The Minnesota Wild have their roster nearly complete after a rash of injuries tore it apart. At one point, they were without seven players, six of whom are permanent fixtures on the roster. Kirill Kaprizov, Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon, Filip Gustavsson, Marcus Foligno, Mats Zuccarello, and Vinni Lettieri were all on the injured list a few weeks ago. Over time, they’ve gotten players back piece by piece.
In their last game against the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 13, they got back two of their most important pieces, Gustavsson and Kaprizov. Both struggled, however, as they lost the game in overtime after having a two-goal lead heading into the third period. The game seemed like a disaster from start to finish, and things must change. Their postseason hopes are nearly gone at the moment, but not completely if they can make some changes and get back to winning games, starting with Kaprizov.
Wild Need to Manage Kaprizov Wisely
Ever since Kaprizov was injured last season, his game has seemed off. He wasn’t skating to his full potential and appeared hesitant until the season was quite underway. Right before his most recent injury, he finally found his game, and another injury derailed that progress. He did have five shots on goal in his return but couldn’t get a goal. Obviously, the Wild can’t control his scoring, but they can control his time on the ice.
While he’s proven to be successful with minimal or maximum ice time, he appears to play better when he’s on the ice for less than 20 minutes a game. I listened to the Straight From The Source podcast a month ago, where former Wild player Wes Walz and host Michael Russo talked about Kaprizov’s performance level and how his time on ice is related to his success.
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Kaprizov is a superstar, and despite the injury problems, he gives his all every shift, and that’s the reason he looks fatigued when he’s off the ice. He competes at such a high level that the fewer minutes he plays, the better he can focus his energy levels when they really need him. In the dying minutes of the third period, and they need him to score, he’ll be able to give it his all and not be out of gas if he’s played fewer minutes.
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“More quality minutes, not quantity minutes,” Walz told Russo when talking about both Zuccarello and Kaprizov in their games after head coach John Hynes took over. “You know everyone’s been talking about Kirill’s injury and different things like that; I’ve never been a big fan of any forward in the NHL with the pace in the games today playing over 20 minutes a game. Never been a big fan. More injuries come along, and I think you make a lot of mistakes from the 40-second mark to the 60-second mark. If you can stay on the ice for 45 seconds, your coach will get you back out there” (from ‘Wes Walz On The Wild’s Resurgence Under John Hynes,’ Straight From The Source, 12/5/2023).
In their most recent loss, Kaprizov played just over 20 minutes, and the Wild have to find a way to get him a few fewer shifts. He’s just returning from injury, and the last thing they need is for him to re-injure himself and be out even longer.
Wild’s Defense Needs Help
Clearly, defensive struggles were expected when they lost not just Brodin but Spurgeon as well. The majority of the big defensive duties fell on rookie Brock Faber, who stepped into the role seamlessly. He’s been running their power play, spending time on the penalty kill, and has been on the top pairing with Jake Middleton.
He started showing some struggles in the past few games and needs help. Defensemen like veterans Jon Merrill and Alex Goligoski need to step up and support him. They’ve been making the most mistakes of any of the defensemen as of late, and it needs to stop. Every player is expected to make an error here and there, but it seems like these two are on the ice for nearly every goal against, or they’re taking penalties at the worst time.
Dakota Mermis has shown some potential since coming into the lineup after the Brodin and Spurgeon exits, as did Daemon Hunt. If they have to be without their top defenders for quite a bit longer, they may want to consider putting Hunt back in the lineup and giving another defenseman, like Carson Lambos or David Spacek, a shot as well and sitting Merrill and Goligoski at least for a game or two.
Obviously, it’s hard to sit players when they’re being paid that much money, but they need help in their defensive core, and unfortunately, both Merrill and Goligoski are costing them more than helping lately. Once they get Spurgeon and Brodin back, they’ll have to send players down. Hopefully, this was just a rough time, and they’ll be back to better play soon.
Wild Need Saves & Special Teams
Marc-André Fleury has been playing strong lately, but he needed a break after playing in place of Gustavsson, who just returned from injury. Gustavsson’s return was rather rough, as he let in five goals. It was not all his fault, but he did look a little rusty, which is to be expected after an injury. However, the Wild need to be able to rely on him for the big saves, and hopefully, this was a one-game issue; otherwise, Fleury may have to be the starter for the time being.
They need saves, and Fleury has been providing them, and they need Gustavsson to make them, too. However, goaltending isn’t the only thing the Wild need to be better at, their special teams have taken a step backward lately. Their power play isn’t scoring goals, and their penalty kill hasn’t been able to stop them.
Obviously, the power play would struggle a bit while Kaprizov was out despite having Matt Boldy, Zuccarello, and Joel Eriksson Ek. Now that they have Kaprizov and Zuccarello back together, their power play needs to start scoring goals and helping the team secure wins. They really need to buckle down and focus on shooting the puck rather than passing because they have players with some lethal shots on the power play.
Their penalty kill, on the other hand, will still have some issues without Spurgeon and Brodin, but others need to step up and help out. Faber can only do so much, and letting in power play goals will not win games. Players need to be blocking shots and getting in the passing lanes.
Wild Need Change
The Wild can’t continue to play like they have, or their postseason hopes will be gone quickly. They’re hanging on by a thread as it is, and they need to start gaining points again. The injuries greatly depleted their lineup, but they’ve gotten nearly everyone back now, yet they still struggle. Hopefully, they hit rock bottom after losing to the Coyotes and will only go up from there.
