With NHL trade deadline looming, should Wild buy or sell?

Left wing Sean Bergenheim’s one goal in a Wild sweater was his lone point in 20 combined regular and postseason games after Minnesota acquired him and a seventh-round pick from the Florida Panthers on Feb. 24, 2015 in exchange for a third-round pick the Panthers used to select Gopher forward Rem Pitlick. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

Minnesota’s regime of Chuck Fletcher and Brent Flahr have never shied away from adding at the deadline. Last year, the team mortgaged two of their top 2017 draft picks to land Martin Hanzal. While in past years they’ve acquired such players like Matt Moulson, Sean Bergenheim, Ilya Bryzgalov and Jason Pominville. Probably the team’s best move – which wasn’t necessarily at the deadline – was when they acquired Devan Dubnyk from Arizona for a third-round pick and Dubnyk turned out to be a franchise goaltender, with two All-Star appearances since.

With just 26 games remaining in the regular season as of Feb.14 and the Wild in a dog fight for a playoff spot, Minnesota is in peculiar spot. On one hand, the team is in the midst of playing their best hockey of the season. Since the new year, Minnesota has just three regulation losses – 10-3-3 – while posting the best record on home ice – 20-4-2 – in the NHL.

Yet, the team has been so hot-and-cold this season, it’s tough to buy in to their recent sample size of success. They blew a 3-0 lead to the worst team in the league, the Arizona Coyotes, in a Feb. 8 loss and nearly suffered the same fate to the New York Rangers on Feb 13. Although they’ve been phenomenal on home ice, recent road performances against Dallas, Pittsburgh and Colorado in the same stretch leaves you wondering if this current group can make a deep run in the postseason.

Here are three options for the Wild to consider by the time the NHL trade deadline hits on Feb. 28.

1. Stand pat

If I was running the Wild, I would not make any significant moves this month. After suffering a barrage of injuries at the beginning of the season to core players, Minnesota is finally healthy outside of defenseman Jonas Brodin who will be out until March. The team is playing its best hockey of the season and with all the draft picks Minnesota has forfeited over the years, there’s not exactly a lot of future assets for Minnesota to package in a trade.

Dubnyk is playing well, the power play is turning around and players like Zach Parise and Charlie Coyle have had an uptick in their play, which the team desperately needs. Combine that with a generally weak market, it really doesn’t make much sense for the Wild to make add anything at the deadline.

2. Clear some salary cap

Rumors are swirling ahead of this month’s trade deadline about a potential return to Pittsburgh for Wild center Matt Cullen. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins

It wouldn’t shock me, however, to see the Wild sell a regular in the lineup for more draft picks and salary cap relief heading into the offseason. With Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba approaching big pay days this summer, Minnesota will need all the cap space they can get. Trading a player like Tyler Ennis could be beneficial for the Wild. Ennis, who was the key piece in a trade with Buffalo last summer that sent Marco Scandella and Pominville to the Sabres, has been disappointment statistically in his first season with the Wild.

Ennis has just 15 points (seven goals and eight assists) in 54 games this season while averaging just under 12 minutes a game. He has a cap hit of $4.6 million this season and is on the books next season for the same amount of dough. If Minnesota is able to obtain a mid-to-low-round pick for Ennis, that would be a win for the franchise in the longterm. The Wild just can not afford to pay a forward nearly $5 million a season to be a 20-point producer in the regular season. Plus, Ennis’ contract could be attractive to a team that’s trying to get the salary cap floor.

Other veterans like Matt Cullen and Chris Stewart have also been scratched on more than one occasion over the last few month. Both players will be free agents this summer and there’s even been some speculation that Cullen could return to the Penguins, according to to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

3. Get ready for the kids

If the Wild were to move on from Ennis and/or Cullen that would obviously create a void in the lineup which would be an ideal time for young top-tier prospects to get some legitimate playing time such as former first-round picks Joel Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin. There’s no doubt the organization thinks highly of them and obviously the hope is that one day they will be contributors in the lineup. In addition, Wild prospect Jordan Greenway of Boston University,  currently with Team USA in the Pyeongchang Winter Games, could very well sign with the Wild when the college hockey season ends.

