The Minnesota Wild have made it through the first week with their new head coach, John Hynes, and things finally seem to be looking up as they have a perfect 3-0 record with Hynes as coach. They’ve found ways to get past the St. Louis Blues, who always play the Wild hard, the Nashville Predators, who were on a six-game win streak at the time, and finally, the Chicago Blackhawks, who happen to have someone named Connor Bedard.
Some may have thought the first game or two was luck due to a jumpstart after the coaching change, and the team would fall back into old habits, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The Wild haven’t made any monumental changes besides the man behind the bench. Hynes has focused on making more subtle changes instead of a team overhaul, and it’s worked. Many thought this team needed to start from the bottom and work its way back up, but not with Hynes in the room. We’ll look at each subtle change he’s made and how it’s worked out.
Hynes’ Line Changes
Sometimes, a roster shakeup must happen when a team is in a position like the Wild were. Former head coach Dean Evason did make lineup changes, but he only stuck with them for a game or two before either switching back or making a different change. Hynes took another approach; he did change the lines, but only one or two players and not the entire line.
Take the top line, which usually comprises Kirill Kaprizov, Ryan Hartman, and Mats Zuccarello. Evason kept Kaprizov but put in Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy, who found a little chemistry but not as much as everyone had hoped. On the other hand, Hynes left Kaprizov with his best bud Zuccarello and put Rossi between them, and it worked. They’ve been especially successful in the past two games, with at least a point each per player.
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It is essential to point out that in Hynes’ first two games, Hartman was suspended, so he was forced to make changes, but even when Hartman came back into the lineup, he was not promoted back to the top line. Hynes kept his chosen arrangement and slotted Hartman in on the fourth line instead of Vinni Lettieri.
Wild’s Penalty Kill
Everyone knows how bad the Wild’s penalty kill was this season until Hynes appeared. It started with killing off one penalty and then another, and before you knew it, they had a perfect streak that lasted until they faced the Blackhawks. They got caught off guard in the final Wild penalty of the game and let in a goal.
How has Hynes made this possible when Evason seemed to do all he could to fix it? He got them to play a more aggressive style and force mistakes by their opponents. In a recent article by The Athletic’s Joe Smith, one change to the penalty kill was that “Hynes encouraged defensemen jumping into the play” (from “A happy return for John Hynes, who has made Wild a ‘completely different team’,” The Athletic, 12/01/2023). His adjustments have worked, as they’ve been successful in all three games except one.
The Wild can be aggressive; they just need a voice to guide them. Hynes saw that and implemented it when it was his turn to lead the team. While it may seem too good to be true, the Wild seem to be genuinely turning a corner.
Wild Needed Belief
The Wild knew they were a better team than what was showing up for their losing streak, but they couldn’t find a way out for some reason – credit to Evason, who tried everything possible to fix this team but ultimately paid the price. However, credit also has to go to Hynes, who, according to the same Athletic article mentioned above, showed he wanted to get to know the team before he made any significant changes.
In that article, Hynes is quoted as telling the team, “Identity isn’t one game. We set a standard of how we want to play. Now we’ve got to build off that.” And that is precisely what they’ve done. They started with one game and have continued to build off each one and, more importantly, each triumphant moment.
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Hynes has re-instilled the belief in this team that they started with in game one of the season and lost somewhere along the way. Sometimes, all a team needs is someone to say they believe in them no matter how bad the situation, and that’s what the Wild needed and got in Hynes. Hopefully, he can keep this team believing in themselves, and they’ll continue their success.
Wild Accept Hynes
It’s difficult for a team when a coach leaves in a situation like this, and while the Wild were saddened, they also made room for Hynes. They listened to what he had to say and quickly adapted to his coaching style. It also helped that Hynes didn’t want to upset the room but rather come in gracefully and let them teach him while he added some of his ideas.
Having a team and coach work together is how they’re successful, not one working against the other. The Wild finally have some cohesion this season, and they’ve shown the actual talent they’ve possessed all along. Hopefully, this is just the start of a long road to success.
