Headlines

  • Connor McDavid In No Rush To Sign Max-Term Extension With Oilers
  • Blackhawks To Buy Out T.J. Brodie
  • Blackhawks Acquire Andre Burakovsky
  • Dallas Stars Sign Mavrik Bourque To One-Year Deal
  • Dallas Stars Sign Nils Lundkvist To One-Year Deal
  • Penguins Announce Multiple Coaching Hires
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Utah Mammoth
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

2016-17 Season Preview: Minnesota Wild

September 15, 2016 at 2:45 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

As the NHL season is now less than a month away, we continue our look at each team’s offseason and preview the upcoming year. Today, we focus on the Minnesota Wild.

Last Season: 38-33-11 record (87 points), 5th in the Central Division.  Lost 4-2 to Dallas in Round 1.

Remaining Cap Space: $2.1MM as per Cap Friendly

Key Newcomers: D Victor Bartley (free agency, Montreal), Head Coach Bruce Boudreau, W Chris Stewart (free agency, Anaheim), C Eric Staal (free agency, NY Rangers)

Key Departures: RW Justin Fontaine (PTO, Florida), RW David Jones (free agency, unsigned), C Chris Porter (PTO, St. Louis), C Jarret Stoll (PTO, Columbus), Head Coach John Torchetti (was the interim coach last season), RW Thomas Vanek (buyout, Detroit)

[Related: Wild Depth Chart from Roster Resource]

Player to Watch: C Mikael Granlund: Over the last three seasons, Granlund has been a quality secondary player but has yet to take that next big step forward into a true core piece for the franchise.  On the international stage, he is routinely one of Finland’s go-to players but he hasn’t been consistent enough to be one regularly in Minnesota.

With a new coach and system (more on that momentarily), the chance is there for Granlund to take those next steps and become a core player up front.  If he needs any more motivation, he’s heading into the second and final year of a bridge deal that carries a salary of $3.2MM and a cap hit of $3MM.  This is his big chance to prove that he’s worthy of a long-term, big money contract, not to mention a bigger role on the team.

He may have to spend some time on the wing this season (with Mikko Koivu and newcomer Eric Staal also at center) but if he does, he should at least still be in a top six role on a regular basis.  The opportunity is there for Granlund; can he take advantage of it?

Key Storyline: The Wild have historically been known as a defense-first team dating back to the days of Jacques Lemaire as head coach.  Even in recent years with different coaches behind the bench, that still has been the case as the team has finished in the top half in NHL scoring just once since Lemaire left following the 2008-09 campaign.

Expect things to be different with Bruce Boudreau behind the bench.  His teams have a penchant for being in the top-10 in goals scored and he preaches more of an up-tempo system, something Minnesota hasn’t utilized much in recent years.  Will that style of play help get veteran players like Staal, Zach Parise, and Jason Pominville back to the numbers they have shown themselves to be capable of producing?  If that happens without hurting the team too much at the defensive end while youngsters like Granlund and Nino Niederreiter continue to improve, this is a team capable of surprising in the West.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Bruce Boudreau| Minnesota Wild Eric Staal| Jason Pominville| Mikael Granlund| Mikko Koivu| Season Previews| Zach Parise

Snapshots: Steen, Ristolainen, Sobotka, Halak, Bobrovsky
Main
Compelling RFA Cases For 2017: Pacific Division, Part I
View Comments (2)

Comments

  1. T_J

    9 years ago

    I was going to write a realistic comment on how the team will do, but I say screw it, to the cup they go!! GO Wild!!!

    Reply
  2. FrozenRopes

    9 years ago

    Where are the team pages like the MLB site?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Connor McDavid In No Rush To Sign Max-Term Extension With Oilers

    Blackhawks To Buy Out T.J. Brodie

    Blackhawks Acquire Andre Burakovsky

    Dallas Stars Sign Mavrik Bourque To One-Year Deal

    Dallas Stars Sign Nils Lundkvist To One-Year Deal

    Penguins Announce Multiple Coaching Hires

    Jonathan Toews In Agreement On One-Year Deal With Winnipeg Jets

    PHR’s 2025 NHL Mock Draft

    Seattle Kraken Acquire Mason Marchment

    Stars Sign Matt Duchene To Four-Year Extension

    Recent

    Free Agent Focus: Vancouver Canucks

    Connor McDavid In No Rush To Sign Max-Term Extension With Oilers

    Maple Leafs, Kraken To Pursue Andrew Mangiapane

    Free Agent Focus: Utah Mammoth

    Offseason Checklist: Dallas Stars

    Strong Market Developing For K’Andre Miller

    UFA Notes: Marner, Tavares, Toninato, Del Gaizo

    Devils Expected To Non-Tender Cody Glass

    Central Notes: Wild, Loponen, Marques

    Blackhawks To Buy Out T.J. Brodie

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Golden Knights Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Mammoth Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sam Bennett Rumors
    • Nikolaj Ehlers Rumors
    • Mitch Marner Rumors
    • Marco Rossi Rumors

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    Pro Hockey Rumors Features

    • Support Pro Hockey Rumors And Go Ad-Free
    • 2025 Free Agent Focus Series
    • 2025 Offseason Checklist Series
    • 2025 NHL Free Agent List
    • 2026 NHL Free Agent List
    • Active Roster Tracker
    • Coaching Staff Directory
    • Draft Order 2025
    • Key Offseason Dates
    • Offseason Trade Tracker
    • Pro Hockey Rumors On X
    • Pro Hockey Rumors Polls
    • Waiver Claims 2024-25

     

     

     

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Commenting Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version