Minnesota Wild: Top 3 reasons they can surprise in postseason

Could the Minnesota Wild be a dark horse Stanley Cup contender?

The NHL will be having an expanded postseason to help make up for the fact that they couldn’t finish the regular season. There will be 24 teams because there were several teams that were very close to having a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with more than 10 games to go. One of those teams is the Minnesota Wild.

With 68 games played, the Wild entered the season’s hiatus just one point out of the second wild card spot. In a traditional setting, this would leave them just out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But nothing about the 24 team format is traditional. The 24 team format will give the Wild the chance to make some noise in the playoffs.

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Unless the format changes (which possible), the Wild will be playing the seventh-seed Vancouver Canucks. It will most likely be in a best of five series, but that’s not set in stone yet. There’s still a lot of work to be done before the postseason can safely start, but it’s quite likely it will happen.

If the Stanley Cup Playoffs occur, the Wild could be a dark horse Stanley Cup contender. Here’s why they have what it takes to surprise some teams.

1. The Wild Are Actually Good

No matter which metrics you look at, the Wild are a surprisingly strong team. Since New Year’s Day, they have one of the top 10 records in the NHL. Meanwhile, the Canucks have the 19th-best record.

New Year’s Day has been a bit of a turning point for the Wild. They also have the 10th best CorsiFor%, sixth-best 5v5 GoalsFor%, and third-best 5v5 Expected GoalsFor% since the start of 2020.

Also, the Wild have a strong record against the Canucks, winning two of their three games against them this season. The Canucks are a good team, but the Wild have been playing excellent hockey in 2020. If they can keep the momentum going, they have a shot at going far in the postseason.

2. Their Path Is Relatively Easy

The Minnesota Wild will have a relatively easy path to the Western Conference Final. It won’t be easy for them, but it’s certainly possible they could get there. The Canucks are a very good team, but they’re a beatable team. Minnesota has a more experienced team, which might give them the edge they need in a five-game series.

If the Wild beat the Canucks, they’ll draw a very tough opponent in the next round against (most likely) the Colorado Avalanche. However, Minnesota did manage to split the season series against the Avalanche, winning two of their four games against them. They also played them very tough in early February, though they lost 3-2.

The Avalanche will be a very tough team for the Wild to beat. But if they can upset them (or whoever the second seed winds up being), they’ll probably be the toughest team the Wild will face.

Also, it’s worth noting the Wild will probably have an advantage over the second-seed, who will be coming off a bye. The second seed will have to start fighting for their playoff lives. Meanwhile, the Wild will already be in playoff mode. That could give them an advantage.