For the Minnesota Wild, this past season should be considered a learning experience; they had a lot of ups and a lot of downs. They had a coaching change plus a high number of injuries to several key players. All of these things were part of why they didn’t make the postseason but there are even more reasons that should be on a list of things to fix this offseason.
Many of these items that will be listed have been constant thorns in the side for the Wild since their inception back in 2000-01. Things like special teams, faceoffs, take more shots, amongst others. The first that comes to mind is their faceoffs or lack thereof and that’s where we’ll start this article.
Wild’s Faceoffs a Constant Struggle
They’ve had one player in their franchise who stood out for his faceoffs, and they’ve never had someone like him before or after. That player was Mikko Koivu. In his time, he took 19,290 faceoffs and won 10,354 of those for a percentage of 53.7. Even the Wild’s top faceoff guy at the moment, Joel Eriksson Ek, has only managed 3,432 faceoff wins out of 7,208 chances for a percentage of 47.6.
The Wild have to get better at faceoffs whether it means bringing in a player who can do that for them or finding a way to improve with the players they have. Realistically they should already be practicing faceoffs as often as possible, but they need to do something different. They won about 47.3 percent of their faceoffs which put them towards the bottom of the league and that can’t continue if they want to win games.
Faceoffs are crucial in both the offensive and defensive zone and even more so on special teams. I constantly use this as an example but when the Wild played the Dallas Stars in the 2023 Postseason, their penalty kill almost constantly lost faceoffs that put the Stars in prime position to score and they did. Faceoffs matter and the Wild have to be better next season. There is hope in their newcomer Marat Khusnutdinov but they can’t rely on him alone.
Wild’s Special Teams Have to Step Up
The Wild’s special teams are another area that needs consistent improvement. They had the players to be doing a lot better but for some reason, they couldn’t find success. Their power play clearly showed this despite being 10th in the league but they only scored 63 times out of 273 chances. While that is decent, they have the players to be better and had a lot of missed opportunities.
Most of the time, they passed too much trying to set up that perfect play, and by the time they found that shot, the goaltender and defensemen were in a position to block. They have the scoring power in Kirill Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy, Brock Faber, and whoever they choose to put in the final spot. They’ve had Mats Zuccarello in that spot in the past but going with Ryan Hartman or even Marco Rossi would be a good option.
On the other hand, their penalty kill needs some help as well. They have strong penalty killers in Faber, Jonas Brodin, Eriksson Ek, and Marcus Foligno but they were hurting without Jared Spurgeon. Frédérick Gaudreau is another strong penalty killer but sometimes he isn’t consistent and that is probably their biggest issue. They also tend to leave the weak side wing open for the opponents and that cost them a lot this season.
They need to get better at their overall coverage while shorthanded and they also need to try and get as many blocked shots as possible. Regardless of how they do it, both their power play and penalty kill have to be better next season or they’ll continue to struggle.
Wild Need More Shots
Another item the Wild have to improve on next season is taking more shots. They were 18th in the NHL this season averaging around 30.1 shots a game which is a respectable number but considering the league leader, the Edmonton Oilers, average 33.8 shots per game, the Wild need to step up.
Neary four shots a game more doesn’t seem like much but it is when you consider they play an 82-game schedule. That adds up to almost 328 more shots per season and the Wild can use every shot they can get, especially when it comes to their power play.
They’ve dropped in shots over the past three seasons. Their franchise high that came during the 2021-22 season was an average of 32.5 shots per game and that was also the season of many career highs throughout the roster. Things looked good, but unfortunately for the Wild, their shot totals started to drop.
The following season they dropped to 30.9 shots per game and this season it dropped just a little more to 30.1. They can’t allow this drop to continue or they will continue to struggle in the goals department. They had strong production from Kaprizov who led the team with 277 shots that earned him 16th in the league. Eriksson Ek was just 10 shots behind him at 267 and then Matt Boldy had 227. Following those three players, it drops off significantly and that’s where the Wild will need more production next season.
Wild Can’t Be Most Penalized
This area is probably the most frustrating for Wild fans because it’s one of the most preventable if they stay disciplined. Taking the high number of penalties the team did this season cost them, especially when their penalty kill struggled so much. They were the fourth most penalized team in the league with 938 penalty minutes.
As far as who takes the blame, Jake Middleton led the way with 77 penalty minutes followed closely by Ryan Hartman with 72. It’s also important to remember towards the end of the Wild’s season, Hartman was frustrated with a missed call and threw his stick onto the ice which resulted in both a 10-minute misconduct and a three-game suspension. Hartman is one Wild player that runs quite hot temper-wise and it’s starting to catch up to him.
The Wild need emotional players, but they also have to keep those emotions in check. When it starts to cost the team, it’s a problem. Since Hartman signed an extension to stay with the Wild, he needs to control his anger and not let it get the best of him. Hopefully, he can keep that edge to his game but stay out of the penalty box.
Wild Need Consistency
The final item on this list is another the Wild have struggled with, and that’s consistency. Their play is consistently inconsistent and they can’t seem to find a way to stabilize their game. That is possibly going to be the most challenging part of the Wild’s 2024-25 season, find a way to play well and keep it going.
Related: Minnesota Wild’s 2023-24 Team Awards
It’s easier said than done but when the Wild find a way to win they have to focus on the good and figure out ways to reproduce it. When they’re scoring goals, what are they doing right to score those goals? Are they screening the goaltender, using the weak side, or taking shots from the point? They need to pay attention to all these things and reproduce them.
The Wild have to figure out ways to be successful and stop getting stuck in the same routine of not doing the right thing. If they make a mistake and allow a goal, figure out the mistake, and don’t repeat it. Again, easier said than done but the strong teams figure out how to fix their mistakes and not continue to make them.
Wild Have Things to Fix
When it all comes down to it, the Wild are a team that has a lot to learn and fix this offseason. They can’t come into next season the same way they did this season or they’ll suffer the same fate. Hopefully, they can address these issues and come back next season with a new team ready to win games.
