Mn Wild...Offseason Changes..Time For An Overhaul

Kind of feels weird and definitely sad to be talking about offseason changes with 11 games remaining in the regular season. Lets be honest though after the last week+ that is 11 games to go period and this has quickly become player evaluation time. It is gut check time for the players, are they going to roll over and die or fight for their teammates and the fans. I am typically not one for wholesale changes but in light of the team falling completely off the map in year 2 of this regime I think it is time for them to infuse new blood consistent with their style, maybe trading a couple core pieces from the previous regime to create a spark. The molasses approach has got to go!

Although I addressed this in my most recent post I am going to start with and revisit the goaltending position. This is interesting because of the sudden depth at the position for what appears to be years to come. Nicolas Backstrom is penciled in as the number one goalie I think in everyones books, or are they looking to move him because of salary cap issues and depth at the position? At the start of the year Harding was the number two guy knocking on the door for an opportunity. A serious injury early derailed his season however and the Wild signed free agent Jose Theodore. This was a savy move and Theo was stellar which begs the question why was he available when so many teams have questions at the number one spot? Anyway due to the fact Harding was not ready to return at the trade deadline neither player could be moved. They did however trade Aeros goalie and Wild occassional backup Anton Khudobin to Boston. Now with Harding ready the Wild have 3 goalies, all of which could be number one goalies on a lot of teams. Add to that the fact that Chuck Fletcher also just signed German League goalie Dennis Endras to a 2011-2012 contract and suddenly we have a logjam at the position. This with future potential star Matt Hackett waiting in the wings at Houston.

This creates a bit of a quandry with Theo and Harding both eligible to be free agents, do we let both walk, re-sign one, or re-sign both while trading Backs for more pieces to the puzzle? Where does Endras fit into the equation? I find it highly unlikely that both Theo and Harding are allowed to walk for nothing in return. Which to me sets things up to look like one of them becomes the new starter or at least has a chance to win that job with Endras also in the mix. That would leave one as the odd man out in addition to a trade of Backstrom who would be a hot commodity and yield some much needed assets for the team. This is purely speculation and I would hate to see Backs leave but the end result with the options that we have might be what is best at this point.

This brings us to the blueline....ouch....what a year. These guys were constantly thrown under the bus by a lack of puck control and scoring ability. As the season progressed and injuries mounted the dam began to leak. With that however as I said I do not believe it to be entirely their fault and think much like the goaltending this has become a position of strength overall for the Wild. This is not to say that a change or two here is not needed. The Wild are up against the cap with a lot of money tied up here and some good young players that stepped up, showing they are ready for the opportunity. What to do here is where the toughest choices are going to come for the Wild. Best bet is that one of the two Wild stalwarts Brent Burns or Nick Schultz will be moved as both are making good money and not going to get any cheaper. Burns is probably more of a fan favorite due to his outgoing nature and penchant for jumping up into the play. He is also good on the power play and exciting to watch. He is similiar in a lot of ways to Marek Zidlicky. Then there is Schultz who will never be called exciting, he is an old school stay at home defenseman that rarely jumps up into the action. Zidlicky could also be moved but it is more likely that Burns or Schultz is dealt to another team. Cam Barker who has been injury prone and a bit of a dissapointment since being acquired from Chicago would be a good piece to move as well. Zanon is a lock here as kind of a tweener and great shot blocker who is affordable. Younger players Jarod Spurgeon and Clayton Stoner appear to have played themselves into full time jobs as well.

Then we have the guys that control play for the Wild, our faceoff men and first guys back on defense. Mikko Koivu is a lock and untouchable as is Matt Cullen. John Madden who is on a 1 year deal will probably not be back and will free up some money. Kyle Brodziak has a lot of upside and has not quite hit his stride yet but is not a bad option. There will be 4 other guys in the mix here next year at a minimum with James Sheppard returning in what is most likely his final opportunity to stick with the Wild after a season missed due to off season activities, also Warren Peters who is unproven, Cody Almond and Casey Wellman who has a huge upside and could be an exciting option as he develops and becomes more disciplined.

On the wings there are a couple easy decisions in my book, first Chuck Kobasew is done and Anti Miettinen is more of a player fitting the old scheme and has probably worn out his welcome. Jed Ortmeyer will quietly disappear. Guys likely to stick are Cal Clutterbuck who is a lock, Brad Staubitz who is our lone remaining enforcer type, and probably Eric Nystrom who had a quiet first year with the Wild but is affordable and likely to improve. Andrew Brunette will be a tough decision as he is a fan favorite, he is creative and makes things happen. However he is getting older and the money might be better spent elsewhere. One piece now that he is finally healthy, another fan favorite and holdover from the previous regime is Pierre Marc Bouchard. He is exciting at times but also disappears for long stretches of play and is inconsistent. He also has a big cap number for the Wild but would be attractive to other teams. A trade of Bouchard much like Backstrom and either Burns or Schultz would bring a lot back in return and would improve the Wild in the long run.

