Article: The Wild Need Everything To Go Right To Contend Next Year

[Robert Brent]

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[Dango]

Well theres the possibility that a few teams messed up their chemistry a little bit at last years TDL  and other moves .  but then again does a team like the Preds refigure it out .   i think we will do better against some of the Goliaths and maybe struggle against some of the Sampsons   in the regular season .

[B1GKappa97]

For now, yes. 

By the TDL that might change. 

Fingers crossed! 

[Patrick]

For some reason MN Wild goalies consistently outperform the expectations of the advanced stats (except Dubnyk he was absolutely horrible but in the Suter, Parise, Russo buddy club so it was never mentioned).  For that reason I think we can expect Gus to repeat his performance.

IMO the Wild need another elite player to compliment KK.  Either by signing, trade or perhaps Boldy, Yurov, or Zeev step up.

Either way the team is close and its pretty exciting. 

[Imyourhuckleberry]

4 minutes ago, Patrick said:

For some reason MN Wild goalies consistently outperform the expectations of the advanced stats...  For that reason I think we can expect Gus to repeat his performance.

Except for in a season where Spurgeon missed a majority of the year and they had to rely on AHL callups rather than what Spurgeon delivered in all of those prior years where the goalies had better results.

I'm relatively confident the Wild will produce decent results when fully healthy, but if they have to replace more than Brodin for portions of the season due to injuries, the goalies could take a step back. And hopefully Brodin is good to go early in the year because he's also highly valuable.

[Dis-allowed display name]

The biggest thing for me is to avoid being devastated by injuries this season.  The last two have been brutal.

Throw in Buium, Yurov, and Taresenko giving more in contribution than the people they replace in the lineup and I could see us advancing one series at least.

Cup?  No way.

Edited 11 hours ago by Dis-allowed display name

[hydguy75]

From my novice perspective, odds are that the Wild vets will be healthier and able to log more total games.  This not only relieves pressure on those expected to backfill top roles at high TOI marks, but also permits the greenhorns to gain traction and cover for their learning curves.  That developing core (Boldy, Fabes, Rossi?) would have potential to improve from last year for focusing on their role, and not playing out of so much desperation.  D should be relatively solid given this depth, G would expect similar results as last year.  

The Wild cards would be any of the team newcomers to put in solid time cutting their NHL/Wild teeth, and even if 1 becomes a quick breakout, or 2 of them perform above expectation, it will bolster some team confidence.  Missing Link would be a KK pairing, perhaps not found until mid-season or TDL. 

Overall, given what I'm seeing thus far, could see the Wild have a follow up year in the playoffs, maybe a deep run if the team gels and stays healthy.  But a cup would be another year or two out... need 2025-26 year to develop or attract those missing links.  Of course numerous variables, and still not factoring improved competition within the Central div. 

[mnfaninnc]

While we're talking far too early predictions, I see us vying for a WC spot. I think we'll be healthier with all the younger bodies munching some minutes. 

I think it will take time for this team to gel, and for the kids to take off their training wheels. After about 50 games, I see us making a real nice push. They might even steal a round in the playoffs. But-

We will need to win the close games. We will need to get to overtime and at least collect loser points. We will need trades to fall favorably for us with who's available. 

I do think we're going to have another season where Yurov and Buium contend for the Calder (like Faber and Rossi). I think The Wall will perform better than expected. I think we'll be both buyer and seller around the TDL, as we trade for a couple of guys we will want to extend. 

[1Brotherbill]

The team is built to win regular season games.  The depth is an issue and will be this season as well.  Once Ohgren, Wallstedt, Buium, and Yurov show up the prospects are not ready to join the NHL.  Lambos maybe but we don't know yet.  Hiedt we don't know.  So, as long as the team stays healthy the will win a lot of games.  Then when the playoffs start they will have the same issues.  When Hartman and Foglino become your best playoff players you have issues as an organization.