The Wild Are Embracing Being A One-Line Team

If you want to discuss the differences between the 2024-25 version of the Minnesota Wild and the previous entries during the Bill Guerin Era, that difference is depth. The Wild had long prided themselves on their depth, with their ability to spread stars up and down the lineup and complement them with the perfect pieces.

The heyday of this was the 2021-22 team. The Wild had Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Joel Eriksson Ek on separate lines, and Kevin Fiala flanked Boldy. In the bottom six, Jordan Greenway, Nico Sturm, Nick Bjugstad, and Brandon Duhaime offered some combination of size and scoring punch.

The depth started disappearing as the Wild's salary cap shackles weighed them down. All those bottom-sixers are gone. Heck, many of their not-as-good replacements -- Pat Maroon, Sam Steel, Ryan Reaves, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Connor Dewar are also playing elsewhere. The spread-the-wealth philosophy offered diminishing returns, culminating in Minnesota missing the playoffs last season.

Obviously, they're back this year, and Minnesota's depth got tested along the way. Missing Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek for nearly a half-season each will do that. Their depth pieces had moments in the sun -- Marcus Johansson's performance in Game 82, for example. However, at best, they held their own long enough for Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek to swoop in for the last four games and save the day. 

The Wild are facing the Vegas Golden Knights, who have nine players with 15 goals and seven with 40 points. In contrast, Minnesota has five and four, respectively. Vegas has depth, and the Wild don't.

So, what's the solution?

For Hynes, it's clear. Embrace the Wild for what they are: A one-line team. Hynes is riding his top line of Kaprizov, Boldy, and Eriksson Ek more heavily than ever. 

On the surface, it doesn't seem like Minnesota's two star players are getting much more ice time than normal. Boldy averaged 20 minutes, 17 seconds in the regular season, which has increased to 21:41 in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Kaprizov's average ice time actually dropped from 22:28 in the regular season to 20:56 in these last two games. 

But the minutes Kaprizov and Boldy, in particular, are getting harder. Obviously, there's the jump from regular-season intensity to the postseason. But more so, Hynes is putting his stars out for as much 5-on-5 ice time as humanly possible. With so few penalties getting called, there's more 5-on-5 minutes to go around.

Again, this isn't new for Hynes, Kaprizov, and Boldy. Kaprizov led the league in 5-on-5 minutes per game, with 17:40, and Boldy was 19th with 15:40 per night. With Minnesota averaging 49:56 of 5-on-5 minutes per game, their workloads translate into approximately 35.4% and 30.6% of that available ice time, respectively. Boldy's leading NHL forwards in 5-on-5 minutes per game (19:25; 34.5% of available time) and Kaprizov is fourth (18:32; 32.8%).

What is new is how inseparable those two (and Eriksson Ek) have been in the postseason. Per Evolving-Hockey, Kaprizov played 34.8% of his 5-on-5 minutes with Boldy during the regular season. That's significant, but it also shows how much Hynes wanted to spread the wealth. Why load up the top line when Kaprizov can thrive with Mats Zuccarello? It's safe to say that the coach's mentality is different after two playoff games.

Kaprizov has 37.1 5-on-5 minutes in the postseason, and almost 36 of them have come alongside Boldy. The Boldy-Eriksson Ek-Kaprizov line has been together for 32.9 5-on-5 minutes, the most in the playoffs.

Interestingly, Hynes has hard-committed to this loaded top line while on the road. At home, it makes perfect sense to put your top players together and dictate the matchups. But Bruce Cassidy is the one with last-change privileges before faceoffs, meaning he can pick who goes against that top line. Looking at Kaprizov's opposition, we can see the top line has had a heavy dose of Alex Pietrangelo, Mark Stone, and Jack Eichel.

That doesn't matter. Hynes is putting his best players out as frequently as possible, and daring Vegas to stop them. So far, they can't. Boldy's been on the ice for four 5-on-5 goals for Minnesota. Two have come against Vegas' top line of Eichel, Stone, and Brett Howden. The Wild might also be operating under the idea that the more you put out a top line, the less opponents can hard-match you.

For example, while Pietrangelo has had the most minutes against Boldy (19:16) in this series and allowed just one goal against the Wild's star, Boldy has still been able to face Shea Theodore -- who's more of a puck-mover than defender -- for 14 minutes. He's feasted on that matchup, scoring two goals and an assist. As good a coach as Bruce Cassidy is, he can't hide his liabilities for 20 5-on-5 minutes per night.

We must assume this arrangement is here to stay unless Vegas can force adjustments. Being at home means that Hynes will get even more chances to prod for weaknesses in the Golden Knights lineup. He could hard-match his top line against Stone and Eichel, hoping to win that matchup while finding opportunities for secondary scorers like Marco Rossi, Marcus Foligno, and Zuccarello to generate offense. 

Whether it works or not, it's clear that Hynes' plan to overcome Vegas' depth is to stop trying to be a depth team. The Wild are embracing what they are and trying to overpower their opponents with sheer star power. The fact that Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek are both healthy and Boldy is peaking at the perfect time means that being a one-line team might just be the formula that can finally get Minnesota to the second round.

All data via Natural Stat Trick unless indicated otherwise.