Offense sputters putting Minnesota on the brink of elimination 

St. Paul – Is it too soon to suggest that the undermanned Wild — they are missing $196 million worth of talent in Zach Parise and Ryan Suter — are simply no match for the Winnipeg Jets?

Coach Bruce Boudreau says no.

Yes, the Wild dropped a 2-0 home ice decision to the Jets Tuesday night and trail 3-1 in the best-of-7 playoff series, but Boudreau insisted that the Wild are not finished.

“They’ll regroup,” he said.

He has to be optimistic; he’s the coach.

Game 5 is Friday in Winnipeg, where the Jets have won 34 of 43 games since the start of the 2017-18 season, and after they shut down Minnesota in Game 4 in front of 19,277 antsy Wild fans, the Wild will need to win three straight to advance.

It’s a tall order without Parise (broken sternum) and Suter (broken ankle), who signed twin $98 million contracts in 2012 as free agents.

The Wild outshot Winnipeg for the first time in the series Tuesday, but were unable to muster a goal againt Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who was pulled after two periods in Minnesota’s 6-2 win two nights earlier.

Hellebuyck made 30 saves.

“You knew five or 10 minutes into that game that he was ready and feeling good,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said.

In Parise’s absence, someone needed to pick up the slack. Well, Jason Zucker, Mikael Granlund, Jordan Greenway and Tyler Ennis each managed just one shot on goal while Marcus Foligno, Matt Cullen and Daniel Winnik each had zero.

Nevertheless, Boudreau pointed out, the Wild battled their tails off and might have taken the game into overtime if not for what Boudreau and everyone in Minnesota’s dressing room called a blatent missed call.

The Wild were controlling the puck on the power play late in the first period with the score 0-0 when Eric Staal, stationed between the circles, got flattened by a cross-check to the neck from Winnipeg defenseman Josh Morrissey.

Staal lay on the ice for a moment, finally got up on one knee, then skated slowly off the ice as play continued.

“He cross-checked me,” Staal said. “Everyone saw it. I don’t know how no one with stripes saw it.”

“My take,” Boudreau said, “is the same take that everybody in the building saw. The refs looked at it and they decided not to call it because we were already on the power play.

“It cost us the game.”

A five-on-three manpower edge might have enabled the Wild to score first, but two additional factors stemmed from the non-call, Boudreau noted, because Morrissey very likely would have been ejected.

First, Morrissey got an assist on the only goal of the first 59 1/2 minutes late in the first period, and second, he made a sterling defensive play to knock the puck off the Nino Niederreiter’s stick to prevent a breakaway later in the game.

An empty-netter capped the scoring with 11 seconds remaining.

“It should have been a 0-0 game going into overtime,” Boudreau moaned.

The first goal — both Jets goals were scored by Mark Scheifele — was all the Jets needed on this evening as their defense yielded hardly an inch all night.

“We didn’t give them a whole lot of ice tonight to stretch out on,” Maurice said.

Especially in the third period, when the Wild tried to push the pace but managed just nine shots on goal.

“They really dug in,” Boudreau said. “They were really good in the third period.”

Staal, Dumba, Granlund and one or two others had Minnesota’s best chances, but Cullen said the team needed to play with a bit more desperation and “we didn’t have enough.”

Parise and Suter are still out. Game 5 is in Winnipeg, where the Jets practically toyed with the Wild in the first two games of the series. Is it over?

“We’ve just got to re-focus and try to get a win,” rookie defenseman Nick Seeler said. “It’s far from over.”

He has to say that, but actually, it’s very close to over … unless the Wild can spring an upset in Game 5 and force a Game 6 back at the X on Sunday night.

The post No Parise, no goals appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Nick Seeler coming to NHL by any route necessary

St. Paul — Player development is complicated. There are some well-worn paths players take, and they often work. But that masks the fact the every player is different and has individual needs for their development.

Auston Matthews, the NHL’s No. 1 overall pick in 2016, went to Europe to play pros for a season before his draft year. Plymouth, Minn. native Rem Pitlick, the USHL’s leading scorer, is returning to the USHL instead of heading to college. That’s why it might be easy to miss that Minnesota Wild prospect Nick Seeler’s circuitous path to professional hockey has helped him become a standout in the team’s prospect pool.

After two years at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Seeler decided to transfer to the University of Minnesota. That meant he had to sit out a year before he was able to join the Gophers last season. That’s a difficult situation. For some, that can lead to a year of lost development or the sense that he’s fallen behind his draft class.

“You’re always concerned with [players sitting out a year],” Minnesota Wild Director of Player Development Brad Bombardir said last week at the team’s development camp. “There was some concern about that, but I thought Nick had a tremendous year. I thought the staff over there did a great job with his progression, getting better as a player, understanding his position, getting better habits.”

“That year was a must for me,” Seeler says. “It was great. I got to work with Coach [Mike] Guentzel at the U. He treated me as if I was playing the whole year. I think I needed that to grow as a player and as a person as well.”

I got to work with Coach [Mike] Guentzel at the U … I think I needed that to grow as a player and as a person as well.

Nick Seeler (11), shown here pursuing Michigan’s Tyler Motte, registered 10 points (all assists) in 36 career games with the Gophers, leading them in blocked shots (91) and a plus-21 rating in 2015-16. (MHM Photo / Carson Mark)

The former Eden Prairie High defender entered last week’s development camp as a professional for the first time. “I feel a lot stronger,” he said after the second practice of camp, “and a lot faster.”  At 23, he’s one of the camp’s old hands. He’s one of many in this year’s class who will be transitioning to the professional ranks, and he looks ready despite his atypical route.

The hard work was never a problem, though. It’s praise that has consistently been doled out by his coaches. But, a humble player, he deflects praise about his work ethic. “Kyle Okposo gave me great advice when I was younger. He said someone is always watching. I take that into everything I do. Especially knowing that I feel like [the coaches] are watching a little closer.”

While some familiar faces, like Bombardir remain, many of those coaches are meeting Seeler for the first time, including head coach Bruce Boudreau and his assistant, Hall of Fame defenseman Scott Stevens.

“This is the first time I’ve been with [the new coaches],” Seeler said after a scrimmage. “They’ve been great. They’re on the ice. They’re talking with the guys. It’s fun to be around them and take in as much information as we can.

“Watching Scott Stevens growing up, and having him out there and giving advice is pretty surreal.”

A bulldozer on the ice during camp, he moved the puck well and skated like a leader. He may be able to give the depth chart a little more of a shake than anticipated this coming season, helping an already deep blue line look even deeper.

He’s expected to start the season with the AHL’s Iowa Wild, where he’ll likely be joined by others looking to make their mark on the NHL, like Christian Folin, Gustav Olofsson, Mike Reilly and summer signee Victor Bartley.

But with the Wild’s top four stacked — Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella, Jonas Brodin — and the bulk of guys at the next tier having an offensive aptitude as their biggest asset — Reilly and Matt Dumba, in particular — Seeler’s strength and defensively responsible game may have him in a unique position.

He may not be ahead of those other guys, but he does offer a different skill set. That doesn’t guarantee anything, but it might earn him a crack at fulfilling his dream of playing in the NHL.

The post Finding His Own Way appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.