Article: Injuries Throwing the Wild's X-Factor Fourth Line In Flux

[Matthew Smith]

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[Will D. Ness]

I like Moose on the 4th.

[Up North Guy]

Ekker won't be back for the first series at least. He could be done for the year with a broken bone in his ankle. I would consider putting Moose on the Dewar line and Walker on the 3rd line with Nyquist.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Up North Guy

[Protec]

With Shaw and Ek out, I'm expecting to see more of Steel and Sundqvist. I like Beckman from the mix of AHL guys. I think he's got something the others don't in terms of natural scoring talent. He's had pipes and a disallowed goal with not much TOI. They probably  wanna keep the AHL team together for playoffs to some degree. It doesn't look to me like the Wild wanna bring up new guys for playoffs. I'd think Rossi and Petan go back to IA after the Nashville game.

[MNCountryLife]

I'll be curious to see what BG and Evason do.  I thought Sundqvvist was starting to play much better his last few games.  Duhaime is a solid player but doesn't seem to be pairing well with Dewar and Reaves.  Walker and Beckman could put some scoring punch on the bottom 6.  BG and Evason have shined pretty well this season in finding the right lineups to make things work.

[mnfaninnc]

I have to disagree with the thought Duhaime isn't meshing with Reaves and Dewar.  I thought he's been good on that line, he adds the speed Shaw had and is a little larger.  He and Dewar seem to kill penalties pretty well too and Duhaime seems to have better mitts than Shaw at this point.  

I had liked the Foligno-Gaudreau-Sundqvist line and thought they were gaining momentum. Sure, their may be a lot of point shots from that line, but Sundqvist and Foligno are bangers in front who should feast on rebounds.  My biggest question mark with Sundqvist is his speed, he has looked slow out there, and looked like he was sucking wind a little too hard.  Perhaps the elevated play into the playoffs he was not conditioned for in Detroit?  

But, where does Nyquist fit in?  To me, Steel is merely a 13th forward.  The guys got some skill, but for what he has, his finish is pathetic.  

To me, I think the bottom lines will depend on the opponent.  For instance, years ago when Yeo was coach, he had Brodziak as his 3rd line C.  However, Brodziak couldn't keep up with the Avs, so he switched Haula to that role and shut down the Avs speed.  I think that kind of matching is what Evason will need to do, and he does not have a history of making those types of matchup switches.  

This will also be a very important series for Evason.  This team has made the playoffs by overperforming in the regular season for 3 straight years.  Evason deserves a lot of credit for this.  However, Evason is also 0-professional coaching career in a playoff series.  If he doesn't show something this year, Shooter's got to start wondering where he goes next.  Evason likely is in the top 3 nominations for Jack Adams this season, but when it counts, he's going to need to shine.

[Will D. Ness]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

I have to disagree with the thought Duhaime isn't meshing with Reaves and Dewar.  I thought he's been good on that line, he adds the speed Shaw had and is a little larger.  He and Dewar seem to kill penalties pretty well too and Duhaime seems to have better mitts than Shaw at this point.

Duhaime is stepping in ok but I think we are going to miss Shaw.  4th line has been very good the last month.

[MNCountryLife]

I like the idea of a Sunqvvist, Dewar and Reaves line.  Dewar is smart enough to hold that middle while you let the two big guys bang away.  With Boldy, Freddy and Marcus producing that leaves only the 3rd line of Duhaime, Nyquist and Foligno.  I know Nyquist has not played much center.  But it would give you a physical and aggressive 3rd line. 

 

I do worry a bit that the 4th line may be a bit slow with Sunqvvist and Reaves.  You may be correct in leaving Duhaime there for speed reasons alone.  But if you do that I'm not sure Sunqvvist moves up.  It may be better to slide Walker or Beckman to the 3rd.  As you mentioned, Matchups matter as well.  I don't see anywhere in this lineup where Steel is a good fit.  He could see 1 game out of 4 just to spell someone that is banged up a bit.

[Protec]

 

But, where does Nyquist fit in?  To me, Steel is merely a 13th forward.  The guys got some skill, but for what he has, his finish is pathetic.  

Steel had a beauty finish from Hartman for a SHG just a couple games ago. The Wild need to get back into their team game that was working. Ek is the biggest missing piece. Shaw will be missed but not like Ek. Steel will be a good fit meanwhile. He wasn't bad while Hartman was out and he won't be too bad while Ek is gone. Team hockey had the Wild at the top for a stretch. It's always the same thing, when they get away from a system game and begin taking bad penalties, they struggle...

[Backwoodsbob]

1 hour ago, Protec said:

 

But, where does Nyquist fit in?  To me, Steel is merely a 13th forward.  The guys got some skill, but for what he has, his finish is pathetic.  

Steel had a beauty finish from Hartman for a SHG just a couple games ago. The Wild need to get back into their team game that was working. Ek is the biggest missing piece. Shaw will be missed but not like Ek. Steel will be a good fit meanwhile. He wasn't bad while Hartman was out and he won't be too bad while Ek is gone. Team hockey had the Wild at the top for a stretch. It's always the same thing, when they get away from a system game and begin taking bad penalties, they struggle...

I have to agree with you about Steel. I feel that he has picked up his game and it has taken a bit to get accustomed with different line mates. He just seems to be more hungry at this point. Maybe the extended scratch did some good. I'm hoping that he can catch fire and be that player expected of a 1st rd selection even if it was 30th overall.