Minnesota Wild 2011-12 Season Preview: Special Teams

The Wild weren't the greatest team in the league last year. They struggled to score goals, prevent goals, take shots, prevent shots, or... well... much of anything. The mediocrity reigned supreme and permeated the organization. The power play clicked at 18.2%, good for 13th in the league. The penalty kill operated at 82.8%, finishing 14th in the league.

Mediocre.It's a word we know around here.

After jump, a discussion of this season's special teams.

Playoff teams have to be the best on special teams. A terrible power play or penalty kill will destroy any chance of success very quickly, especially against the best teams in the league. It is not a difficult correlation to make. Success in special teams equals success in the season, mediocrity to an average finish, and horrible to a near last place finish.

Question to Answer

Elise: I'm not ready yet to say that the powerplay will be fantastic this season, but it seems like it will at least be somewhat better. There are more options to move around that can be much more of a puck-handling and offensive threat.

Bryan: Simple answer? Yes. Heatley and Setoguchi shoot the puck. Shots on the power play have a better chance of, you know, gong in. It should be simple logic that they improve. The second unit will be the question mark, as Cullen stagnated, and there aren't a great deal of options after Latendresse and Cullen.

Nathan: Yes. The success of a power play unit thrives on four things:

It's that simple.

Last season the Wild had major issues controlling the puck. Once they did, they created scoring opportunities because even at the worst of times they had well above average playmakers. However, once in scoring opportunities they didn't have the shooters willing to take a shot unless it was on a wide-open net and even then their shooters lacked the ability to hit their target.

This season they will have success in numbers 2, 3 and 4. Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi, Guillaume Latendresse, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Mikko Koivu have shown a willingness to shoot and have historically above average shot percentage. So, if they get the puck, they can create opportunities and deliver pucks on target.

Prediction of the Day

What do the two power play units look like at the end of October? 

Elise: I'm not sure, but cross your fingers that no one gets injured.

Bryan:

1st Unit

Heatley - Koivu - Setoguchi
Zidlicky - Bouchard

2nd

Latendresse - Cullen - Clutterbuck
Scandella - Spurgeon

Nathan: Again, I'm still up in the air on how Yeo will look at the back of the power play, but it looks like he's going to overload the first unit as Bryan laid out, but I'm not so sure about the second. I think we might be looking at Latendresse-Brodziak-Clutterbuck up front with Spurgeon and Cullen at the back early on.

Part four of the preview complete. What are your thoughts on the special teams?