Sure the idea of Dion Phaneuf, Rick Nash or a even a Marian Gaborik reunion sounds like a fun idea, it just doesn’t seem like it’s in the cards for the Wild this season.

If they’re going to make a run at the Stanley Cup, it will likely be with the same core group of players that’s help the State of Hockey’s NHL team reach the postseason in five consecutive seasons.

The post Trade Deadline Primer appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Minnesota launches season’s “second half” with win over Dallas

St. Paul – After a three-day Christmas break, the Wild returned to action for coach Bruce Boudreau’s 800th game and produced exactly what they figured they needed.

“We called it the start of the second half,” Boudreau commented.

It was just the 37th game of an 82-game schedule, but the Wild came into Wednesday’s post-Christmas festivities outside a playoff berth by one point.

“We’re going to have to win a lot of games for the playoff push,” defenseman Jared Spurgeon said, “and that’s what we’re trying to start off with right now.”

Minnesota got goals from Spurgeon, Eric Staal and Mikael Granlund to seize a 3-2 lead and skated to a 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars in front of 19,107 at the Xcel Energy Center.

Bruce Boudreau picked up win No. 477 of his now 800-game NHL coaching career on Wednesday night. (Photo by Russ Hons)

The result boosted the Wild to 41 points, two behind the Stars, who have played one more game.

It also upped Boudreau’s coaching record to 477-232-91 over 11 seasons, although he downplayed any significance of coaching 800 games.

“It’s only a number,” he said.

More interesting to Boudreau was the play of the Staal-Tyler Ennis-Charlie Coyle line that combined for four points, plus the contributions of Joel Eriksson Ek, who went pointless but showed again that he’s on track to becoming an offensive factor in the NHL.

“He’s going to start scoring,” Boudreau said. “It might not be this year, and I don’t mean that facetiously, but you can see, he’s going to be a real good player. He had more and more chances tonight, and eventually they’re going to go in for him.”

A number of forwards including Ennis, Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno, Zach Mitchell and Daniel Winnik, among others, are focusing on playing their best because injured Zach Parise is scheduled to start a rehab stint with the Iowa Wild and Nino Niederreiter is also closing in on a return to the lineup.

Boudreau likes the energy he sees from guys like he saw Wednesday from Ennis.

“We need people going,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of scoring. Anybody that can pick it up a little bit is good for us, and he did for us tonight.”

Ennis said he is simply “trying to keep playing the way I’ve been playing the last little bit. We’ve got a lot of depth on this team, and tonight was just a good game.”

Said Spurgeon: “He’s starting to find his game.”

With injured Devan Dubnyk also likely back in the lineup along with Niederreiter and Parise, the Wild are closing in on having their lineup fully healthy for the first time this season.

After losing three of four on a pre-Christmas road trip, they regrouped Wednesday and dumped Dallas, outshooting the Stars 31-26 and producing what Boudreau labeled as their strongest third period in a while.

“We’re essentially going into the second half, here,” winning goalie Alex Stalock said. “Tonight was a good start.”

The post Boudreau’s 800th is starting point for Wild appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

St. Paul – The Wild, it appears, are a collection of question marks searching for a major dash of consistency this season.

Through 34 games, they posted 18 wins.

That included four consecutive wins through Game 31, but this season has been anything but smooth for a team that racked up a franchise-record 106 points last season.

And injuries are only a part of it.

A bigger factor, it appears, is a stunning lack of production from some key players.

Offseason signing Marcus Foligno had just three goals through 31 games.

Offseason signing Daniel Winnik scored two goals in 34 games.

And young Joel Ericksson Ek scored just one goal in 27 games.

