The Minnesota Wild are 9-2-2 since their 3-5-2 start, which is a promising sign for a team that appeared to wobble for the second time in three years. The Wild had a similar 3–5–2 record in ten games in 2023–24, the year Bill Guerin fired Dean Evason and Minnesota missed the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.
Thanksgiving is generally a useful milestone for determining which teams will advance to the playoffs. Some teams will be out of the postseason picture, but about 80% of the playoff schedule will be determined by the American Thanksgiving.
At the time of this writing Minnesota has 28 points, which is good for third place in the Central Division. They are just one point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Mammoth, who occupy the Western Conference wild-card spots. However, they have four points more than their nearest Central Division rival, the Chicago Blackhawks.
In all likelihood John Hines will keep his job and the Wild will make the postseason again this year. As always, the question with this team is can they win their first playoff series since 2014-15, when Zach Parise and Ryan Suter were productive players and not dead-cap hits. So, we’ll have to see how Minnesota bounces back from the slow start and if they’re ready to win in the playoffs.
It’s mostly been goal scoring. The Wild gave up 2.78 goals per game, which is tied with the New York Islanders for tenth in the NHL. Meanwhile, Minnesota is scoring 2.87 goals per game, which is tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets for eighth-worst in the league, and below the Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks, who are tied with 2.91 goals per game.
Minnesota’s $136 million man, Kirill Kaprizov, is 15th in the league in scoring with 27 points. However, he is only two points behind players like Leon Draisaitl and Calle Makar (29), and one point behind Mark Scheifele and Mikko Rantanen (28). Matt Boldy had 25 points, which is on par with players like Brad Marchand, Dylan Larkin and Nikita Kucherov.
The bigger issue is secondary scoring. Marcus Johnson, 35, is Minnesota’s next-highest scorer with 19, which ranks 66th in the league, after he had 34 in 72 games last year. His career is having a renaissance, but if he turns back into a pumpkin the Wild will be in trouble. Joel Eriksson (15 points, 117th in the league) and Brock Faber (13,149) are Minnesota’s next highest scorers.
Jesper Volstad and Filip Gustavsson have a save percentage of .914, third best in the league behind the New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche.
A year after the Wild nearly derailed his development by misleading him about where he would play, Jesper Wallstad leads the NHL with a .935 save percentage. The former top prospect looks like a franchise goaltender again.
Filip Gustavsson’s .902 save percentage is 26th in the league. This is disappointing for a player who signed a five-year, $34 million extension in the offseason. However, Gustavsson has played better recently. He had an .889 save percentage and a 2–5–1 record in his first eight games; He has a .918 save percentage and a 4-2-1 record in his last seven starts.
Goalies are fickle and go through slumps. $34 million isn’t even seed money. It’s an encouraging sign that the 23-year-old Volstad can lift up Gustavsson when he’s been playing poorly.
The primary takeaway from the first quarter of Minnesota’s season is that it has viable goaltending. This is the foundation of a good roaster. Teams with goaltenders like Volstad and Gustavsson can rack up points in the regular season and steal a playoff series.
The big issue for Minnesota is roster construction. Competitive teams typically have a star player, a complementary forward, a star defenseman, strong goaltending, and depth. Think about the Chicago dynasty that eliminated the Wild in the first round the last time they made the playoffs:
The Colorado Avalanche lead the Western Conference with 37 points and have a .918 save percentage in net with Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Martin Necas and Scott Wedgwood. When they won the Stanley Cup in 2021-22, they had a healthy Gabriel Landeskog and old friend Darcy Kuemper in net. Otherwise, it’s mostly the same group of characters.
Last year, the Edmonton Oilers represented the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals. They have Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard. However, their goalkeepers are holding them back. Stuart Skinner and Kelvin Pickard have a save percentage of .868.
The right goaltenders can mask roster issues, while lousy goaltenders can sink a good roster. The Wild are riding Volstad and Gustavsson during their November surge. Whether they fall short in the postseason, let alone win in the playoffs, depends on whether players like Matt Boldy, Zeev Buim, and Brock Faber turn out to be true complements to Kirill Kaprizov or just quality depth.
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