The 2014-15 Minnesota Wild: Forwards

Photo: Wild.com

If there is one great strength for the Wild in 2014-15, its going to come from their forward position.

The 2014-15 Minnesota Wild: X-Factors

Photo: Brace Hemmelgarn/USA Today

Here's a little rundown of the five players who the Wild need to be impactful for them to have success in 2014-15. They are in no particular order.

2013-14 Season In Review: Charlie Coyle

Photo: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

A look back at Charlie (or more commonly known as Chahlie, in Massachusetts) Coyle's 2013-14 season.

Cleanout Day Recap

Yesterday a couple of Wild players and the GM Chuck Fletcher met with the media as the took part on the team's cleanout day. Here is the video of each of them followed by a few thoughts.

March Wrapup

A look back at the month of February.

Team Record: 6-5-4 in March, 39-26-11 overall
Standings: 4th in Central Division, 7th in Western Conference

A Total Team Effort

Different faces have stepped up for the Wild in 2014. Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Lets go back in time two weeks ago. The Wild played abysmal hockey against the St. Louis Blues at home in a 2-0 defeat. They closed out the year on a six game losing streak, lost several key players to injury (Zach Parise, Josh Harding, Jared Spurgeon and Mikko Koivu), and it appeared that Mike Yeo would be the next coach in the NHL to lose his job.

The Top 13 Stories of '13

Photo: Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images

Since we are winding down 2013 today, it makes sense to take a look back at the best stories from 2013. So to commemorate the year 2013, we will take a look back at the 13 best stories for the Wild.

Top Guns

Maverick and Goose are in good company. Photo: Nino Niederreiter

On Halloween, young players Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter, and Charlie Coyle all took to dressing up as characters from the movie Top Gun. And as we look back nearly two months later, the wardrobe is rather ironic considering what the three young players have done this season.

3 on 3: The Upcoming Road Trip

Photo: Joe Sargent/NHLI

After narrowly defeating the Canucks 3-2 last night, the Wild are back out on the road for four games that stretches from tomorrow through the 27th (they come home for Christmas though). Had the Wild had a trip like this two years ago, we would be saying our prayers right about now as they would be playing three elite teams (Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, and Philadelphia) heading into the Christmas break.

How Long Will This Dominance Last?

Are better times ahead for the Wild when playing the Blues? Photo: Jeff Robertson/AP

One could easily look at last night's score and say "The Wild got throttled by St. Louis". When you read 3-0 and Parise leaves the game with injury, its real easy to say that. If you watched the game, the Blues controlled the puck like no other and it showed up in the stat line. The Blues dominated the game with a 61% Corsi For. Not exactly the way the Wild wanted to send a message to St. Louis in their first meeting as divisional opponents.

3-on-3: Wild After 20 Games

Josh Harding has played a huge part in the Wild's hot start. Photo: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images 

Essentially, we are a quarter into this season. Pretty crazy considering we have only been playing hockey for a month and a half now, but when you think about the compressed schedule due to the Olympic break, it makes sense.

So now that the Wild have completed roughly a quarter of their season, lets do a little three-on-three for the team as a whole.

Shootout Woes

Photo: Rob Carr

Last year, the Wild had tremendous success in the shootout thanks to the addition of Zach Parise. Parise brought a goal scoring skill set that the Wild have not seen since the likes of Marian Gaborik roamed these parts, but even he was not great in the shootouts.

The 2013-14 Minnesota Wild: Forwards

Two seasons ago, the Wild were the worst scoring team in the league. They averaged just over two goals per game and had the most lifeless offense in the NHL. So how does Chuck Fletcher fix that lifeless offense? He totally retools the forward position by infusing the lineup with a good mix of veteran stars and young kids with vast potential.

Preseason Thoughts: New Fourth Line?

Last night the Wild, with what would appear to be their opening night roster, took down the St. Louis Blues 4-1 in the final home exhibition game. The Wild are now 4-1 on the preseason, the only loss being the 3-1 defeat to Columbus in the opener.

Happy Memories

Now that the Wild season is officially over, there still has been a lot of negative talk about this team. So today, to help remind you of why this team is on the right path (as Chuck Fletcher mentioned today in his news conference), here are some happy memories from the 2013 season.

The Wild have some great up and coming rookies

They have some great players to build the team around.