Factor in the offense supplied by veterans Mikko Koivu, Chris Stewart and Charlie Coyle:

Free-agent signee Matt Cullen has struggled offensively early on in his return to Minnesota. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

Koivu scored four goals in his first nine games, then went the next 24 with zero before scoring against Ottawa on Dec. 19; Stewart tallied six goals in his first six games, then just one in his next 25 before he, too, scored against the Senators, and Coyle missed 16 games with injury and managed just two goals in the other 18.

Koivu, of course, is first out against any opponent’s top line as well as any opponent’s power play, but he’s expected to deliver more than defensive prowess.

Like offseason pickup Matt Cullen, Koivu’s offense has been strangely silent. He and Cullen, who had just two goals in 33 games, are counted on to do much more than kill penalties.

Ah, the penalty kill. During a 13-game stretch up to and including Game 34 at Ottawa, the Wild demonstrated exactly why their play can be so exasperating as they took 61 penalties while going on the power play just 30 times.

Yikes.

Ask Koivu about such things and expect him to glare and say, “It’s hockey,” then note that there is another team on the ice.

Yes,of course, hockey is a game of mistakes, but sloppy play and undisciplined penalties just spotlight those mistakes.

Winger Tyler Ennis put it this way in the understatement of the week.“We’ve still got to do a better job staying out of the box.”

It became so bizarre that coach Bruce Boudreau, expressing gratitude for Mikael Granlund’s third-period insurance goal in a recent 2-0 win over Toronto, noted wryly that “it was something that we really need because we know we’re going to get another penalty for doing nothing.”

Despite all those issues plus injuries of consequence to Devan Dubnyk, Jared Spurgeon and Zach Parise — Parise had not played through 34 games — the Wild have somehow turned things around every time it appeared they were about to crumble.

“Well it was never like we were four games under .500,” Boudreau said recently. “We just weren’t 10 games over .500 right off the bat. They get a little nervous in Minnesota when that happens. I think they’re playing good despite still missing some very key ingredients.

“When we can band together like that, that’s what makes a positive, and we’re starting to have success at home and making it difficult for other teams to come into this building. That’s good.”

It comes down to personal commitment among the players, Boudreau insisted.

Newcomer Tyler Ennis has recently found himself in Bruce Boudreau’s healthy-scratch rotation. (MHM Photo / Jonny Watkins)

For example, Stewart came back after being a healthy scratch and scored a winning shootout goal. Cullen returned after being a healthy scratch and scored. Next game: Ennis, same thing.

“It’s great,” Boudreau pointed out. “That’s one of the things about this team, it’s got really good character and they really care. So, when they sit down, I have a little talk with them. It’s usually a positive situation, but the character comes through and they play a lot better.”

Backup goaltender Alex Stalock has stepped in to become part of the winning formula, replacing the injured Dubnyk and winning three in a row including posting his first NHL shutout in three years in that recent win over the Maple Leafs.

“Thanks for the reminder,” he said with a grin. “It’s been that long?”

But after that shutout, Stalock was equally happy that the Wild were producing more victories than losses.

“And you just hope you can kind of keep it rolling,” he said. “It’s fun. The way this group’s playing right now, just coming to the rink, everybody’s smiling. Everybody’s having fun. It’s four in a row now. It’s just an atmosphere here where everybody’s having a good time.”

Injuries are part of the equation for every team, Boudreau says.

No big deal, Suter said, adding, “If someone is out, someone else steps up and tries to carry the weight.”

Boudreau, of course, has to push the right buttons.

“Obviously, we have a lot of good players here, and it’s tough on Bruce picking who’s going to be out,” Suter said. “But everyone has a good attitude and they show up to work.”

True. Add in the right quota of consistency and the Wild should keep progressing.

The post Quest For Consistency appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Minnesota taking a no-excuses approach to depleted lineup

St. Paul – Experts tell us that injuries should not cripple a pro sports team.

