Fansided

Projecting every NHL team’s chances of hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2019

By Griffin Youngs

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 07: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Final during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 07: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Final during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 31
Next

22. Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild are in a flux right now after years of playoff futility. Every year they’re in, but nothing ever seems to come of it in the end. With no noticeable improvements on the way this season, it’s hard to imagine anything different for this season, if not worse.

The Wild finished eighth in the league last season with 101 points before being brushed aside by the Winnipeg Jets in the first round in five games.

Why they could win

Minnesota has several solid pieces in place to get back into the postseason for the seventh consecutive season. The roster is still relatively young, and has room to grow with the graduation of players from the farm system.

The defensive top four for the Wild is under the radar dangerous. Ryan Suter, aging as he is, is still a No. 1 defenseman and has support from the emergence of Matt Dumba, and the consistency of Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin. To top it off, Devan Dubnyk is a solid option in net and is consistently undervalued by the rest of the league despite the amount of times he’s carried Minnesota while they’ve struggled during parts of the season.

On offense, the top six is no slouch, either. Eric Staal scored 42 goals last year, and while it seems unlikely he’ll repeat that feat this year, he is entering a contract year which will be motivation enough to stay round that pace. Granlund and Zucker will keep around their 50 point pace, and the youth of Greenway, Eriksson Ek, and Kunin should be ready to make real impact in the lineup.

Why they won’t win

Minnesota is significantly better than the teams behind them, and even a few ahead of them, but they are No. 22 for a reason. This roster will not come close to a Stanley Cup for a long time. Seven straight seasons in the playoffs and only two series wins makes it hard to see what’s practically the exact same team going anywhere. The Wild needed to make a splash this offseason to decide if they want to compete now or retool for the future, but instead they just did nothing.

The youth on the team is unproven, and is already showing signs of not being as good as projected. Normally not that big an issue if the rest of the depth is all right, but Minnesota’s depth consists of these unproven young players and fringe fourth liners. They’re relying on their top six when the top six isn’t good enough to carry a team.

It doesn’t help that the Wild are in the ridiculously stacked Central Division. With teams like Nashville, Winnipeg, Colorado and St.Louis ahead of them, there isn’t much hope for a playoff spot.

Conclusion

The Wild are just painfully mediocre, and have been for a long time. They’ve got a 50/50 shot of even making it into the playoffs, and even then it’s against a team that would dispatch them quickly like the Jets did last year. The Wild need to figure out what they want to be, because this level of mediocrity cannot last.

Home/NHL