Finally, let the last memory of the day, be our greatest memory from the postseason

Follow Giles on Twitter @gilesferrell

Minnesota Wild 2013 Regular Season Awards

Since the playoffs begin tomorrow, I decided we would pay our respects to the 2013 regular season, by handing out some hardware. It seems early to be doing this, but I'm going to go ahead and do this anyway.

Team MVP: Ryan Suter-Zach Parise and Matt Cullen were in the running as well for this award, but in the end, Suter was the clear choice for this award. Suter lead the NHL in average time on ice per game with 27:16 of ice time. He eclipsed 30+ minutes of TOI 10 times this year, including three out of the final four games of the season. Suter ranked second among NHL defenseman with 28 assists (Kris Letang had 33), while scoring four goals. Suter's poise in any situation was a great addition to the Wild roster this year and bolstered a blue line that is rather bothersome, after the top d-pairing. As we saw in the St. Louis game on April 11th, Suter missed the last half of the game, the defense looked awful and suffered horribly without him. He returned the next game and helped the team win a big matchup against Columbus (A 3-2 shootout win, which looks pretty good right now). Plain and simple: Ryan Suter is the Wild MVP of the season. There is no argument there.

Benoit Pouliot Award (Rookie of the Year): Jonas Brodin-Since Brodin will finish in the top three of the Calder Award (NHL ROY) voting, this award was not a close decision (with all respect to Charlie Coyle and Jason Zucker). Brodin, 19, showed poise of a 29 year old, while being an anchor on the top d-pairing with Ryan Suter. Brodin showed tremendous defensive skills, putting on a clinic to some of the best forwards in the league, while adding 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists) on the season. He will be a staple on the Wild blue line for many seasons to come, and at the age of 19, still has his best years ahead of him.

Keith Carney Award (+/- leader): Matt Cullen (+9)-A finalist for Team MVP award, Cullen was a tremendous asset for the Wild this year as their second line center. He posted a 7-20-27 line on the year, in 42 games played. We saw in those games he missed, the team was just lost and confused without him. To win the +/- award, Cullen only finished the game with a minus just seven times out of those 42. He also never finished a game with a -3 or worse this year. Considering some of the games the Wild has played this year, that is no easy feat.

Performance of the Year: Josh Harding vs Dallas-There was a lot of coverage about Harding this offseason, once he was diagnosed with MS. He continued on with his hockey career, and in his first game this season, he notched a 24 save shutout against Dallas. Harding missed a good chunk of time later on in the year, but has returned to the Wild lineup in time for the playoffs. He is the Wild's nominee for the Masterton Trophy, and after reading the other 29 canidates, he should be a lock to win that award.

Hit of the Year: Charlie Coyle-13 seconds into the April 13th game against Columbus, Charlie Coyle delivered a controversial, but legal, hit to Columbus F Artem Anisimov. Four seconds later, Coyle was locked in a fight with Brandon Dubinsky, then was given a match penalty following the conclusion of the fight. The match penalty was rescinded the next day, confirming the legality of the hit. Coyle has been a force on the top line this year, bring a bit of physicality that his line mates Koivu and Parise, do not.

Goal of the Year: Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter-Another award handed out with very little contest. This goal was a thing of beauty to see, and continues to get better over time. Please watch the goal and admire how awesome it is.

Missing Mikko

Today, the Wild kick off their final week of the season, seeking a playoff bid for the first time in five years. They enter the game losers of 7 of their last 10 games and now clinging to the 7th seed in the West, after watching St. Louis get hot and fly past them in the standings.

A big factor in the Wild's cold streak, has been the play of their captain Mikko Koivu. Koivu has played one of the worst stretches of his career in the last 10 games, just registering one goal during that time, while posting a -6 (Including a horrible -3 Thursday night in San Jose).

Mikko's poor stats are a perfect reflection of his play these past 10 games. His play in the defensive zone has been poor, he oft turns the puck over, and he has been kryptonite to the Wild's power play by more times opting to pass, when he has a great shot to take.

As we have learned in past years, Mikko is such an important factor in the Wild lineup. In fact, when he has gone down with injury in recent seasons, the Wild fall apart without him. Last year, he missed 27 games and watched the Wild fall from #1 in the NHL to missing the playoffs (But an argument can be made for lack of depth on the team last year, especially when Warren Peters was getting significant ice time).

