The Wild
make five for today, and that's it. Minnesota will likely bring up the rear in
the Northwest division, and I'm exhausted. A quick note: if the Pacific
division isn't finished tomorrow, it'll be done by Thursday. Sorry, folks, but
doing so many previews in so short a time has taken it's toll, and if I get
through the Pacific tomorrow around six hours of classes and the
Oilers-Avalanche game, well, it'll be a miracle. They'll be done Thursday or early Friday for sure, I promise.
These previews will now appear five a day (hopefully),
or one division on each of Monday (Central), Tuesday (Northwest), and
Wednesday/Thursday (Pacific) until the season starts on October 5th. They
will be put on-site by division, roughly in order of predicted finish.
Note that the rookies listed are only those most likely to make the team, not
necessarily ones who have already sewn up a spot, and surprises always occur in
training camp, though with camps out at this point the guesses are more solid
than they were two weeks ago. The In/Out portion represents significant
players added and lost since the end of the 2003-04 season. And now, on
with the show...
In: Scott Ferguson, Todd White, Brian Rolston, Randy Robitaille, Daniel
Tjarnqvist, Andrei Nazarov
Out: Andrew Brunette, Matt Johnson, Eric
Chouinard, Antti Laaksonen, Richard Park, Jason Wiemer
Rookies: Mikko Koivu, Matt Foy, Kyle
Wanvig, Rickard Wallin, Stephane Veilleux
While other teams, particularly some in
their own division, were making big headlines with impressive additions, the
Wild decided to stick with essentially the same roster they had in 2003-04,
except for a few changes here and there. Veterans and longtime Wild like
Brunette, Johnson, Laaksonen and Park were jettisoned to make some room for a
few of the team’s younger forwards. This team will be depending heavily on some
improvement from players such as Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Stephane Veilleux, Kyle
Wanvig and Rickard Wallin, as well as continued development from star forward
Marian Gaborik. It may not pay off this season, but it should down the road.
Strengths: 1. Few things Jacques Lemaire
has done in his coaching career were as impressive as when he took a team with
one offensive star and a bunch of no-names to the Stanley Cup semifinal in
2003. While his team took a step back the next season after a holdout by
Gaborik and the loss of several key veterans, Lemaire is still a great coach,
an excellent teacher, and a brilliant tactician. Undoubtedly Lemaire has
already figured out how to use each of the NHL’s new rules to their fullest
advantage for his team. Lemaire is a master at getting the most out of the
players he’s got, and while some of his younger stars have been frustrating at
times, he has molded them all so that they are undoubtedly his players. Once
again, Lemaire will have a team with a few veterans of mid-range talent, some
young talented forwards and next to no expectations. Whether or not he can get
them to the playoffs will be an interesting question.
2. Lemaire and GM Doug Risebrough clearly
believe defense is the cornerstone of a good franchise, and have quietly
crafted one of the deepest and most underrated back ends in the NHL. It starts
in goal with goalkeepers Dwayne Roloson and Manny Fernandez, both veterans cast
aside by other teams in the past who are hungry for the opportunity to be the
number one goaltender, but are kept on their toes by Lemaire’s rotation system.
The defense features hard shooting Filip Kuba as its centerpiece; Kuba mans the
point on the power play and is big enough to handle things in his own zone. The
same holds for Willie Mitchell and Alex Henry, who have really come into his
own under Lemaire. Both are defensive stalwarts and excellent at keeping the
front of their own goal clear. Free agent signings Ferguson and Tjarnqvist will
add a bit more veteran poise to the blueline, though Ferguson in particular
isn’t necessarily talented enough to play every day. Zyuzin provides some
mobility from the point, as does Nick Schultz, who is only 23 and already
entering his fourth full NHL season. Brent Burns is another interesting piece;
he spent most of his rookie season, in which he played 36 games, on the right
wing, but was moved back to defense, his position before being moved to forward
in Canadian junior hockey, late in the season. He spent all of last year
re-learning the position in the minors, and provides size and a heavy shot from
the blueline. While every forward has to be responsible defensively on
Lemaire’s team, the Wild have some forwards that are particularly good at doing
so in Wes Walz and Brian Roston as well.
Weaknesses: 1. It’s been true for much of
the Wild’s history, and it’s still true today: this team always has a hard time
scoring goals. When the Wild did make the conference finals in 2003 it took
some offensive magic from Gaborik, Walz and departed veterans Brunette and
Sergei Zholtok to get them there, as well as a truly deadly power play. That
power play deserted the Wild last season, and with it went any dreams of an
above-average offense and, in the end, a playoff spot. Gaborik’s contract
dispute and slow start in 2003-04 didn’t help matters, but it can’t all be laid
at his feet, particularly when the Wild are a team that has to have balanced
scoring to survive. Minnesota will need stronger seasons from Gaborik, Bouchard
and Pascal Dupuis, as well as significant contributions from Rolson, Walz,
Alexander Daigle, Todd White and their rookies if this offense is going to
scare anybody. With Gaborik on the injured list to start the season the Wild
are already behind the eight-ball in terms of offense.
2. We mentioned the power play, but the
Wild’s penalty killing is a concern as well. Surprisingly, for a team that’s so
well coached, the Wild have rarely been particularly good in either stat; in
their first season they had an above-average PK but their power play was dead
last, in 2001-02 they were 23rd and 22nd, respectively,
the next year they were 6th on the penalty kill but 23rd
with the man-advantage, then in 2003-04 were 14th and 28th.
The power play stat isn’t completely surprising, not from a team without a lot
of offense, but the penalty killing one is, particularly since lead
penalty-killer Walz was a part of all of those teams. For the Wild to be a
playoff contender this season they need to get their penalty killing back among
the league’s best while finishing at least middle-of-the-road on the power play.
Don’t be Surprised If: The Wild do much
like they did in 2003-04 and deal off a number of veterans before the NHL trade
deadline. This team has already admitted they’ll stick with their young players
this season; that likely won’t translate into a lot of wins, and this team has
never been shy about dealing away veterans that are about to walk as free
agents. Roloson’s contract is up after this season, and at 35 with young Josh
Harding waiting in the wings the Wild might not be interested in bringing him
back. Walz and Rolston each have two years left on their deals but are very
useful players and could be worth a lot on the market to a contending team.
Daigle, Fernandez, and Kuba can also become unrestricted free agents next
summer.
Outlook: Unless Lemaire can pull off
another minor miracle, this is simply not a playoff team. Gaborik is still too
inconsistent and the scoring support around him still too meager. In fact,
considering how competitive the Northwest will be this season the Wild will be
lucky if they can stay out of the Western Conference basement.
Centres: 1. Wes Walz 2. Todd White 3. Marc
Chouinard 4. Mikko Koivu 5. Randy Robitaille
Wingers: 1. Marian Gaborik 2. Brian
Rolston 3. Pascal Dupuis 4. Alexander Daigle 5. Pierre-Marc
Bouchard 6. Kyle Wanvig 7. Rickard Wallin 8. Stephane
Veilleux 9. Andrei Nazarov
Defensemen: 1. Filip Kuba 2. Willie Mitchell 3.
Nick Schultz 4. Andre Zyuzin 5. Brent Burns 6. Daniel
Tjarnqvist 7. Alex Henry 8. Scott Ferguson
Goalies: 1. Dwayne Roloson 2. Manny Fernandez
Restricted Free
Agents: none.