Season Preview: Minnesota Wild
Major Additions: Eric Belanger, Sean Hill
Major Subtractions: Sean Hill, Todd White, Manny Fernandez
Analysis
After an oddly busy summer a year ago, the Wild stood mostly still this year. However, that’s not particularly surprising if you consider their philosophy and their recent results.
If Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra can stay healthy, the Wild should be able to easily improve on their totals. They have a solid if unproven goaltending tandem in Josh Harding and Nicklas Backstrom and perhaps the best team defence attitude in the league.
On the flip side, it’s hard to see how much further the Wild can go with their current roster. They’ve added virtually nothing to their roster (Sean Hill was suspended late last season for violating the substance abuse program and may never play for Minnesota) and it’s difficult to imagine them getting better goaltending. Having Gaborik in the lineup for closer to an entire year will certainly help, but they don’t seem to have the depth to handle an injury - which is bad news for a team that supposedly is ready for a deep playoff run.
Minnesota is not a team I’d like to face in the playoffs but they wouldn’t scare me much, either. And that sums up the team in the regular season, as well - not someone you look forward to playing against but not someone who frightens you , either.