Pool Outlook for Minnesota

The change in philosophy that was adopted before the 2010 season didn't grow into anything spectacular in the 2011 season, as the Minnesota Wild failed to really make an impact in the Northwest Division closer to the end of the season.  A direction was taken, but even in a weaker division, they were not able to put anything tangible together, which has now cost the jobs of the coaching staff and some questions about their direction will be raised this Summer, hoping for some better results in the season coming.

Upon his signing with the Wild in 2009, Martin Havlat was supposed to change the face of the Wild offense.  I think in a few respects, he was able to accomplish that feat, but I wouldn't say he had done it for the better, as of yet.  On the plus side, he did top the rankings in pool scoring for Minnesota in the 2011 season, finishing with 62 points (22 goals and 40 assists) in 78 games, which was 59th in league pool scoring, 41st among forwards.  With Havlat being a little lower in the rankings, it could be fair to suggest that scoring was a big concern for the Wild, one that needs to be addressed for a playoff run in 2012.

Mikko Koivu wasn't too far behind Havlat for the overall lead in pool scoring, in fact, he came in second only because of tie-breakers in my rankings.  Koivu also finished with 62 points in 71 games, leading the best of the rest, followed by Andrew Brunette (46 points in 82 games), Matt Cullen (39 points in 78 games), Pierre-Marc Bouchard (38 points in 59 games) and Kyle Brodziak (37 points in 80 games).  It wasn't a highly-productive year for the Wild forwards, but I think you can argue that injuries to some of their depth players may have spread the top guys a little thin.

The Wild defense had their fair share of injury problems in 2011, as nine blueliners played in 20 or more games, which must have kept pairings on their toes for the bulk of the year.  Brent Burns led the group in pool scoring with 46 points in 80 games, 14th among all defensemen in the year.  Marek Zidlicky (24 points in 46 games), Nick Schultz (17 points in 74 games) and Jared Spurgeon (12 points in 53 games) were the only other Wild defensemen in the double-digits in points.

Frankly, if the defense of any team is going to suffer, then the goaltending (no matter who is in net) is also going to suffer.  Niklas Backstrom saw a significant drop in his pool points production in 2011 and I think the team in front of him is as much to blame as possibly his own struggles to stay focussed all year long.  Backstrom finished with only 22 wins, 3 shutouts and 1 assist for 51 points, good enough for 115th in pool scoring, 25th among all goalies.  Only a couple seasons previous, he was in the top 20 in pool scoring.  His back-up, Jose Theodore, finished with 15 wins and 32 points on the year, also struggling to find some regular consistency.

2012 Pool Outlook
The Minnesota Wild have plenty of pieces in place for the 2012 season, but that could be argued as both a good thing and a bad thing.  It's good to keep a lot of chemistry going from year to year, but if that chemistry doesn't lift you into the playoffs, it might be time for a bit of a shake-up.

Forwards	Defense	Goalies
Martin Havlat	Brent Burns	Niklas Backstrom
Mikko Koivu	Marek Zidlicky
Matt Cullen	Nick Schultz
Pierre-Marc Bouchard	Jared Spurgeon
Kyle Brodziak	Clayton Stoner
Cal Clutterbuck	Greg Zanon
Eric Nystrom	Cam Barker
Brad Staubitz
Guillaume Latendresse

In total, the Wild have 17 players already signed on for the 2012 season, including a collection of seven defensemen that could very easily start the year as the team's starting seven.  These 17 players and one buyout come in at a somewhat reasonable $50.4 million, as an annual salary cap projection.  The team only needs to fill in about six players and there should be plenty of cap space to fit in a back-up goalie and three or four forwards, so they should be safe this Summer.

Some interesting names will be taken off the books come July 1st, according to the list, as Andrew Brunette, Antti Miettinen, Jose Theodore, John Madden, Chuck Kobasew and Josh Harding will all head to market, if the team decides against re-signing.  Miettinen, to me, looks like the only safe bet upon returning or else he might be one of the more interesting free agents on the market on opening day.

Patrick O'Sullivan and Colton Gillies are the only two prime restricted free agents of note and neither played a huge role in the 2011 campaign.  They may not figure in as priorities, rather footnotes to the end of the Summer.

In the prospect department, the Wild are awfully high on Finnish forward Mikael Granlund, who has been very flashy in his young career, including a lacrosse-style goal at the World Championships, helping the Finns to a gold medal this Summer.  He might be a bit smaller in size, but he doesn't lack in flair.  Marco Scandella is pretty close to a full-time job with the Wild this coming year, having played a good number of games this season.  Finally, I think we'll see a bit more of defenseman Justin Falk in 2012, he had a couple decent auditions with the Wild in 2011 and could make the jump, if given enough opportunity.

I don't think there is one area that would be needed to address more than any other, as there is somewhat of a bland feel to the Minnesota Wild these days.  Some younger scoring, some two-way defenders and possibly some long-term goaltending prospects would all be smiled upon from where I'm sitting.  There is a bit more offense to develop in this draft in 2011, so I would think that the best offensive player would be their likely target with their 1st round pick, 10th overall.  I would also contend that the Wild's love for the European type player might see them pick a player like Sven Bartschi or Mika Zibanejad, if available.

What I said last year at this time... "For 2011, I see it being a lot of the same, but just a little bit better. The Wild do have some cap flexibility going into the silly season of off-season dealings, so they could very well improve to the extent of being a playoff team, but the pickings are pretty slim, so I don't forsee a big improvement, unless their youth can really take them to the next level. I'm expecting Backstrom to respond to this mediocre season with a good push in the right direction and I have a good feeling about the defense putting up some better points in 2011 as well. Do pencil in some Wild players as sleepers next Fall."

I think the only thing I really fell short on from last year's prediction was how well Niklas Backstrom was going to bounce back in 2011... because he didn't.  Actually, his hands were really tied with a team that wasn't very good defensively and it's hard to blame a goaltender for falling behind when the team in front of him wasn't giving him a lot of help.  That's the sort of thing that can weigh heavily on the mind of a starting goaltender as well, but all in all, much of the same from the Minnesota Wild.

Much like every year, health is a big concern and that has to be the one thing that the Minnesota Wild hope the best for in 2012, because they had some rotten luck in 2011.  If the Wild blueline can stay healthy, I think Backstrom has a good shot at bouncing back and when confidence rides high in the goaltending, offense isn't too far behind.  A lot will ride on the defense and goalies, but I'm not terribly convinced that the right crew is there in the first place, so it could be difficult for the Wild to string together some wins... and goals, for that matter.  I would be awfully cautious taking Wild players in the pool, I'd guess they'll be looking for another top pick in 2012.