Marat Khusnutdinov's first practice ST. PAUL - There is no doubt the Wild were a tough team to play against at the start of the season. But with others underperforming the Wild looked like they were going to miss the playoffs. This sparked a few trades of the guys who played physical. Minnesota traded Pat Maroon, Brandon Duhaime, and Connor Dewar and lost Marcus Foligno towards the end of the season due to a season-ending injury. They were 30-27-6 before the trade deadline. They had a points percentage of .524, scored 3.11 goals per game, and allowed 3.30 goals per game. They ranked 23 in goals allowed and 17th in goals for. After the deadline the Wild went 9-7-3 with a points percentage of .553. They scored 2.74 goals per game and allowed 2.74 goals against per game. They ranked 24th in goals for and 22nd in goals against. In a very small sample size, the Wild basically stayed the same in many categories before and after the trade deadline. The only thing that changed was their physicality. After the deadline the Wild ranked dead last in hits/60 at 13.79 and dead last in total hits. They were 60 hits behind the 31st team in the NHL. Before the deadline the Wild ranked 22nd in the NHL in hits/60 at 20.89 and 20th in total hits at 1,333. Point is, in a small sample size of course, the Wild had a higher points percentage after the deadline and that was with having the fewest hits a game. So take the hits thing how you want. At the end of the day being more or less physical plays a part in it but it isn't the reason why the Wild missed the playoffs or anything. How about depth scoring or special teams or even blown third period leads. Does being more physical help that? Or do those three reasons not force you out of the playoffs? The Wild played 26 Central Division teams last year and went 9-14-3. They got eight goals from their bottom-six forwards in those 26 games against Central Division teams. The bottom-six scored six goals against the five teams in the Central that finished ahead of the Wild. The team carried a 1-11-3 record against those five teams. At the end of the season the Wild's bottom-six included Marcus Johansson, Freddy Gaudreau, Vinni Lettieri, Jake Lucchini, Adam Beckman, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Liam Ohgren. Those seven combined for a minus-53 rating on the year. At times in the season, but specifically at the end of the season with playoff hopes on the line, it felt like the only line that could score was the line Kirill Kaprizov was on. "Well, I think it’s a combination, to be honest," John Hynes said on if it felt like Kaprizov's line is the only one that scores. "I think that, correct. I mean Eriksson Ek’s line was good too. I think we have a group of forwards that are doing things like that. Obviously, Kirill leading the charge with those things. "You just need more, whether it’s depth scoring or energy or physicality. Ending shifts in the offensive zone. It’s a lot when you’re relying on that." There is no doubt that a few seasons ago when the Wild were at the top of the league they were hard to play against. In 2021-22 the Wild finished with a franchise best 53-22-7 record and 113 points. They ranked 18th in hits and 20th in hits per game. They were hard to play against but they also ranked fifth in the NHL in GF and 12th in GA. The Wild allowed the sixth fewest goals in 2022-23 and finished with a 46-25-11 record with 103 points. They finished 22nd in hits and 23rd in hits/60. Here is a chart because everything looks better on a chart. Chart [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA3NTg5NzEzNTYzODg3Mjk4/minnesota-wild-ranks.png] Chart The correlation between being more physical and winning isn't as big as some may think. In fact the Wild were good from 2021 to 2023 because they scored a lot and kept the puck out of the net. Combining 2021-22 and 2022-23 the Wild ranked ninth in GF and eighth in GA they ranked 18th in hits per game in that span. The biggest problem last year was a slow start to the season, a leaky penalty kill, lack of depth scoring, and goals against. Instead of spending money on more depth scoring the Wild brought in two guys in who are physical and provide energy. Yakov Trenin signed a four-year deal worth $3.5 million a season. He ranked 21st in the NHL among forwards in hits with 207. Jakub Lauko was brought in via a trade. He makes $787,500 and ranked tied for 30th in hits among forwards last year with 176. “He’s another guy that brings a certain identity to his game, and brings a certain identity to a team," Wild head coach John Hynes said on Lauko. "He’s quick, he’s got good speed, he plays the game with an edge. He’s a guy when you play against him, you all hear that term “hard to play against.” His style of game is hard to play against. “When you think particularly at our team, our 9-12 forwards, we felt we had to have more of an identity — more speed, bigger, stronger faster, guys that can play with an edge, guys that can tilt the ice, guys that bring energy to your team with the way that they play. That’s certainly something that he brings, so we’re excited to have him, as well.” The Wild entered free agency with about $6 million to spend. They used $4,287,500 on two guys who combined for 14 goals last year but had a combined total of 383 hits. "Yeah, because we still have to look down the road. I guess I understand," Bill Guerin said when asked why he spent money on bottom-six guys. "When you see some of the names being signed and going certain places, we still didn't have the amount of cap space it took to add certain types of players. "But when you look past the coming year, like I have to, we felt that the identity of the team, getting back to playing a harder style, giving our young players another year to not just develop, but start making an impact on the big team is something that we felt was just as important." The Wild's President of Hockey Operations and General Manager continued: "Our time will come when we can kind of dip into the high offensive type guys, but I really feel that … if the Johanssons, if the Gaudreaus, guys like that, and Hartzy, even though Hartzky had 20 goals, if they can have better offensive years, which they're capable of, then that will definitely help out." It is clear that the Wild figure that if Johansson, Gaudreau, and Hartman get back to what they are capable of along with a better penally kill, quicker start, and more depth scoring, then adding two physical bottom-six forwards will help this team make the playoffs. That will remain to be seen. 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