All right after getting my intro out of the way, let’s get right to it. The current state of affairs for the MN Wild is that of tremendous expectations and very little margin for error. After stealing from the rest of the league Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in a major free agent coup this summer fans, players, staff, and Craig Leopold were riding high. Being able to sign the arguably top two most valuable and talented free agents available in the league for a Minnesota sports franchise literally stopped time here in the state of hockey and it was a parting of the loserville USA smog that had been choking sports fans here.
Back to reality and the end of the NHL lockout, Coach Yeo and the Wild are given a week worth of training camp and two scrimmages against their AHL affiliate Houston Aeros. The Wild is presented with a 48 game schedule and a very clear objective to make the playoffs and win Lord Stanley’s Cup. With last season going off the rails after entering December with the best record in the NHL, GM Chuck Fletcher changed directions and traded Nick Schultz the Wild’s longest tenured player. While shocking to players and fans it marked the end of the Jaques Lemaire/Doug Reisbrough era. Some may identify Marian Gaborik leaving via free agency or Brent Burns trade as when the influence and regime changed but I really think it was solid citizen Schultz whose brand of steady presence but nothing better than above average at times hockey had embodied the identity of the MN Wild’s first ten seasons of existence.
As it currently stands GM Fletcher and Coach Yeo have at their disposal in my opinion the most talented team in franchise history. It has its most heralded rookie in Mikael Granlund since Marion Gaborik. It has for the first time in history four NHL caliber lines with the top two being manned by six top six forwards. Counting the two young defensemen coming back from injury (Marco Scandella and Jonas Brodin) this is by far the most talented defensive corps in team history. Adding Ryan Suter in an offseason in which the major of the league has legitimate need and want for a top 2 pairing defensemen is unexplainable. Having a goaltender like Niklas Backstrom as your number one but retaining a talented backup like Josh Harding on a one year hometown discount after testing free agency. Having your organizations prospects ranked in the top 3 in the league especially after several years of not having a prospect of mention. All of the things I have listed in this paragraph are what the fan base has been told and believes to be accurate so to start with two wins and two losses leads one to wonder what is missing?
After watching four games this season from opening faceoff to the final horn, I can tell you the Wild is missing a couple key elements that will make or break this sprint of a season. The first element missing is identity on a team level and as individual players. Over the course of 82 games a 2-2 start to the season can be explained away. In a 48 game season it needs remedy immediately and it needs to come from Coach Yeo. In his press conference after their loss tonight in Detroit, I believe he mentioned being cute or fancy and the need to just get shots on net. I translate the solution to that issue being changing up the lines and defining the roles. Two players that need to shoot the puck more are pass first players in Mikko Koivu and Pierre Marc Bouchard. I am not a genius and the only person to notice this, penalty killers in all 4 games this season have keyed on it. Bouchard is gifted with amazing hands and carries to puck better than any player on the roster and as such he gets looks no one else does. Koivu is an extremely intelligent player who is able to read the flow of plays and position himself in area that give him looks at the net that no one else gets. Both players have been passing up these looks and making the extra pass feeding Dany Heatly and Zack Parise. Its produce some but missed a ton of opportunities.
With Mikael Granlund FINALLY in North America and in a Wild jersey the red carpet has been rolled out and the future is here. Wanting to safe guard and maximize the impact and potential of young Granlund he has been gifted the second line center position. Now honestly Granlund has proved to be dynamic and play a two-way brand of hockey. Unfortunately that is not what the Wild needs from Granlund at this point of the season or his career. What it needs from Granlund is scoring and excitement. Granlund will need to move to the wing and will need to shoot the puck early and often. With Granlund in the middle, Coach Yeo has Matt Cullen playing on the Left Wing where he has been savagely beaten this season and has yet to produce goals. Cullen has been working his tale off but it just is not a fit especially with two other undersized line mates in Setogucci and Granlund. I also don’t believe Cullen is the fit for second line center either, he is still very capable but he is no longer a top 6 forward.
My solution for the top two lines (Top 6) is pretty clear to me at least. The 1st line needs to be LW-Parise C-Koivu RW-Granlund. The 2nd line needs to be LW-Heatly C-Brodziak Rw-Setogucci. The 3rd line needs to be LW-Bouchard C-Cullen RW-Clutterbuck. The 4th line LW-Kassian/Mitchell C-Konopka RW-Powe/Mitchell. The defensive pairings are going to be in flux at least until we get to see if Jonas Brodin and Marco Scandella can stick with the Wild and stay in the top 4.
The MN Wild as a team need to figure out their identity because tonight they took a eye opening loss to a decimated reeling Detroit Redwings team that will struggle to make the playoffs and could be close to full fledged rebuild mode. Time to have someone explain again the goals and ideology. Time to develop some nasty or to tighten up the finesse. Time to clear identify how to enter the offensive zone and generate scoring at even strength. Time to develop some killer instinct. Time to be the favorites rather than the lovable losers. Time to out the rest of the league on notice for on ice reasons not biggest offseason splash.
Well clearly I was without a forum for a bit too long and I put a lot of ideas and concepts all into one initial blog. I will from this point on attempt at least to be more structured and concise. Please give me feedback and share my blog. Please contact with questions and ideas. Please comment and keep me honest. Please follow me on Twitter @AWKD. Please keep coming back!
Just my thoughts
Tony Dean
Contact Info
Twitter:@AWKD
No comments:
Post a Comment