Minnesota Wild 2008-2009 Season Preview

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Last season the Minnesota Wild won their first ever Northwest Division title but were ousted in the first round of the playoffs by the Colorado Avalanche. The big question for the Minnesota Wild this season is the whether or not they picked up enough goal scorers to make up for the players they lost in free agency. Here’s a quick rundown off who came and went, along with their scoring numbers from last year.

Gone

F Brian Rolston
Dynamic slap-shot guy goes to the New Jersey Devils
31 G 28 A

F Pavol Demitra
Talented but underachieving buddy of Marian Gaborik, goes to the Vancouver Canucks
15 G 39 A

F Mark Parrish
Minnesota native and Jacques Lemaire whipping boy, bought out by the Wild, still unsigned
16 G 14 A

F Aaron Voros
Gritty grinder goes to the New York Rangers
7 G 7 A

F Todd Fedoruk
Hard-skating occasional line-mate of Gaborik and Demitra, goes to Phoenix Coyotes
6 G 7 A

F Branko Radivojevic
Gaborik and Demitra countryman goes to Russia to play hockey
7 G 10 A

F Wes Walz
Gritty epitome of coach Jacques Lemaire-style hockey went MIA after 11 games and retired midseason. He is now an assistant coach for Barry Melrose in Tampa Bay
1 G 3 A, but his intangebles held the Wild together

Added

F Andrew Brunette
He of the biggest goal in Wild history back in 2003, returns to the Wild from the Colorado Avalanche
19 G 40 A

D Marek Zidlicky
Offensive defenseman, signs with the Wild from the Nashville Predators
5 G 38 A

D Marc-Andre Bergeron
Powerplay specialist, traded to the Wild from the Anaheim Ducks
9 G 9 A

F Antti Miettinen
Player looking to capitalize on his potential, signs with the Wild from the Dallas Stars
15 G 19 A

F Owen Nolan
Aging ex-superstar, signs with the Wild from the Calgary Flames
16 G 16 A

F Craig Weller
Guy I’d never heard of, signs with the Wild from Phoenix
3 G 8 A

The departing players add up to 83 goals and 108 assists in lost offensive fire power, while the additions give the Wild 67 goals and 130 assists. A definite drop in goals and most likely a wash in assists given the lack of goal scorers for the Wild. The question is, where will the offense come from? Rolston and Demitra were huge factors in the Wild offense. Demitra actually underachieved last season and towards the end was a non-factor. He and Gaborik never were able to recreate the magic they had in the ’06-’07 season. Rolston will be missed to an extent. He obviously scored a lot of goals and teams had to play for his big slap shot. However, he is relatively one-dimensional with said slap shot.

In the long run, the Wild will need the new players to contribute at least what they contributed to their respective teams last season. They will need to see improvement in goal scoring from returning players such as Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Benoit Pouliot, and James Sheppard. They need Mikko Koivu to continue to blossom into a superstar. They need some rookies, like Colton Gillies, to contribute a smattering of goals. And they need Marian Gaborik to stay healthy, interested, and actually on the team.

What Up with Gabby?
Speaking of Marian Gaborik, that’s the other huge key to this season, and potentially the next few seasons in Minny. Gaborik is on the cusp of being a superstar in the NHL. Gaborik is also an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. That translates into contract negotiations, or speculation. Rumors are that Wild GM Doug Reisbrough has offered Marian $8.5 M a year, but there are no indications that he is ready to sign. Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin make $9 M a year. Is Gabby worth Sid the Kid and Ovechkin money? Does Gabby even want to play in Minnesota in the defensive system that supposedly limits his offensive potential?

Depending on how the Gaborik situation works out, the Wild may have their first fan grumblings on their hands. The fan base has sold out every game in franchise history dating back to the ’00-’01 season and they eat up whatever the franchise serves. But if there’s no Gabby, and if the team is not competitive, fans will start to find better things to do with what little discretionary income they may have.

Goaltending
Niklas Backstrom is the Wild’s #1 goalie. Josh Harding is the young up and coming understudy. Backstrom has put up some very impressive numbers. 33 wins and a 2.31 goals against last season. Harding shows a lot of potential but he needs playing time. Backstrom and Harding are both in contract years, so both goalies should be at the top of their games. This will be good for the team given the most-likely drop in offense.

Prediction
Last season’s early playoff loss put a damper on a great regular season. This season, I believe the Wild will tighten up their defense this season, returning to more of the type of hockey that got them a surprise run to the Western Conference Finals in 2003. Play very sound defensive hockey and capitalize when the opposition makes a mistake. Following that trend, I expect the Wild to finish 2nd or 3rd in the NW Division, make the playoffs as the 7th or 8th seed. And since there’s always at least one surprise team to go deep to the Conference Finals or even the Stanley Cup Finals, why not the Wild?