Minnesota Wild 2017 Eulogy: The curse continues
The Minnesota Wild’s annual tradition of an early Stanley Cup Playoffs exit continues. But this time, it’s a lot different and more upsetting.
Few NHL teams have a worse history in the first round than the Minnesota Wild. In their franchise’s history, they have eight playoff appearances. With Saturday’s Game 5 loss to the St. Louis Blues, they have been knocked out in the first round five times. The Wild, their head coach Bruce Boudreau, and their fans are no strangers to postseason heartbreak but this one stings especially hard.
In the past, Minnesota hasn’t been aggressive at the trade deadline. This year they went against the grain by trading a first and second round pick to the Arizona Coyotes for center Martin Hanzal and forward Ryan White. Hanzal was supposed to be the missing piece for the Wild. He gave them arguably the best center depth in the Western Conference.
Unfortunately, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are cruel and heartless. The best team doesn’t always win, especially in a small sample size. Boudreau claims the Blues “weren’t the best team but they won four games“. At first glance, it might seem like sour grapes. But Boudreau has a darn good point, at least for the first three wins. His team dictated the pace for most of the first three games. The Minnesota Wild are a great example of what happens when you run into a hot goalie in the playoffs. Credit Blues goaltender Jake Allen because he had arguably the best (and perhaps least expected) five game stretch of his career.
Where do they go from here?
Their future after this season is a bit murky. Assuming the $73 million salary cap ceiling is stagnant for next season, the Wild have roughly $11.5 million of cap space. A good portion of this money must be dedicated to giving restricted free agents Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund and Erik Haula new contracts. Backup goaltender Darcy Keumper is likely done in Minnesota, as he has proven to be unreliable at best.
While the Wild might keep White around, Hanzal likely won’t stay because he’s arguably the best center available in free agency. Christian Frolin, a restricted free agent, and Nate Prosser, an unrestricted free agent, will both likely return in their respective depth roles.
As far as the expansion draft, it’s likely they will lose one of Jason Zucker, Jonas Brodin or Matt Dumba. The Minnesota Wild are expected to protect three defenseman and seven forwards. Blue liners Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon will both be protected as their top pairing. Of Brodin and Dumba, the latter is younger, has more upside and is cheaper. It’s not unreasonable to think the latter will be the third defenseman protected. If Brodin’s the guy they leave exposed, he better start looking for somewhere to stay around Las Vegas. Zucker is a possibility, but the Vegas Golden Knights will likely go with the affordable young defenseman who has proven to be a very capable second pairing blue liner.
The Minnesota Wild have to do some soul searching. They are very close to being a Stanley Cup caliber team and one could argue Allen was the only thing keeping them from a second round matchup with the Nashville Predators. But the Wild have an expiration date and they know this. Suter and Zach Parise each have eight years left on their contracts, but realistically, one can assume each has about two to three years left of being productive players. Minnesota will have to make some tough decisions this offseason. Don’t be surprised if there are some trades to clear up cap space and make some changes.
Hope for the future
Yes, the Wild will likely lose a few players this offseason. However, a huge reason why they made the Hanzal trade despite the hefty cost is because they already have a number of great prospects. Alex Tuch should be ready for a full-time roster spot next season. Mike Rielly could contribute on the blue line next season. Boudreau loves guys who can move the puck and he can do that.
Joel Eriksson Ek showed a lot of promise in a 15 game sample size during the regular season with seven points. He was held pointless in three postseason games, but he’s clearly an important part of their future. Christoph Bertschy should have a pretty good chance of taking Hanzal’s roster spot.
The Minnesota Wild already have a number of good young players on their roster. They should add to it next season. The Wild also have enough depth to pull off a huge trade if they so desire. While their lack of cap space might be an issue, they certainly have the prospects to tempt other teams.
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Because the Wild didn’t win the Stanley Cup, this season will likely be seen as a failure. While this is a fair assessment, they are proof of how hard it is to win in the postseason. It’s weird that a team can be so great for a six month span and proceed to struggle in the playoffs, but then again, hockey’s a cruel game.