Minnesota Wild: Season Preview

This is going to be an interesting year. The Wild are in a position to take a step up from next season, but it also wouldn't be surprising for them to regress a bit. I think the key to this season is development and hope. If we make the playoffs I don't believe we are ready to compete with teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Dallas Stars, and I would predict an early exit. If we miss the playoffs I bet it will be by a fairly small margin, meaning we still would not have an excellent draft pick. The most Minnesotan thing to do is finish in mediocrity for another season, but hopefully it will change with the arrival of new stars.

Kirill Kaprisov is here to save us, or so we hope. The 23 year old Russian was drafted by the Wild in the 5th round of 2015, but is just now going to be playing in his first NHL game after he finished his contract in the Russian KHL. In the KHL he has scored at least 40 points in the last four seasons, including a 62 point season last year. The last two seasons he has scored over 30 goals, which is even more impressive because the KHL season is only 57 games. He's played well in the World Juniors tournament and he played phenomenal in the last Olympics. If he continues to play at this level he should be a bright spot for the Minnesota Wild. If he's not a household name in Minnesota now, I hope that he will be by the end of the season.

Marco Rossi will also be joining the Wild at some point this season, although he will not start the season due to an injury suffered in the World Juniors tournament. The 19 year old Austrian had a quiet tournament, but there's not much he could do on an Austrian team that failed to score a goal in three consecutive games. However, in his last season in the OHL, Rossi finished with an amazing 121 points, including 39 goals and 81 assists in only 56 games. Averaging over 2 points per game as an 18 year old in any type of professional league is incredible and I hope that he is able to continue that in the NHL. His strength is in playmaking and smart choices. If paired with a goal scorer such as Kaprisov or Fiala, they could be incredibly dangerous. I'm excited to see what he can do, and hopefully this injury does not keep him out long so he will get on the ice soon.

Kaapo Kahkonen could also rise this season if given the chance. The 24 year old goaltender will start the season as the backup to Cam Talbot, and he might be sent down to the AHL again if Alex Stalock comes back. Kaapo should still be able to get his games in thought, as neither Talbot or Stalock are true #1 goalies. Kaapo played a little bit last year and showed a lot of promise between the pipes. He posted a 3-1-1 record with a 0.913 save percentage. It is a small sample size, but hopefully it's a good indicator for how he will play if given a starting chance.

Another player to keep an eye on this year is Matthew Boldy. He won't be in the NHL because he'll be playing as Boston College, but he is another player that could be something special. He has been a dominant force for Boston, and he had a solid World Juniors tournament as well. He scored 5 goals and recorded 2 assists in the 7 tournament games, which is impressive when he was fighting for ice time on an impressive USA team. The 19 year old forward will most likely appear in the NHL next year, but is still worth keeping an eye on for now. The future will be built around Boldy, Kaprisov, Rossi, and Fiala, and putting all of them together will hopefully be a lot of fun to watch.

The rest of the Wild roster is filled with fairly familiar faces. Eric Staal and Mikko Koivu are gone, replaced with Nick Bjugstad and Marcus Johansson. Devan Dubnyk is replaced by Cam Talbot, and Luke Kunin was traded for Nick Bonino. There is a lot of talent on this team, especially at the wing position. At center we are really thin, which is hopefully where Rossi will help us. The defensemen remain the strong suit for this team and we will most likely be playing boring hockey while we sit back in defense. However, the explosive young talent earlier mentioned should compliment the veterans such as Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. I believe that the key for the wild this season is hope in the young players to take the next step, but also for the veterans to not slack at all. Players like Parise need to play solid hockey to allow the younger players to have a chance to develop and play with speed. Even with the new additions, I think I'm most excited to see our third line play again (seen below). The three of them always seem to have a great energy and are always buzzing around the offensive zone. If that line can continue to provide sparks for the offense, hopefully it will only further benefit the other offensive weapons such as Kaprisov or Fiala.

Expected Wild Starting Lineup:

Parise - Bjugstad - Kaprisov

Johansson - Bonino - Fiala

Greenway - Eriksson Ek (JEE) - Foligno

Sturm- Rask - Hartman

Suter - Dumba

Spurgeon - Brodin

Pateryn - Soucy

Talbot

Kahkonen

Once Rossi and Mats Zuccarelo are healthy they will return to the lineup, most likely replacing Rask and Sturm. Looking at this lineup I feel fairly confident we can compete in every game. Although we are thin at center, I think they can play good defense to allow the rest of the forwards to score some goals. The other question mark is at goalies, but hopefully Talbot and Kahkonen form a solid duo to start the season.

Although we will most likely finish very average in the standings, this is an exciting year for Minnesota hockey. It's an important year for development, and even if we don't make the playoffs now I think we will soon. We need to take the small steps with these young players before we push them too fast. It's hard for me to stay cautious with this optimism, but I think the talent is finally here to push us further into the playoffs, and more talent is coming soon too. Hopefully the Wild don't let me down this year, but I'm excited to see what they can do this year.

Go Wild!