It's Time For the Wild's Defense Pipeline To Start Shining

The Minnesota Wild spent much of the 2020s trying to keep their defense pipeline flowing. Preparing for the day when the team would move on from Jared Spurgeon, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, and Matt Dumba, they invested heavily in the position.

In 2020, they used a second-round pick on Ryan O'Rourke and a third on Daemon Hunt. The following year, they drafted Carson Lambos and Jack Peart. Minnesota then traded for Brock Faber in 2022 and David Jiříček in 2024, months after drafting Zeev Buium.

The Wild have had their successes. Faber is a no-doubter home run. Zeev Buium became the centerpiece of the Quinn Hughes trade. As for everyone else, politely, the jury is out. Well, except for O'Rourke, who's out of the organization.

Part of the reason has been a numbers game on the roster. When healthy, the Wild are six-deep with veteran talent, firmly entrenching themselves in the lineup. Minnesota's top-four, in particular, have been healthy. Faber and Spurgeon have played all 48 games, with Buium/Hughes combining for 47, and Brodin playing 42. Not a lot of room for opportunities.

But another big part is that this collection of players hasn't seized the opportunities that have been there. Jiříček has gotten the most run with 18 games, but his decision-making has caused defensive issues that have failed to earn John Hynes' trust. Hunt has been the designated No. 7 defenseman, but hasn't exactly dazzled in his 16 games. Beyond that? Lambos has played in one game, and the Wild just debuted David Spacek, a 2022 fifth-rounder who's led the Iowa blueline in points in each of the past two seasons.

And now, there's a hole wide-open for... somebody. Brodin is now week-to-week, and with him out, there are over 21 minutes to fill in. Technically, Brodin's role is being filled by Jake Middleton, who is used to big minutes in Minnesota.

Until the Wild tried transitioning to Buium, then Hughes, Middleton has been a top-four defenseman with the Wild since he arrived in 2022. Middleton's ideal role is as a third-pairing defenseman. Still, part of being good in that spot is the ability to slide up when needed, which is obviously the case now.

It might not seem like "fill-in third-pair defenseman" is a crucial need, but a lot rides on whether or not someone can perform well there. Hughes leads the NHL in time on ice per game, averaging over 27-and-a-half minutes per night, and slightly more in his time with the Wild. And that's mostly with a healthy Brodin. Last night, Hughes played 28:28 in a game where Minnesota trailed 6-1 after 40 minutes.

Think about how bizarre that is. Hynes leaned on Hughes to play 9:26 in the third period of an out-of-reach game. Special teams can skew those numbers sometimes, but the Wild had just one power play in the final 20 minutes. Hughes played over eight minutes of 5-on-5 ice time in the third, with Hunt getting less than half of that.

That's a problem. If Hynes can't trust Hunt in garbage time of a blowout, when will he trust him? And while Hughes is one of the best skaters alive, he's surely human, no? Even he must have limits on how much work he can take on, especially with a trip to the Olympics on the horizon. We've seen Faber -- a brilliant skater in his own right -- see his play drop off from fatigue before. The Wild should learn from that and be cautious about pushing their new superstar to the absolute limit.

The caveat is that these players are all pretty young. Hunt and Lambos are 23, while Jiříček and Spacek are both 22. None of them has played 30 games in a Wild uniform. At the same time, though, it's getting late early. The trade deadline is deceptively close, just 14 games away for the Wild. Minnesota may have to decide to bring in veteran help for their blueline, which more or less closes off the season for a youngster to get a foothold in the lineup.

Then it's decision time. Hunt, Jiříček, Lambos, and Spacek are all RFAs at the end of the season. Only Hunt has arbitration rights, and none are likely to be in line for a significant raise. Still, the Wild can choose to non-tender any of them, as they did with O'Rourke last summer. Minnesota could decide to pursue a longer-term solution for the third pair, closing off its path to the NHL for the foreseeable future. Or perhaps, the team could make a decision on them much sooner, flipping them at the deadline.

There are things to like about this group of developing defensemen, but it's crunch time. Are the Wild going to get a return on these investments this season? Or are we going to enter another summer in which the team wonders when these assets will pay off? The next few weeks can go a long way toward answering that.