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By Luke Sims -
The Minnesota Wild signed Yakov Trenin in free agency, a bottom-six, hard-hitting, penalty-killing, defensive forward. Trenin is a redundant presence in the bottom six, which includes Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman, and Jakub Lauko.
Minnesota also has young forwards like Liam Ohgren and Marat Khusnutdinov, who could inject some much-needed secondary scoring.
The problem is that there’s not enough room for everyone.
The Wild are “hoping” that players like Marcus Johansson, Foligno, and Frederick Gaudreau will magically improve from last season. The team is counting on internal improvements from this group of players to score more and reignite a moribund penalty kill.
But it’s not guaranteed to happen; hope is not a plan. Minnesota needs a better solution.
The Wild have five of their six top-six spots lined up. Kirill Kaprizov, Marco Rossi, Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy, and Mats Zuccarello comprise the top line and two spots on the second line.
Minnesota had a rotating door at right wing, with Johansson occupying the spot most of the season. Ohgren took a shot at that spot near the end of the season and did not look out of place.
Johansson had an incredibly disappointing season. If the Wild want to improve their offensive output, they must find a better solution than using Johansson on the second line. Johansson will not be effective in a bottom-six role; that’s not his play style. However, he’s out of his depth in the top six and a drag on his linemates. It’s a tough spot for the coaching staff, but maybe a bottom-six role will force Johasson to engage and make an impact.
However, given the Wild’s current plan of hoping Johansson finds his form again, the Swedish winger will take the final spot in the top six.
As currently constructed, the Wild have Foligno, Hartman, Lauko, Gaudreau, Trenin, and Khusnutdinov as their bottom six forwards. That means there’s no room for prospects Ohgren or Riley Heidt to make the team in successful roles.
Ohgren could impact that game as a bottom-six forward. However, that would mean Ohgren would be taking a player's spot on an expensive long-term deal or a newly-signed physical player.
The Wild also signed Travis Boyd and Reese Johnson as tweener forwards to backfill in case of injuries. Boyd has played for four teams in seven seasons and has 118 career points in 296 NHL games. Johnson has primarily played in the AHL, but he can be a physical presence in the bottom six.
Sammy Walker and Raska have re-signed with the Wild, and another batch of tweeners could fill in at the bottom of the lineup. Walker brings speed and skill, and Raska brings size and physicality.
Khusnutdinov will be fighting for a spot and his role going forward. However, the Wild had him playing in the NHL immediately after he arrived from Russia.
The Wild have locked themselves into a complacent roster that’s difficult to rebuild. Besides Lauko, Khusnutdinov, and Johansson, all of these players are on long-term deals that are almost impossible to trade.
A trade could shock the room and send a wake-up call to the other forwards. However, Wild would probably be the losing end of any deal they make. Those contracts are not good, and the Wild would probably need to attach other assets to offload one of their bad contracts.
Johansson would be the easiest to move. He’s only on a $2 million contract for one more year. But trading Johansson would open up a spot for Ohgren or Hedit to play in the top six and send a message to the other players on the roster.
That gives the team more flexibility to move skilled players and prospects, which will help with the secondary scoring and team dynamics.
All stats and data via Daily Faceoff and Elite Prospects unless otherwise noted.
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