Although the Wild will miss the playoffs this season, GM Paul Fenton and owner Craig Leipold have not discussed a coaching chance, reports Sarah McLellan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. That suggests that Bruce Boudreau will be back behind the bench next season. He has one year remaining on his contract after this season so it will be interesting to see if the two sides work out an extension or if Fenton opts to wait and preserve some flexibility to make an in-season change if they get off to a slow start in 2019-20. Boudreau has the third-highest points percentage amongst active NHL coaches at .641.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- Blackhawks winger Chris Kunitz has yet to decide whether or not he wants to play next season, notes Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago. The 39-year-old has played a very limited role with Chicago this year, collecting just ten points (5-5-10) in 55 games while logging just over nine minutes a night. However, given his previous postseason successes (including four Stanley Cups), there still may be teams interested in him this summer if he decides that he wants to keep playing.
- While Stars winger Mats Zuccarello suited up on Tuesday, he was noticeably absent from Friday’s loss to Chicago. However, Sean Shapiro of The Athletic notes (subscription required) that Zuccarello’s absence wasn’t injury-related but rather just precautionary. He’s available to play tonight but head coach Jim Montgomery indicated that he’s confident that Zuccarello is ready to play in the postseason without another tune-up game. Meanwhile, goalie Ben Bishop is expected to start tonight after missing four straight contests due to a lower-body injury.
Bruce is a quality guy but with this roster you could bring in Scotty Bowman AND Al Arbor and it wouldn’t make any difference. Until this roster is blown up and some contracts eaten ** cough Suter Parise cough** this club will not win and that’s the fact Jack!!
Amen to that! Those 2 contracts absolutely handcuffed them, as well as they were cancers in that divided locker room. I think they may have a couple of nice players going forward in Dumba, Greenwsy, Kunin and Donato. Then again, we always hear how great everyone is. If you score 20-25 goals for the Wild, you’re considered a star!