The Wild have been using two defensemen on the second power play unit throughout camp.
ST. PAUL - The Wild's power play last year was one of the better ones in the league. Their penalty kill on the other hand was a different story.
Nonetheless, the Wild want to have an ever better power play and it starts with a better second unit. One of the things they have tried is having two defensemen on the second unit instead of one.
"It's something that we're looking at," Wild head coach John Hynes said. "But when Boldy comes back there could be a change to that. You might move Hartman off that unit and Boldy goes back on. So we are kind of toying around with it, particularly on the second unit."
The reason why the Wild want to try two defensemen on the second unit is because they want that unit to be better than last year.
Minnesota was at the top in the league last year in offensive zone possession time on the power play and that was largely because the first unit would keep the puck in the offensive zone for a minute and 40 seconds before the second unit could come on.
"I think our top unit right now, we know what it is. The second unit, we're looking for it to be better than it was last year. We're going to look at some different options on it. Rotate some guys in and out of it and see what works best."
Hynes indicated that some nights the second unit might only get 30 seconds of power play time or maybe they get one minute of power play time. But it is what you do with that time rather than how much you actually get.
With how well Brock Faber was on the power play last year, he will be the quarterback on the Wild's top unit.
Declan Chisholm ran the Wild's second unit last year but with Jared Spurgeon back and healthy there were some questions on if he would run the second unit.
For Chisholm, this isn't unusual. He was on a power play unit in the AHL with the Manitoba Moose with two defensemen and he was on the Winnipeg Jets power play unit with two defenders.
"If that's what it takes for me to be out there, then I'm going to work my hardest to be good in that role," Chisholm said. "It's not my first time doing two 'd' on one unit. I've done that on past teams before."
As of now, Spurgeon is the quarterback on the second unit with Chisholm on the right flank opened up for one-timers. Which is something he is open to but he feels he just needs to get more comfortable in that spot.
"We're both mobile and can move the puck. I think we read well off each other when we're out there," Chisholm said on Spurgeon and himself. "So yeah, it's just a position I need to get comfortable with."
Once Boldy comes back it looks like he will take Hartman's spot on the top unit which would move Hartman to the second unit. They could either replace one of the defenders with Hartman or elect to take Liam Ohgren off the unit.
When Boldy is healthy, Ohgren will be the odd man out. Which means he very well could be sent to Iowa. This would open the door for the Wild to continue to have two defensemen on the second unit.
Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' Minnesota Wild page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more.