If the Wild wants to even get in the playoffs at this point, they need Koivu to start just playing better. He doesn't have to necessarily get points, but he just needs to be more smart when he hits the ice. Because right now, his play is just as bad as if he was out of the lineup.

Perhaps mixing up the top line would benefit Koivu, and linemate Charlie Coyle, who is also snake bitten as of late. But with other lines producing well, it is not likely that the lines will be juggled (The Bouchard-Brodziak-Pominville line has become Minnesota's best line). So Koivu will have to solve his issues with Coyle and Zach Parise on the wings.

Seriously folks, Mikko Koivu is what makes this ship run. Not Zach Parise. Not Ryan Suter. Not Niklas Backstrom. Its Mikko Koivu. They need him now more than ever before. Because he will be the difference between a playoff berth or another missed postseason.


Follow Giles on Twitter @gilesferrell

Charlie Coyle's Very Legal Hit

A little review of the incredibly clean, but somehow deserving of a match penalty hit that Charlie Coyle delivered to Columbus F Artem Anisimov last night.

Kind of reminds you of the scene in D2 when Dean Portman gets tossed from the first USA-Iceland game, 30 seconds into the contest.

For once, LaPanta and Greenlay had the correct analysis on the Coyle hit (But if you had watched the CBJ feed, they thought mich differently). It was a shoulder to shoulder to hit that ended up having contact to the head because Anisimov was reaching for the puck. Coyle didn't throw an elbow or have an exploding shoulder when he hit Anisimov. He just went through him.

Coyle received a match penalty on the play after the officials got together and talked about it following Coyle and Dubinsky's fight. So had Dubinsky not gone after Coyle, there would not of been a match penalty there.

Thanks to @cjzero for this gif once again

Anisimov did not return to the game last night, and it was reported today that he will be out indefinitely.

After taking all this into consideration, the NHL Department of Player Safety did not choose to hand down any discipline to Charlie Coyle. So they too felt the hit was legal. Its just a shame that Artem Anisimov was seriously hurt on the play.

Follow Giles on Twitter @gilesferrell

Mid-Season Grades

After an incredible 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks to take the division lead, the Wild find themselves atop their division and sitting in the #3 spot in the Western Conference as we hit the halfway point in the 2013 season. So, we hand out a report card to the Wild as they prepare to get set in for the second half of the season.

Forwards: C
Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise have been tremendous on the top line registering 20 and 19 points respectively, and youngsters Charlie Coyle and Jason Zucker have been making their presence felt in the past 10 games since being called up (Perhaps no better example of that than last nights game). But, Dany Heatley (Heatley had a great start, but he has been horrific as of late), Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Kyle Brodziak, and Mikael Granlund have had rough seasons to date, with Granlund and Bouchard now being healthy scratches. It took quite some time for the forwards to start registering points consistently, but the rough days appear to be behind them now.

Defense: C+
After a bad start, which had many fans calling him out for lack of production, Ryan Suter has been the $98 million defenseman we all expected, averaging 27:29 of ice time per game, which leads the NHL, and has risen to 2nd in the NHL among defenseman with 17 assists. Jonas Brodin has been Suter's defensive partner since being called up, and has showed the poise of a 10 year veteran in this league, despite being just 19 years old. Together, Suter and Brodin are one of the NHL's top D pairings. Behind those two, Jared Spurgeon and Tom Gilbert have had up and down seasons, while Justin Falk, Clayton Stoner, and Nate Prosser have all performed below expectations.

Goalies: A-
If not for the talents of Niklas Backstrom, who know where this team would truly be. Backstrom has performed well (Minus the Chicago game, of course) putting up a 11-6-2 record with a 2.30 GAA and a .914 save percentage. Josh Harding got off to a good start, but he was placed on IR after a few rough games, and has yet to be heard from since. Darcy Kuemper played real well in his first 4 NHL games before going on IR as well.

Special Teams: B-
After an extremely slow start to the season on the power play, the Wild have raise their PP to 20th in the league (16.3%) and have registered a PP goal in 6 of their last 7 games and appear to be finding a groove while playing with the man advantage. Meanwhile, their penalty kill has been stellar, coming in 4th in the NHL with a 86.5% success rate. The top PK line of Koivu, Brodziak, Suter and Brodin have been phenominal, along with the solid presence of Backstrom in net.

