Unlike the Eastern Conference, where playoff anarchy awaits, the West’s hierarchy is more firmly entrenched. A handful of teams at the top will battle each other for the title of big banana, then hope to have enough left over to beat whoever slides through the East.
But if there’s a Western Conference team that could upset the apple cart, it’s the Minnesota Wild.
Minnesota is essentially locked into the West’s first wild card position, trailing the Colorado Avalanche by 10 points for third place in the Central Division, while enjoying a seven-point buffer on the Dallas Stars, currently the proud owners of the second and final wild card berth. That means Minny can almost bank on a first-round matchup with the St. Louis Blues or Chicago Blackhawks, two of the teams—along with the trio of California clubs—that have a great shot at the Cup.
But look closer at the Wild and you start to wonder if they’re a first-round upset away from making a run. Minnesota’s management crew clearly believes there’s potential here—mind you, GM Chuck Fletcher and his team committed to championship pursuits the day they inked Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to 26 years and $196 million worth of contracts in the summer of 2012.
The Wild were already in for a pound, so why not add goal-scorer Matt Moulson and goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for relative pennies at the deadline? Moulson is likely still viewed by many as nothing more than John Tavares’s wingman, but there’s more to his game than converting superstar passes put on a pillow. Moulson gets to tough areas and works to bury rebounds, which is why he’ll help the Wild’s middle-of-the-road power play. He scored at a 20-goal pace in 44 games with the lowly Sabres, and it’s reasonable to expect he’ll perk up playing with better players.
Speaking of quality skaters, Minnesota is being bolstered by more than just trade acquisitions. Captain Mikko Koivu returned Tuesday night after missing 17 games with an ankle injury, meaning the club just got a lot stronger down the middle. Staying in the centre, Mikael Granlund, who missed 11 games with a concussion before Christmas, was one of Finland’s best players at the Olympics and has 12 points in his past 10 games. The 22-year-old has long been viewed as one of the Wild’s top prospects and looks like he’s starting to hit his stride. A feisty Finnish 1-2 of Koivu and Granlund at centre may never put people in mind of Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg, but don’t think for a minute the rest of the league isn’t taking notice. Toss in the fact Parise missed most of January with a foot injury, and the Wild have to feel like they’re just now armed and ready.
On the back end, Suter logs more time than anybody in the NHL, while sophomore Swede Jonas Brodin is up near 25 minutes a night. Coach Mike Yeo has to lean hard on those two guys because, overall, the D corps is a little thin, and fatigue has to become a factor at some point. Still, Suter is among the very best blueliners on the planet and having him out there for nearly half of every playoff game—even if out of necessity—is a huge plus.
The crease, of course, represents the biggest question mark in Minny, thanks to the absence of both Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom. Harding was having a career year until complications from his multiple sclerosis sidelined him in late December. He remains on injured reserve and his future is unclear. Backstrom, a longtime steady presence in the Wild cage, has a strained abdominal muscle and is out for the season.
It’s no surprise the Wild were heavily linked to goalies Ryan Miller and Jaroslav Halak, but the price was likely too steep on Miller, and Fletcher, having seen a ton of Halak with the Blues, may not have believed he was a big enough upgrade to justify forking over organizational assets. So it falls to untested Darcy Kuemper—who has only 24 NHL games to his credit, but has been sharp this year and has a strong AHL track record—and the unpredictable Bryzgalov to hold the fort. We’re not trying to convince anyone that duo should be keeping Minnesotans flush with warm thoughts, but between the two of them, there’s reason to hope things will turn out OK.
And if that is the case, expect Minnesota to have something to say about how the West is won.