Injuries Handcuffing Wild Through Slow Start

(by Jonathan Lewis MSU Contributor)

After a disappointing finish to the season last year the Minnesota Wild were hoping they would be able to hit the ground running this season. That has not been the case so far as the Wild are 7^th in the Central Division at 3-3-2. The Wild have had so many injuries to their roster that they have had to literally play short handed due to cap constraints. The biggest blow has been the loss of Zach Parise, who underwent back surgery and is expected to be out 8 to 10 weeks. Parise may not be the top line scorer he once was but is still a major contributor to this team, and his absence put the Wild in a bind from the start of the year. It is a little curious as to why Parise didn’t have surgery immediately, as until he was put on IR the Wild couldn’t even call up a player to take his roster spot due to salary cap constraints. With Parise now on IR the Wild filled the roster spot and now have started to get players like Mikael Granlund back into action and expect to get Nino Niederreiter back soon. The biggest reason that the Wild have struggled out of the gate has been the defense. They have struggled as a unit to keep lanes clean in front of Devan Dubnyk and Alex Stalock. The loss of Marco Scandella has certainly been felt, but this Wild team feels like one that just needs to get everyone healthy and then make a run. Also don’t overlook the fact that the Wild again are penalized by a sparse opening schedule. No NHL team should have 5 days in between any game and yet the Wild have had that for the second year in a row. They will have plenty of games down the stretch though, and the hope is that the Wild will be at full strength by that point. The offense has been very good, with Chris Stewart having been a revelation so far on the offensive end. This Wild team will be fine, they just need time to get healthy and start to gel. Once they do, they can skate with anyone in the Western Conference and I fully expect them to do so.