Wild players and coach Bruce Boudreau — wincing a bit after dropping a 5-4 overtime decision to Columbus in Minnesota’s home opener Saturday — are trying valiantly to agree.

“We’re not looking for excuses,” captain Mikko Koivu said after the Wild lost a two-goal third-period lead and the game.

A fuming Boudreau attempted to shrug off the injuries that forced his team to call up four players from Iowa against the Jackets, noting that the youngsters were not the reason his team continued a trend of late-game opposition surges that he labeled “embarrassing.”

His face red, Boudreau pointed out: “All four games we’ve played so far, we’ve been tied or ahead in the third period, and we’ve only got one win to show for it.”

The Wild went with just three lines for most of the third period of Game 4, a game for which they were missing impact players Zach Parise, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle and Marcus Foligno.

Yikes.

Those absences brought the number of man-games lost because of injury by Minnesota to 10 through four games. Four of those were by Parise and three by Granlund, both offensive leaders. The number was five through three games, but Niederreiter, Coyle and Foligno went down in a 5-2 win at Chicago and the number of man-games lost doubled against Columbus.

Well… maybe you could call it a stroke of luck that the Wild left the Xcel Energy Center Saturday anticipating an unusual five days off before the next puck drop at Winnipeg on Friday.

That may give the Wild time to integrate some or all of the newcomers — Luke Kunin, Landon Ferraro, Christoph Bertschy and Zack Mitchell were called up from Iowa to play against Columbus.

But shuffling more than a quarter of the lineup is no easy task and might be even harder at such an early stage of the season. In addition, even though the bizarre NHL schedule hands a unique stretch of extra time off to the Wild this week, Coyle and Niederreiter will nevertheless be sidelined for a long stretch, and possibly Granlund, too. Foligno and Parise might be ready for the game in Winnipeg, or they night not.

If they don’t play, someone else will.

“With a lot of new faces, it’s just about familiarity and getting comfortable with not thinking and just playing,” center Eric Staal said.

Losing 10 man-games to injuries in four games seems stunning; it’s a pace for 205 over the season. Last season, Minnesota lost 199 man-games and ranked 17th in the league, but 82 of those were because of a torn triceps suffered by fringe player Victor Bartley during training camp. Subtracting his 82 leaves 117, a number which would have ranked 28th out of 30 teams.

And the names behind this year’s 10 are significant.

Compare last season’s health to the horendous numbers of 429 man-games lost to injury or illness by the Wild in 2010-11 and 395 in 2011-12, and it’s no wonder they were able to hang around the top of the overall league standings for much of last season.

New season, new narrative.

“We’ll deal with it,” Staal said. “A lot of teams do. We’ve got to play. We’ve got guys coming up that are going to fill some important roles.”

Tyler Ennis, who scored two power-play goals against the Blue Jackets, said the Wild just have to bear down.

“We’ve got a lot of banged-up guys, but everybody says it: It’s next man up,” Ennis said.

Kunin, a wing sent to Iowa to rack up ice time and learn the pro game in his first season since leaving the University of Wisconsin, made his NHL debut sooner than expected with one missed shot, one hit and some decent play in 13:53 of ice time.

“You never want guys to get hurt,” he said, “but that’s what the circumstance was and I was just happy to get the opportunity.”

“It’s one of the ways you can get back into the league or kind of get your chance,” noted winger Ferraro, who scored his first NHL goal since March 1, 2016. “You don’t like to see especially some of the injuries that they have here, but someone’s got to come in and play and you’ve just got to do your best.”

Guys going in and out of the lineup because of ailments is a painful fact of life in pro sports. So far, the Wild are handling the situation fairly well, posting a 1-1-2 record through four games. But no one questions the simple fact that they will be a considerably better team with Parise, Granlund, Niederreiter, Coyle and Foligno in the lineup.

The post Wild are feeling the pain appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.