Minnesota Wild
Zach Parise – Eric Staal – Charlie Coyle
Mikael Granlund – Mikko Koivu – Nino Niederreiter
Jason Zucker – Erik Haula – Jason Pominville
Ryan Carter – Christoph Bertschy – Chris Stewart
xs: Zac Dalpe
Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon
Marco Scandella – Matt Dumba
Jonas Brodin – Nate Prosser
xs: Christian Folin, Mike Rielly
*Victor Bartley out indefinitely
If it were strictly based on preseason performances, prospects such as Joel Eriksson Ek and Christoph Bertschy would be top-six candidates. Unfortunately, there’s no room for both at this time. Truth be told, there’s barely room for one.
We don’t actually expect that Bertschy would assume fourth line minutes. The big question is, who sits in the press box or plays on the 4th line instead? Options are Jason Zucker, Erik Haula, or Jason Pominville.
Next: Projecting Lines/Defensive Pairings (Metropolitan Division)
Minnesota‘s blue line is where things get interesting. Most have LH Jonas Brodin playing the right side with Scandella on the second pairing. It’s been a cute top four that has played well together for a while, but perhaps it’s time for a change.
Matt Dumba took more strides in his development in 2015-16, and the right-handed shooting defender deserves an opportunity to serve permanently on that second pairing. Now, forcing Brodin to play limited minutes on a bottom pairing is less than ideal; so what does this mean? That inevitable trade we’ve been speculating over for nearly a year now should eventually come to fruition. Mike Rielly and Christian Folin are ready to step up and play a bigger role.