Coaching: C+
It was an extremely rough start for Head Coach Mike Yeo and his staff. Minnesota suffered from slow starts, dysfunctional line combinations, poor execution, and awful defensive play. But, Yeo finally appears to have found 4 functional lines, and the team is firing on all cylinders. He has righted the ship so far, but as we learned last year, the second half of the season can be a completely different story. Yeo has the Wild tied for the Northwest Division lead at the halfway mark, and the question is: Can he hold on to this momentum and get this team to the playoffs?

Overall: C+
This team under performed to begin the year, but you can credit that to next to no training camp with a high roster turnover. But in the last 10 games, Minnesota has righted the ship and has played very exciting hockey, which has seen them rise to the division lead alongside Vancouver. Minnesota has no long road trips (Only a 3 game max road trip) and plays an equal number of games on the road and at home. This team is starting to have a playoff like feel to it. And their first test of the second half, will be against Anaheim, who holds the 2nd best record in all the NHL.


Follow Giles on Twitter @gilesferrell

2013 Top 10 Wild Prospects: 4-1

4. Jason Zucker-Forward Houston (AHL). Previous Rank: 5

Since making the jump to the AHL from the WCHA, Zucker has produced very similar numbers (22-24-46 for CC last year in 38 games, 15-17-32 in 31 games for Houston this year). He got a cup of coffee with the Wild at the end of last year, after signing with the team but only produced 2 assists in 8 games. Zucker has good offensive skills, and put the right players on a line with him (As we have seen in Houston), he can be a top 6 forward with the Wild. Good chance Zucker spends the rest of the year with Houston, but look for him to compete for a roster spot on the Wild next fall.

3. Jonas Brodin-Defenseman Houston (AHL). Previous Rank: 4

Like many others on this list, Brodin came over from Europe this year to play with Houston. And then 8 games into the season, Brodin broke his clavicle on a hit by Taylor Hall. Brodin had tallied 2 goals and 2 assists with Houston before going down, which was a big improvement from his stats with Farjestads in the Swedish Elite League last year (0-8-8 in 49 games). But, Brodin wasnt drafted for his offensive ability. He is a great defensive defenseman, and does tremendous work in the defensive zone. He has great vision and great presence of mind, which gives him an advantage over anyone trying to attack when he is on the ice. Brodin had a decent chance to make the team, had he not fallen injured. But now look for him to return and finish out the year with Houston, unless the Wild suffer injuries to the blue line.

2. Charlie Coyle-Forward Houston (AHL). Previous Rank: 3

At 6'2" and 210, Charlie Coyle projects to be a top 6 guy, who will make his living out in front of NHL netminders. And so far, Coyle has done that, posting 12 goals so far on the year with Houston, while being a big presence on the power play. Coyle put up big numbers with St. John's last year (15 goals, 38 points in 23 regular season games; 17 goals, 32 points in 17 playoff games), while leading them to the QMJHL championship. Coyle doesnt project to make the Wild roster this year, but with a few spots opening up next year, look for him to compete for one of those spots.

1. Mikael Granlund-Forward Houston (AHL). Previous Rank: 1

At long last, the Wild got Mikael Granlund to come over from Finland. Then a 113 day lockout, spoiled our hopes of seeing him play in a Wild sweater in 2012. But now that its 2013, Granlund is slated to open the year as the Wild's #2 center, after playing with Houston during the lockout. Granlund comes in as one of the top prospects in all of hockey. If you need to see why he is so highly regarded, please go do a YouTube search on Mikael Granlund right now. He has all the offensive skills you could ask for. Skates well. Tremendous vision up ice. Hands that are second to none. And can put the puck behind the goalie when the situation calls for it. So far this year, Granlund has put up a line of 8-13-21 in 21 games (ankle injury shortened his year). Last Friday, Granlund was pulled from the Aeros lineup and returned to St. Paul to begin practicing with his Wild teammates. Look for his debut to come on the opener, which will be on Saturday.

Minnesota Wild 2012-13 Top 10 Prospects List

10. Mario Lucia

9. Brett Bulmer

8. Zack Phillips

7. Matt Dumba

6. Matt Hackett

5. Johan Larsson

4. Jason Zucker

3. Jonas Brodin

2. Charlie Coyle

1. Mikael Granlund