Again this is all speculation on my part and at least with regards to Backs, Bruno, Schultz and/or Burnsie I would hate to see them go but I do see the upside. A couple moves at the very least are necessary and inevitable and can only help the club.

MN Wild....Playoffs...Sigh....

Two weeks ago things were looking good for the State of Hockey with a return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs appearing imminent for the Wild. Fast forward to today after four straight losses by a 15-4 margin and the home team is 6 pts out of the 8 spot with 11 games to play.

At this point it would take a lot of help and a minor miracle for the Wild to get into the playoffs. Don' t get me wrong I am not a fatalist, I am a realist however and things are not in our favor. It has been done by teams in similiar situations before, in fact our own Mn Twins were 7 1/2 games out at the beginning of September 2009 and the division appeared to belong to the Tigers. Then the Twins tied the Tigers on the last day of the regular season forcing a game 163, which went on to become an instant MLB Classic, and the Twins won the division. Do I think the Wild will follow in the Twins footsteps, simply put....NO!

There are too many things going against the Wild right now and they are reeling, the biggest factor is constant injuries to key players. When you are constantly losing guys on a daily basis you can not build chemistry and cohesiveness even if you have had it before. Also too many young guys are being thrown into the fire at the same time and they have got to feel like yo-yo's the way the injury bug has been biting the team. They've had to constantly go back and forth between the Wild & Aeros not having a chance to get comfortable with the team.

The team is heading in the right direction though and I think year 2 under Richards & Fletcher has shown some marked improvement and guys are starting to buy into the system. Having said that the Wild are in DESPERATE need of guys that can score and take the pressure off the D and Backstrom. We need guys that are good with the puck in open ice, we have too many guys with a similiar style game right now.

One thing that is puzzling is the goaltending situation and it appears we will be losing a couple of nice assets with nothing in return. Backstrom is obviously the number one goaltender for the Wild and going into the year Harding was a solid number two goalie. Then Harding gets hurt early on forcing the Wild to pick up Jose Theodore who for some reason was unsigned. Theodore was awesome for the Wild this year and with Harding not yet ready to return at the trade deadline the Wild failed to move him instead moving Aeros goalie Anton Khudobin. Now it appears Harding is ready to come back off IR and we will have 3 goalies. To top that off Chuck Fletcher just signed German goalie Endras to a 2011-2012 contract.

A plethora of goalies yet a goalscorer not to be found? If anything is to change in 2011-2012 we have to move beyond this clogging the middle mentality, we need to skate & score!! We need puckhandlers, faceoff men, guys that are good on the boards. There is enough dead weight to create openings and trades are a viable option for more flexibility even if we have to give up a prized player or two..

I love the Wild and will enjoy the rest of the 2010-2011 season with hope of things to come in 2011-2012.

Let's Go Wild!!

Minnesota Wild A Team In A Disarray

Around a week ago after a 5-2 Wild win over the Avalanche things were looking up for the Wild and the future was bright. They controlled their own playoff destiny with teams looking up at them and games in hand. Then March 10 driving down the road to the playoffs they didn't notice a fork in the road and went the wrong direction down a dead end road. The question now is can they find their way home, and get going the right direction again in time for their apointment with the playoffs or do they reschedule for this time next year?

Leading up to the trade deadline everyone was touting team chemistry and the work ethic of the team. However after Mikko Koivu was lost to injury it was tough to fill his shoes and with other holes already temporarliy plugged the leaks began to show. During this stretch in addition to Koivu the team had to do without Guillaume Latendresse who was re-injured after missing 58 games due to an earlier injury, Clayton Stoner went down, as well as Cal Clutterbuck the team sparkplug. This in addition to several other players already out. As a result the team was outscored 12-2 the last 3 games, at 1 point they went 8 periods without a point. Maybe the ship is being righted though as most of these players have returned and were in action in the 3rd game of this stretch.

With only 12 games remaining the Wild are now in 11th place in the Conference and 4 points out of 8th. Their games in hand are gone and several teams actually have a game in hand on the Wild. The road back to the playoffs is now all uphill but if that pre-deadline magic returns it could be a fun stretch run. Time to buckle down and take control of the bus.