It’s time for another Minnesota Wild report card and we’re down to the final nine players, this time, the focus is on their big hitter, Marcus Foligno, or “Moose,” as fans have called him for years. He’s clearly a fan favorite for both his board-shaking hits and his stylish hair. He, like many of his teammates, bounced around on different lines throughout the season and handled it quite well.
Like the rest of his teammate’s including Kirill Kaprizov, he didn’t have a great season which led to their missing the postseason. In this article we’ll take a look at a rough part of his game, a strong part of his game, and then come up with an overall grade for the season. We’ll start with his offensive production and move on from there.
Foligno’s Offensive Struggles
The biggest thing to note this past season was that Foligno dealt with many injury problems and ended his season early due to core muscle surgery. Clearly, his physical game contributed to his injuries, but he’s also proven he can score regardless of whether he deals with injuries.
Most would consider Foligno staying at his average production level a decent part of his game; however, when he’s proven he can do more, it’s disappointing. The majority of the Wild’s roster back in the 2021-22 season had career-making years, Foligno being one of them, but unfortunately, many of them haven’t been able to replicate that success.
Foligno is one of those players who can score goals but not as well as he did in 2021-22 when he had over 20 goals for the only time of his career. This past season he scored just 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points. He did increase his goals from seven to 10 this past season but it should’ve been more.
Keeping up with the lack of offense, Foligno’s shot totals dropped off this season as well. He went from 83 shots to 56 shots this past season. This next season, he needs to focus more on shooting and less on hitting, especially if he wants to keep playing because as he ages, his body can only take so much.
Foligno Keeps Composed
The one area that Foligno really improved on this season was his penalty minutes. In 2022-23, he was one of the reasons the Wild struggled in the postseason; he couldn’t keep his composure and ended up in the penalty box. He knew the referees were calling things close, and he kept pushing, so he ended up costing his team. However, this past season, everything changed.
He kept his composure and didn’t allow himself to take unnecessary penalties. Of course, there were his fights and penalties that, no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn’t be able to avoid as physical of a player as he is. In 2022-23, he had 97 penalty minutes, and this past season he had 59 minutes. He dropped his penalty minutes by nearly half, and he only played 10 fewer games.
Although he played only 55 games out of a possible 82, he still led the team in hits with 179. This comes as no surprise, but he isn’t getting any younger and has had to have core surgery twice in his career. The Wild need his physicality, but a little less wouldn’t be a bad thing, so they can have him longer, especially after extending his contract prior to last season.
Foligno Earns Grade
Foligno didn’t have the best season, as he struggled offensively, but he did do well in the penalty minutes department. So, while he had a rough part, he also improved himself during the season, and his improvement helped him not cost his team. However, the team still didn’t make the postseason so that will affect his grade just like his teammates.
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More Wild players earned an average grade than expected and Foligno was one of those players. He earned a C and it would’ve been lower if he hadn’t improved his penalties. On the other hand, it would’ve been higher if he had improved his offensive production. Hopefully, this past season will be the last time he has to have surgery, and he’ll be able to score more this coming season to help them win more games.
