock,” until you remember that the New York Rangers are scheduled to visit Minnesota this season.  Why do I think that Gaborik won’t be healthy for his visit to Minnesota?  Easy.  In terms of a mathematical equation, it’s as follows: League’s Weakest Groin + League’s Worst Ice = x.  I’ll let you fill in what x equals.

7) Jacques Lemaire will win in his return to Minnesota.  There is no one who knows this Wild team better than Lemaire does.  Because of that, there is no one who is better equipped to beat the Wild than Lemaire is.  He knows the players’ tendencies and he knows how to stop them.  Plain and simple…The Wild haven’t changed their identity enough for them to beat Lemaire…Yet.

The Wild will be much more fun to watch this season.  Sure, this seems at first like a gimme statement.  But, honestly, I enjoyed watching the team under Lemaire.  The reason WHY I’m saying they’ll be more fun to watch is because of two free agent signings — Greg Zanon and Shane Hnidy.  These two players give the Wild a physical element on their blueline that they haven’t had in a long, long time.  Teams are going to have to keep their heads up in the neutral zone, plain and simple.  And if they don’t?  Well…That’ll be pretty fun to watch.