The Minnesota Wild come in at No. 16 on TheHockeyNews.com's NHL off-season rankings. How will Bill Guerin make the Wild into Stanley Cup front-runners?
Last season was one that Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin certainly won't forget.
He became the architect of Team USA and built a gold-medal winning squad at the Olympics, he traded for one of the best defensemen in the world in Quinn Hughes, and capped off the year by capturing the Jim Gregory award as the NHL's top GM.
Despite Guerin’s blockbuster acquisition of Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks, he couldn’t replicate his Olympics success with a long and fruitful Stanley Cup run.After beating the Dallas Stars in Round 1, the Wild were beaten by the Colorado Avalanche in a relatively meek second-round exit.
While Guerin may have other tricks up his sleeve, his incredible year has been followed up by a relatively mediocre off-season.
Let’s analyze Guerin's decisions from this summer and discuss why the Wild are ranked 15th on TheHockeyNews.com's off-season rankings.
Arrivals:
Blake Coleman (LW), Olli Maatta (D), Calvin Pickard (G), Maxim Shabanov (LW), Justin Kirkland (C)
Guerin used what little salary cap space he had to facilitate a trade with the Calgary Flames, bringing in a coveted veteran in Blake Coleman along with blueliner Olli Maatta.
The Wild's other off-season moves, which left them with only $1.15-million in cap space, involve depth pieces.
Maxim Shabanov was a role player with the New York Islanders last season, producing just 18 points in 44 games. Calvin Pickard appeared in only 16 games with the Edmonton Oilers last season, putting up an .871 save percentage and 3.68 goals-against average.
Outside of Coleman, there aren't many standout acquisitions that will support the Wild's stars. Kirill Kaprizov is entering the first year of a contract extension paying him $17-million per season, and Minnesota has only one more guaranteed season with two of the game’s best defensemen in Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber.
There’s a lot to like about the Wild, but the clock is ticking for them to push further for a Cup in its current competitive window. Guerin is hoping that the pieces acquired this summer will compliment the team's core, rather than reshape it.
Departures:
Mats Zuccarello (RW), Vladimir Tarasenko (RW), Marcus Johansson (LW), Jacob Middleton (D), Jeff Petry (D), Ben Jones (C), Robby Fabbri (C)
It’s true that Mats Zuccarello will turn 39 in September, and Tarasenko is now 34, but both are coming off very productive campaigns.
Zuccarello finished with 15 goals and 54 points in 59 regular-season games last season, while Tarasenko contributed 23 goals and 47 points in 75 games. Even Marcus Johansson posted 49 points in 75 games.
The departures of those three veterans take a good chunk of offense out of Minnesota’s lineup, and it's hard to argue that they've found the right talent to replace them.
While Guerin is one of the league’s bolder GMs, he’s going to have to be creative if he tries to acquire a legitimate second-line center, which has been the team's biggest need.
Rumors have circulated throughout the summer about Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin's reported interest in joining the Wild, but there will be a high price to pay for an asset as valuable as him.
The Wild have terrific depth in net, and trading away veteran netminder Filip Gustavsson may be what it takes to get a deal for Larkin done. That said, the departures of some of the other notable players on this roster may leave them with more issues to deal with.
The Bottom Line:
In the Central Division, the Wild have rivals including win-now teams in the Avalanche and Stars, as well as improving teams like the Utah Mammoth and Nashville Predators. There’s also veteran-laden teams in the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues who are looking to bounce back.
It won’t be easy for Minnesota to maintain a top spot in the division with the competition surrounding them.
Guerin deserves credit for putting together a competitive team, but you can’t blame Wild fans for wanting more. Minnesota is at a point in its history where they have to go all-in and win a Cup now, making it more than a little underwhelming to see what they did this summer.
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