Wild Open Season with Big Aspirations

(by Jonathan Lewis MN Sports Unlimited contributor)
The Minnesota Wild begin the 2017-18 season tomorrow night on the road in Detroit. After last year’s disappointing finish, the Wild are hungry to show that their regular season success can translate to postseason wins. The Wild were eliminated from the playoffs by the St. Louis Blues last year in the opening round, and to add insult to injury it was at the hands of former Wild coach Mike Yeo. Wild coach Bruce Boudreau has had plenty of regular season success throughout his career, but playoff wins have been hard to come by. Both Boudreau and the team are out to show the fans that last year was no fluke and that they are for real this year.

Players Primed for Success:

The Wild did a good job of locking up their young superstars in the offseason. Players such as Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter, and Jason Zucker are the main cogs of the offense and look to build off of their success last season. The Wild will need steady production from veterans Mikko Koivu, Eric Staal and free agent signing Matt Cullen to whether the loss of Zach Parise for the early portion of the year. Devan Dubnyk is still one of the bets goalies in the NHL and should benefit from a handful of off days at the beginning of the year to keep him naturally fresh.

Players who Need to Step Up:

Maybe one of the biggest keys to the season is the play of backup goalie Alex Stalock. Darcy Kuemper struggled throughout the year when he was asked to start last year and was allowed to leave via free agency. If the Wild can get consistent play from Stalock when they rest Dubnyk, especially during tough back-to backs that will allow the Wild to keep Dubnyk fresh, which was something that ended up hurting the team late in the season. With the trade of Marco Scandella the Wild defensemen are all on notice for needing to step up. Beyond Ryan Suter there are plenty of opportunities for players to help add to the defensive mentality. Keep an eye on Matt Dumba, who helped out on offense last year but struggled tremendously on defense. If he can step up and fill Scandella’s spot, the Wild defense will be able to keep its intensity up all year. Also watch newcomer Tyler Ennis to try to give some added scoring after the Jason Pominville trade. Ennis is younger and more athletic, something that Pominville struggled with deeper into his contract.

Wild-Red Wings:

The Wild start their season on the road in Detroit tomorrow night. Playing on the road is always a tough task especially against a team like Detroit, who is angry and eager to come out of the gate hot after a disappointing season last year. In order to win the Wild need to avoid getting in an early hole by putting pressure on early on offense and defense. And they MUST capitalize on power-play opportunities. If the Wild can do that, they will certainly be able to take care of business in Detroit and start the season on a winning note.