Minnesota Wild 2012 Season Grades: The Defensive Corps

Are signs of improvement good enough? Let's find out.

Grade: D

Bryan- For "the Worst Defense in the League," they didn't do too terribly bad. While 2.65 goals against per game isn't spectacular, it certainly wasn't anywhere near the worst in the league. The defense cannot move the puck to save their lives, and asking for offense out of this group is like asking a rock to bleed, yet they do what I want the defense to do. They play... wait for it... defense.

The loss of Brent Burns was a huge blow, removing the top d-man on the team from the mix. Then injuries kicked in. Then Nick Schultz, Marek Zidlicky, and Greg Zanon were all trade away. There was supposed to be hope in the ranks in Houston. There wasn't. At least, not the type of help the Wild needed. A point of strength and depth was exposed as being less than stellar.

The defense was solid, the offense was non-existent.

Grade: C-

Jesse- Offensively, this group was really bad. It didn't help that Zidlicky was a dud on the powerplay with Heatley. It also didn't help that Scandella didn't show any of the offensive traits that fans are hoping to see. Despite that, they were a good group defensively.

The Wild were continually outshot and out possessed. The blueliners were continually called upon to play well above reasonable expectations. The forwards couldn't receive breakout passes, get pucks in deep, and get a real forecheck going. The Wild led the league in blocked shots for a while, and that was in part to the defensman giving everything they had.

If this core played on a team that could generate offense like Pittsburgh, it's a different story offensively for them. Being dead last in scoring shouldn't fall on these guys. They're not flashy, they're not high skilled, and the group did lack a true top pairing, but considering that the blueline is basically stitched together with a group of 3rd-pair defensman, a couple 2nd-pair guys, and some AHLers, they did pretty well.

Grade - B-

JS- The entire defensive corps' +/- stat is downright nasty, but defense wasn't the team's problem by a long shot. There was a time towards the middle of the season where the defense was falling apart, and the offense from the blueline was seriously lacking, but considering the strong start, the strong finish and the average age and experience of the blueliners, I'd say the defensemen as a group had a decent season. Many of them will need to step up though, especially Scandella, Prosser and Spurgeon. The Wild were 2nd in the league in blocked shots, but there are two sides to that medal: Sure, the D blocked shots like crazy, but that's only because they were always stuck in their own zone. Gilbert is supposed to fix the breakout, so next season could be better.

Grade: C-