Minnesota Wild preview: Ryan Suter leads aging but talented core
Projected Lineup
How will the Minnesota Wild look this season? Roster projections are with the help of Daily Faceoff and Roster Resource. Additions are noted in italics.
Forwards
Zach Parise – Eric Staal – Nino Niederreiter
Jason Zucker – Mikko Koivu – Mikael Granlund
Jordan Greenway – Joel Eriksson Ek – Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno – Eric Fehr – J.T. Brown
Extra forward candidates: Matt Hendricks, Matt Read, Kyle Rau
The Wild have a pretty darn good group of top six forwards. Staal will lead their top scoring line. If Parise stays healthy (knock on wood), it wouldn’t be surprising to see it be one of the NHL’s most efficient trios.
Koivu is an extremely underrated forward, as a lot of what he does best is a bit hard to quantify. He’s one of the NHL’s best shutdown centers but rarely gets credit for it since his offensive numbers aren’t impressive. I’m curious to see if the Wild try experimenting with different options on the second line to see if they can revive Koivu’s offense. Because if they can get good offense out of that line, that would be a huge help.
The third line is a relatively inexperienced one. Eriksson Ek’s offense hasn’t developed as planned and neither has Greenway’s. Coyle is trending in the wrong direction for a variety of reasons, but he’s put up solid numbers in the past. If he starts producing again, that could make their third line a lot more respectable.
This is an old forward group, but for now, it’s still a good one.
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Defense
Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon
Nick Seeler – Greg Pateryn
Extra defenseman: Nate Prosser
Suter is on the wrong side of 30, but give the guy credit. He’s still a workhorse and is still a guy you can count on to play well over 20 minutes a night and lead both special team units. Suter is coming off a really bad ankle injury that could have been career ending. As long as it doesn’t come back to bite him, he’s going to remain one of the NHL’s best defensemen.
Spurgeon has always put up good numbers alongside Suter. They’re a great shutdown pairing. Brodin is a fairly polarizing player, as he’s a bit inconsistent. But he usually plays his best hockey when he’s paired with Dumba, who’s a bit more offensively minded.
Seeler did respectably well in a sheltered role last season. Being paired with Pateryn should be a good thing for him. Don’t expect much offense from this pairing though, as neither has been overly impressive as far as production. Prosser is a viable depth option, but if the Wild lose someone long-term, they should explore acquiring an upgrade.