The Dreaded Season Preview

Camp is just around the corner.

I was going to get ambitious and do a full 30-team preview of this season…But that will be covered by our father site, Hockey Primetime, so I’ll leave that to them.

Meanwhile, the Wild have been linked to both Alex Tanguay and Mike Comrie in the rumor mill.  The Tanguay rumors have since been substantiated, but the Comrie rumors are still just that — rumors.  With Tanguay, if the Wild are to sign him, they will likely have to unload some salary via a trade.  Despite the fact that Tanguay will likely be looking at a pay cut from last season’s salary, the Wild still would need to make some moves to fit him under the cap.

Comrie is an entirely different animal.  He’s been spotty, at best, throughout his NHL career, but when he’s on, he’s a terrific talent.  It’s just a matter of whether or not he’s on.  He can put up numbers when he’s on, but when he’s off he can be horrible.  That said, he could be a bargain that the Wild could use.

In any event, the Wild are mostly done with their off season and moving towards the pre-season.  With that in mind, here is our season preview, here at Wild Nation.

Key Additions: RW – Martin Havlat, C – Kyle Brodziak, D – Shane Hnidy, D – Greg Zanon

Key Losses: RW – Marian Gaborik, LW – Stephane Veilleux, D – Kurtis Foster, D – Marc-Andre Bergeron, D – Martin Skoula

Overview: This off season saw the Wild receive a complete make over.  The only thing that was missing was Ty Pennington standing outside of the Xcel Energy Center, shouting “Move that bus!”  Immediately after the season ended, the only head coach in team history, Jacques Lemaire, stepped down leaving an enormous void for the team to fill.  A short time later, owner Craig Leipold decided that it was time for the team to switch directions and let General Manager Doug Risebrough go as well.  The General Manager search was punctuated by the hiring of wunderkind GM-in-training Chuck Fletcher signing on the dotted line.  The Wild got their man, now it’s time for the team to put the rubber to the road and see what they can accomplish.

Coaching: One of Fletcher’s first moves was to bring in Todd Richards as coach for the team.  Richards was, honestly, the team’s first choice and an easy hire for Fletcher to make.  The difficult part will be once the season starts.  With coaching candidates such as Peter Laviolette and Guy Carbonneau that were passed up for Richards, he will be expected to pay dividends immediately.  Having promised an aggressive, up-tempo style of play, Richards will be expected to get the most out of players like Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Benoit Pouliot and James Sheppard, who struggled mightily in Jacques Lemaire’s system.  Truthfully, I have never thought that Lemaire’s system was the problem with these players — but that will be put to the test this season.  The biggest problem for Richards is going to be experience.  He is going into the season with the prospect of facing the lion’s share of their games against their division rivals, most who have coaches that have a good amount of experience winning at the NHL level.  As Dan Bylsma and Bruce Boudreau have both proven, that isn’t necessarily worth anything more than the paper it’s printed on.  At the same time, however, a new face coming into a new team could pose problems for Richards early.  Look for him to rely heavily on the experience of Mike Ramsay behind the bench early on in the season.  Grade: C+ 

Forwards: This season is going to see the Wild look drastically different up front.  Not necessarily because of the loss of Marian Gaborik (Wild fans were plenty used to not seeing him on the ice during his tenure with the team), but because of the changes that could come with a new coach.  The undersized Bouchard may no longer be relegated to the wing and may get a chance to play his natural position once again.  James Sheppard will likely get an increased role in the team, as will resident bowling ball, Cal Clutterbuck.  The team will roll into camp with seven players on the camp roster that can legitimately play center — something that is quite odd for a team that has struggled at depth at that position.  If a second-line center is not acquired before camp, look for Bouchard to fill that role.  Either way, though, the team is lacking a sixth legitimate top-six forward.  This isn’t to say that they don’t have players that have the talent to step up into that role, but the players that they have that are capable don’t have the best track record at doing so.  Where the team really excels is in their bottom-six forwards.  Clutterbuck, Kyle Brodziak, Eric Belanger and Antti Miettinen are all experienced checking forwards and can all be part of a line that is capable of shutting the other team down.  Factor in tough guy Derek Boogaard and prospects Pouliot, Sheppard and Colton Gillies and you have a bottom-six that could be pretty imposing to play against.  Overall, the team is certainly not top heavy at forward and will likely look to their role players to again play a significant part of their scoring.  The addition of a healthy Havlat will likely help the team significantly but, unless another top-six forward is acquired, the fans of Minnesota could again be looking at a low-scoring season.  Grade: B-

