The Minnesota Wild were predicted to have a decent team this season and possibly make a push for the NHL post season, but things have not gone according to plan.
The hiring of GM Bill Guerin was a promising step in the right direction. Especially when, within a day of his GM announcement, he signed RFA Joel Eriksson EK to a new deal.
He was very vocal about what he expected and thought he would see from his team.
Fast forward to now, and we find the Wild sitting at the bottom of the standings with a dismal record of 1-6-0. Not what was expected from this team.
The first thing is that some inconsistencies of the early season are really hurting this team. New players pushing for permanent roster spots make things difficult because you haven't developed chemistry, and they can sometimes do things that aren't expected which may have a positive outcome or sometimes a negative one.
Goaltending is another issue at the moment. Veteran starter Devan Dubnyk has struggled to begin this season. Posting an expanded GAA of 4.44 and a terrible .867 SV%, Dubnyk doesn't look like the rock between the pipes that Wild fans are used to seeing.
Injuries. Injuries have plagued the start of this season for the Wild.
Newly signed F Mats Zuccarello, who has only played in four games for the Wild, was recently moved to the IR when another Wild forward, Joel Eriksson EK, went down with an injury the other night.
Added to the injury list are forwards Victor Rask and Greg Pateryn. Putting the injuries and inconsistencies together, things only get harder for the Wild.
The last thing I wonder about is coaching.
There are articles and stories abound about how good Bruce Boudreau is at coaching. He gets teams to win, and his record shows that. But, there are also rumors (unsubstantiated) about how he loses a room within a few years.
Even now, he has called out the Wild for their poor play, and was even called out himself by the players for needing to "change something".
I personally don't know a whole lot about Boudreau or his style of coaching, but I feel even if emotions are running high, the players in the locker room are starting to turn a little bit on the head coach.
Looking at his coaching contracts, Bruce always seems to get fired in he final year of a deal (albeit, it is only with two other teams). Which makes me wonder if he gives up a little or if the players give up on him.
All in all, the accumulation of all of these issues, does not help the Wild win games and make it to the NHL Playoffs.
The inconsistencies, the injuries and the coaching have all amounted to a whopping two points for this squad. Placing this team dead last in the NHL to this point. Yes there are still a lot of games left. And who knows, if the St. Louis Blues can be dead last at January 1 last season and win the Stanley Cup, there is still hope for Minnesota.
For now, my prediction is that Bruce Boudreau is the first head coach relieved of his duties this season, and Wild will struggle for most of the year. They
won't make the playoffs and you may see a "fire sale" of players come the trade deadline.
No comments:
Post a Comment