By Phillip Garrett -
Minnesota Wild fans no longer want to hear about the injuries that have plagued the team since December. However, Minnesota didn’t immediately win when Jared Spurgeon and Kirill Kaprizov returned to the lineup before Kaprizov’s latest injury. The Wild have gone 4-6-0 in their last ten games, leading fans to wonder how much injuries factored into their slump.
It is easy to point fingers at the lackluster performances from the middle six, the uninspired goaltending, or even the management. However, we must ensure that we place blame correctly. Therefore, it is important to note that John Hynes has worked tirelessly to spark something in this team.
Hynes has dealt with a bad hand that has been a nightmare to handle all season. Hynes has had to continuously juggle lines and try to find the combinations that work, not only for even strength but for their special teams, too. It will only worsen before it improves. Kaprizov will reportedly miss at least another four weeks. He’s scheduled to undergo surgery this Friday. Still, Hynes has kept calm throughout the season, which will likely be the only way the Wild will get out of their funk.
However, there comes a time when a coach needs to start making tough decisions, especially in cases like this, where Minnesota suffered some of their worst losses of the season last week. The .500 Utah Hockey Club shut the Wild out 4-0, and their loss to the Calgary Flames dropped Minnesota’s home record below .500.
It has become increasingly evident that Hynes must make challenging decisions to turn Wild’s performance around. Healthy-scratching Yakov Trenin shows he has the aptitude and credibility in the locker room to make those decisions.
After the loss against Calgary, Hynes didn’t hide what he thinks about the team's recent losses. “When I say we play perimeter on offense, your work ethic isn’t hard enough,” Hynes said. “Right now the last two games we don’t wanna fight for inside ice. We wanna extra pass, we don’t wanna trigger, we don’t wanna re-hunt rebounds, we don’t wanna get to the net front.
“So, it’s always tough when you say their ‘work ethic.’ We work. It’s not like we didn’t show up, and the guys don’t want to try to play to win. But then there’s a specific level of competitiveness and work ethic you need to have, whether that’s at your own net front (or) at the offensive net front. So, we’ve got to get that back.”
The Wild are not playing with the same competitive mindset they had at the start of the season. They were willing to play a physical yet skilled game, and their strong defensive play kept games close enough to win. Without everyone buying into the Wild’s mentality, the team looks defeated.
The next night, Hynes healthy-scratched Declan Chisholm and Trenin against the Chicago Blackhawks. The decision to scratch Chisholm was likely for a mental reset and to send a message to the defensive core.
However, Trenin’s scratch must be a wake-up call for the 28-year-old winger.
Hynes even called out Trenin, saying he is not playing like a power forward.
“I just think we need a little bit more there,” Hynes said regarding Trenin before the Chicago game. “Harder on pucks in the offensive zone, using his size and strength, more physicality too, and impacting the game as a power forward. It’s been there at times, but right now it’s not enough.”
Minnesota must get its money’s worth out of Trenin. The Wild signed him to a 4-year, $14 million contract in the offseason, and he has only scored four goals and eight points this season.
However, Minnesota didn’t acquire him for his scoring. When they signed him, the Wild assumed they would be getting a strong defensive forward who could be elite on the power play, but that hasn’t been the case.
The most damning evidence of his underperformance on the penalty kill happened in the Calgary game, in which you can see Trenin attempting to retrieve Jon Merrill’s stick instead of continuing to defend. He loses his man (leading to Rasmus Andersson’s goal) and can’t retrieve the stick successfully.
I would not be surprised if Trenin’s slip-up alone is why he sat in the press box in Chicago, especially considering the Wild were rallying at the end of the Calgary game, where one goal made the difference. The Flames took all of the Minnesota momentum away with that goal. Andersson punched Fleury in the face earlier in the game and scored on that powerplay.
Hynes is doing the right thing with Trenin. Even though the Wild probably want to keep their Russians happy, Hynes must react to Trenin’s poor play. If that comes in reducing ice time, taking him off the penalty kill, or letting him sit for longer, then so be it. The Wild need more out of everyone, and Trenin must play like a $3.5 million player.
Ultimately, the Wild are stuck with Trenin because of the length of his contract. Therefore, the coaching staff must help players overcome their slumps.
We know Trenin can be an effective player even when he doesn’t appear on the scoresheet. He impacts the game with his physicality and surprising speed. We have seen flashes of Trenin being that player for the Wild this season, but his inconsistency has started to affect the outcomes of games. Therefore, we should commend Hynes for scratching him to send a message.
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