NHL Season Preview: Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Wild



Last Season's standings: record- 38-36-8 for 84 points. The Wild finished last season in 5th in the Northwest, 10th in the Western Conference.

In: Pavol Demitra F (via trade w/ LA Kings); Kim Johnsson D (prev. team: Philadelphia Flyers); Keith Carney D (prev. team: Vancouver Canucks); Mark Parrish F (prev. team: LA Kings); Marion Gaborik F; Branko Radivojevic F (prev. team: Philadelphia Flyers); Derek Boogaard F; Brent Burns D; Pascal Dupuis F; Matt Foy F; Eric Reitz D; Wyatt Smith F (prev. team: NY Islanders)

Out: Patrick O'Sullivan F (new team: LA Kings); Andrei Zyuzin D (new team: Calgary Flames); Filip Kuba D (new team: Tampa Bay Lightning); Daniel Tjarnqvist D (new team: Edmonton Oilers); Erik Westrum F (new team: Toronto Maple Leafs); Scott Ferguson D (new team: San Jose Sharks); Marc Chouinard D (new team: Vancouver Canucks); Alex Henry D (new team: Nashville Predators)

Season Outlook: Good. For the first time in franchise history, the Wild head into the new NHL season with a clear #1 goalie in Manny Fernandez. The Wild are one of the teams who are almost always at or near the bottom in terms of money spent and this team is no exception. Gaborik will have to carry this youthful team on his shoulders. He is coming off a solid season with 66 points. Scoring depth is going to be a real problem this year as the Wild only have really four or five players who are likely to make any significant contribution. Another question mark will be the effectiveness and durability of Fernandez as likely back-up Josh Harding has only had a handful of game experience in the NHL. The Wild are going to have to utilize the same strategy they used last year to have any success in waiting for the opposition to make a mistake.

Season Prediction: The Wild are going to be in 11th place in the Western Conference and in 5th in the Northwest Division.