Wild season review and look ahead
For the first time since GM Farhall took over the Wild – the team finds itself on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs.
The Wild’s 2nd half swoon was dramatic and costly. The team that once led the Western conference after Xmas, played .500 hockey for weeks and then could only must 2 victories in the last 10 games to miss the dance for the first time since 2003-2004.
GM Farhall:
“Honestly at this point we are still assessing what went wrong. We think our talent level this year was better than last season – when we won the conference in the regular season. Our scoring was particularly disappointing – we have a ton of fire power but clearly the chemistry was off. It is extremely frustrating not to be in the playoffs”.
Though this season is a write off, Minny is well positioned going forward with a young core, manageable salary structure and tons of talent.
“We like where we are heading into the summer. I think we need to find a playmaker to skate with some of our snipers – and that will be a priority in the off-season. But when you have a foursome like Heatley, Stamkos, Malkin and Nash – you should be able to score a lot”.
The need for a passer may mean one, or more, of that quartet could be sent packing in the off-season. Simon Gagne could also be trade bait but is a favourite of Farhall, and demonstrated that at the age of 30 – there is still plenty left in the tank. If the return isn’t substantial expect Gagne to be back. Up front – youngsters like Michael Grabner, Kyle Turris, and Derek Stepan will push for full time spots on the big club come the fall.
On the blueline things are even more crowded with Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk and Luca Sbisa also seemingly ready for prime time. However, at the moment there doesn’t seem to be any room. Nik Lidstrom is a retirement possibility and Tomas Kaberle seems like a trade candidate. If either comes to pass – Alex Edler and Jack Johnson will have to continue their maturation and be ready for full-time duty on the top pairing. Alternatively the Wild could choose to deal Andy Greene and/or Andrej Sekera to open up a spot or two for the youngsters coming through the pipeline.
“We are very deep on D and there are a couple of guys that need to play next season on the big club. We think Pieter can be a rookie of the year candidate next year – we are thrilled with the steps he’s taken in his development”.
The biggest question marks appear to be in goal where co-number-1s Dwayne Roloson and Marty Biron were traded and released near the end of the season when the Wild’s fate was sealed. That means the Wild will head into the summer with a pair of youngsters Corey Schneider and Semyon Varlamov as their tenders.
“Maybe its time the kids play. We had two vets this year and we didn’t get into the playoffs. Certainly we will examine the free agents out there – and it appears there could be a few on that front we could go after. I will say that Corey will be on this team next year in some capacity – he’s ready.”
As for coaching – Farhall would only say that every position is under review right now but he does anticipate Tom Renney to return.
As usual the Wild hold a # of picks heading into the draft with one first rounder, 5 2nds, and nine other picks.
“There are a number of kids we like – we don’t see this draft being fantastic – or full of kids ready to step in right away. But there are about 7 guys we like at the top end – and then it’s very deep until early in the third. We like our position right now but we will look to add another 1st if possible”.
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