Can the Minnesota Wild Trust Their Blue Line Depth?

It was a tale of two games for the Minnesota Wild’s defenders. Minnesota was down Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin against the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche. Meanwhile, Brock Faber returned from his upper-body injury against Nashville. 

As a result, Minnesota’s defensive pairings were:

• Jake Middleton - Faber
• Jon Merrill - Zach Bogosian 
• Declan Chisholm - David Jiricek

Under John Hynes, the Wild don’t allow many goals or shots, ranking top ten in the NHL in both categories. However, Spurgeon and Brodin are Minnesota’s best defenders, which was evident in their absence. 

In Nashville, the Wild exposed Marc-André Fleury to 19 high-danger chances. The Predators scored four unanswered goals and two more in the third to seal the game. Nashville is second worst in the Central this season and a team that has scored four goals or more only four times through 46 games this season. They rank dead last in the NHL with a GF/60 of 1.75. 

Minnesota was more focused on getting revenge for their captain after Zachary L’Heureux slew-footed Spurgeon the last time the two teams met. The Wild allowed 19 high-danger chances and paid the price with an ugly loss. 

“Took some tempo away, and was physical,” Yakov Trenin said. “Not hockey. Then they kind of switched to hockey quicker than us and scored. It took some time for us to switch it.”

However, 48 hours later, Minnesota was masterful in shutting down the Colorado Avalanche. Against one of the hottest teams in hockey, the Wild rolled out the same defensive pairs and won 3-1. 

The Avs thrive off the rush and move through the neutral zone at a lightning pace. The Wild held them to a single goal from Nathan MacKinnon and only allowed five high-danger chances. 

Minnesota’s defensemen also contributed on the offensive end of the ice. Middleton opened the scoring with a nifty snipe from the circle for this seventh of the year. Jiricek made a heck of a play on the wall and deked towards the middle of the ice before dishing to Trenin for the game-winning goal. 

Faber extended the lead off the rush with a wicked shot not long after, and the score stayed at 3-1 until the final horn. Minnesota’s defenders were instrumental in all three goals and limited the Avalanche to one goal.

Credit Hynes and his system for shutting down the Avs, who had picked up a point in eight of their last nine games. Hynes made the most of his top pair, playing them in tough defensive situations, and his youngest pair playing on the third pair in situations that were more favorable offensively for Minnesota. 

The Jiricek-Chisholm pairing played well in Denver, and Hynes deployed them to his advantage, even without last change on the road.

So, what does this mean for the team going forward? Spurgeon and Brodin are on their way back, so what should the team do to maximize its defensive core and newfound dependable depth? 

Middleton and Faber have been playing great together as a top pair on both ends of the ice, logging heavy minutes and making things easier for the rest of the Wild’s defenders. Merrill has been solid on the Wild’s penalty kill recently, including the four times the Wild were short-handed on Monday afternoon. 

Hynes will likely use Spurgeon and Brodin as the top pair, meaning the top four will be healthy for the first time in nearly three months. That leaves the Wild with some decisions to make on the third pair. 

Merrill has been stellar on the penalty kill but still struggles to clear his own zone. Bogosian brings a physical presence and veteran leadership but struggles to skate and gets caught moving backward and laterally. Chisholm has been solid moving the puck and clearing the zone but can get overwhelmed during long shifts in the defensive zone. Jiricek shows tremendous promise with his offensive instincts. However, he’s not a great skater and struggles in his own zone. 

I’d keep riding with the hot pair in Chisholm and Jiricek. However, the Wild will probably use Bogo and Merrill as the third pair. Regardless, the Wild have four guys they can count on for two spots or step up if injuries strike again. 

All stats and data via HockeyDB, Natural Stat Trick, Evolving Hockey, HockeyStat Cards, MoneyPuck.com and Cap Wages unless otherwise noted.