Unconventional Fourth Line Makes Sense For Minnesota Wild

So that appears to leave Jason Zucker and Mikael Granlund competing for a spot. Zucker has elite speed, a good shot, was a great energy player, and had playoff heroics last year. Granlund was the more highly touted prospect, but had a season where he did not perform to his high expectations. However, he's looked really good this pre-season, especially in his skating.

If the last roster spot is indeed a competition between Zucker and Granlund, the lines that started last night seem to be what they'd be rolling with in the regular season, which were (with the caveat that Yeo experimented a lot last night):

Parise-Koivu-Pominville

Zucker/Granlund-Coyle-Heatley

Cooke-Brodziak-Niederreiter

Fontaine-Konopka-Mitchell

Extra Man: Dowell

But is that really a problem? Are those players really not suited to a fourth line role? Mike Yeo was asked about this yesterday, and he responded:

This new arrangement could lead to lines such as these:

Parise-Koivu-Pominville

Zucker-Coyle-Heatley

Cooke-Brodziak-Mitchell

Fontaine-Granlund-Niederreiter

Extra Man: Konopka

Personally, I'm very much in favor of a less traditional fourth line for this team. First of all, it keeps the Wild's most talented players on the roster, and it gives the fourth line a definite role to play. The fourth line the Wild played tonight consisted of a skill guy (Fontaine), a speedy checker (Mitchell), and a lumbering tough guy who wins face-offs (Konopka). I don't see these players complementing each other too well as a line. They may give you solid defense, but it won't sustain offense to a reasonable degree. Fontaine-Granlund-Niederretier would seem to complement each other much better, and their role would be clear: Create offense. From what we've seen in the pre-season, Granlund and Niederretier can do just that. It's a line you can see playing more than the 7-9 minutes a fourth line often gets. Maybe even 12.

The concerns for going this route would mostly be age, and defensive prowess. Valid concerns with both. The way I see it is that the Wild are already going all-in with their youth movement. If it fails, they're screwed anyway. Worst case scenario is that they send Granlund/Zucker to the AHL, at the risk of losing a Jake Dowell, or equivalent player. I think the rewards are worth more than that risk. You're also not really risking development being messed up, as all of these players should be getting NHL minutes, anyway. As long as they don't rot on the bench for a month, playing 6 minutes a night, they'll be fine.