Defense: This could, yet again, be the team’s strong suit.  They have defensemen that are capable of stepping up and joining the rush in Brent Burns and Marek Zidlicky, but now have four defensemen that are more than capable in a stay-at-home role, including two that will be given increased offensive responsibilities as well.  Nick Schultz is one of the most under rated defensive defensemen in the game and, under Richards’ new system, I would look for him to flourish and have a tremendous year.  Schultz has the tools to be a fantastic two-way defenseman and now will get to use his offensive tools a little more, as Fletcher has asked him to take more of an offensive responsibility as well.  Kim Johnsson is a former 40-point scorer on the blueline that will likely be given all of the tools to return to that stature.  After concussion problems sidelined him with the Flyers, the Wild took a chance on him and got one of their more reliable defensemen over the past few years.  The biggest change in the blueline, however, is the sandpaper added through Greg Zanon, Shane Hnidy and John Scott.  These three will likely share minutes as the fifth and sixth defensemen for the team and add a great deal of grit to the line up.  All three love to hit and all three are solid, stay-at-home defensemen that can be paired with either Burns or Zidlicky to give the Wild a presence behind them when they pinch in.  As for Burns and Zidlicky, a new system gives them the opportunity to showcase their offensive abilities.  Burns had a rough season last year, switching back and forth between wing and defense and struggling with injuries and fans can expect him to rebound this season.  As for Zidlicky, you can expect more of the same.  Poor decisions punctuated by fantastic offensive moments.  Zidlicky will likely find himself paired with either Johnsson or Schultz most of the time and will be looked at to contribute heavily on the powerplay.  Overall, I feel that this is still one of the strengths of the team and the addition of the grit will easily make them better.  Despite playing in a new system, expect stalwart defensemen Johnsson, Burns and Schultz to continue to practice what they learned under the tutelage of Jacques Lemaire and don’t expect this unit to give up many chances.  Grade: A-

Goaltending: Let’s get one thing out of the way right now.  Niklas Backstrom is actually this good.  The system certainly helped him but, when he’s on, he’s one of the top five goalies in the league — easily.  Last season, Backstrom was one of the biggest reasons why the Wild were even in the playoff hunt and this season it will likely be the same story if they are to be there again.  He will likely face a few more quality chances per game, but I wouldn’t expect that to change the results much.  Behind him, barring a trade will be Josh Harding.  For Wild fans, that is great news.  Harding was slated to be the Wild’s heir apparent in net before the emergence of Backstrom, and he has evolved into quite the goaltender.  This is again a case of the Wild having a 1A and 1B goaltender, as Harding can easily slide in and the Wild won’t miss a beat.  If Harding is traded, the Wild picked up New York Islanders folk hero, Wade Dubielewicz as an insurance policy.  While Dubie is nowhere near the goaltender that Harding is, he is more than a sufficient back up and has proven that he is capable of winning games at the NHL level.  Overall, goaltending will again be the strongest part of the team and will again be the backbone of any playoff push that the Wild hopes to make this season.  Grade: A+

Line Combinations: This will likely be changed throughout the season, but here is what I would expect the Wild’s line combos to look like:

Forward
Andrew Brunette/Mikko Koivu/Martin Havlat
Owen Nolan/Pierre-Marc Bouchard/Cal Clutterbuck
Antti Miettinen/James Sheppard/Colton Gillies
Derek Boogaard/Eric Belanger/Kyle Brodziak

Extras: Craig Weller, Benoit Pouliot

Defense
Brent Burns/Nick Schultz
Marek Zidlicky/Kim Johnsson
Greg Zanon/Shane Hnidy

Extra: John Scott

Goaltending
Niklas Backstrom
Josh Harding

Captain: One of the biggest question marks this season is “who will the captain be?”  The odds on favorite, most likely, is Mikko Koivu.  He captained the team for most of last season and emerged as both a leader on the ice and in the locker room.

If I’m Richards, however, I look to one person and one person only.  The man they call Cowboy — Owen Nolan.

Nolan is one of the most respected and feared veterans in the league and commands respect wherever he goes.  Giving him the ‘C’ will give legitimacy to what is, once again, a young team searching for their identity and sends a message to all of the players in the locker room:

This is the standard expected of you.

The team was abysmal without Nolan on the ice last season and his dedication to the team shone through in the way he carried himself.  He is to this team what Wes Walz was when he was playing.  He is the type of player that will lead this team regardless of whether or not he has the ‘C.’

So why not make it official?  Slap the ‘C’ on number 11’s chest and watch it all unfold.

Expected Finish: Honestly, this is my expectation.  If the team is healthy (Havlat, Burns, Nolan etc.), this team is a playoff team.  They were a few points from the playoffs last season without their top scorer — there’s no reason to think that they can’t make it this season if they’re healthy.  To go one step farther…If this team is healthy, they can win the division.  Vancouver failed to improve this off season, while Calgary got better on the back end, but worse up front.  The two powers of this division are ripe for the picking and, the Wild are the best team for the job.  Realistically, I think this team can have a shot at the division crown once again — but things will have to go their way.  On this one, though, I’ll split the difference.  2^nd in the Northwest, 6^th in the West.

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.

Welcome – Wild Add New Goalie

First of all, allow me to welcome all of you to the new Wild Nation website.  As you know (or may not know), I also work with Hockey Primetime as a correspondent and the Chief Online Editor.  Both Sam Woo and Webmaster Paul have been very patient and gracious with helping get this site set up, so thank you to both of you.

Now, to get down to business.  The Wild have added to their goaltending depth, signing veteran goaltender and journeyman back up Wade Dubielewicz (who will heretoforth be referred to as Dubie, mostly so I don’t have to keep looking up how to spell the name) to a one-year contract.  The terms of the contract have not yet been disclosed, but the signing of Dubie is a pretty good indication that the Wild intends to trade goaltender Josh Harding before the start of the season.

Dubie comes to the Wild with a 17-15-1 career record, a 2.64 GAA and a .916 Sv Pct and was a large part of the New York Islanders playoff push a couple of seasons ago.

The bottom line is that he is a competant back up that could sneak in for 15 or so games per season.  Is Harding better?  Absolutely.  But Harding is also a goalie that could be useful for the Wild to address some more pressing needs.  Only time will tell as to what Fletcher will do…But one thing’s for sure.  Harding definitely should have some bags packed.