Minnesota Wild Preview

Departures
Marian Gaborik, Matrin Skoula, Stephan Veilleux, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Kurtis Foster, Dan Fritsche, Peter Olvecky, Krys Kolanos

Arrivals
Martin Havlat, Kyle Brodziak, Greg Zanon, Shane Hnidy, Jaime Sifers, Wade Dubielewicz

Forwards
With very little change to the major players up front, the offensive output should remain around the same for this season.The major subtraction was the often injured Marian Gaborik, who signed with the Rangers.He was replaced with seemingly finally healthy Martin Havlat, who comes over from the Blackhawks.He will look to gain some instant chemistry with Andrew Brunette and Mikko Koivu; the latter set a career high in points last season.Kyle Brodziak was brought in to toughen up the fourth line, although it’s already scary with the boogeyman Derek Boogaard.Cal Clutterbuck, who lead the league in hits last season, will look to improve upon his impressive rookie season.

Defenseman
With Martin Skoula and Marc-Andre Bergeron out, and Greg Zanon and Shane Hnidy in, the Wild’s defence will be no more or less dynamic than it was last season.Kim Johnsson and Brent Burns will man the top defensive pairing, with Nick Schultz and Marek Zidlicky backing them up.With the maturation of Burns and the skill of Zidlicky, the powerplay should be a little bit better this season.

Goalies
Niklas Backstrom will be looking to improve upon his 2.33 GAA and his .923 SV% from last season.He and backup Josh Harding had a combined GAA of 2.40, good for second best in the league behind the Bruins combo of Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez.With no change in the top four of the back end, and solid competition between the pipes, the GAA could be even lower this year.

Strengths
- Gaborik is out of the fold, Havlat steps in and if he can play more than 15 games, he will have already proved his worth to the team.

- With Brent Burns getting better every season and becoming a solid leader on this team, it won’t be long before the 24 year old steps into superstar status.With his versatility, he can play the forward position if needed.

- Niklas Backstrom is still attempting to gain respect as one of the elite goalies in the NHL.Posting solid numbers the last few seasons helps, but if he wants to be recognized along with the Roberto Luongo’s and Martin Brodeur’s he will need to play out of this world.

Weaknesses
- With Owen Nolan as their highest goal scorer last season, the Wild are in need of a healthy scoring winger.If Havlat stays healthy he could be that guy, but it is just too early to tell.

- The second line could be comparable to a third or fourth line on any other team.The withstanding third and fourth lines could be considered grinder lines, with not a lot of offensive punch.

- With the offence ranked 22^nd last season, the backend of the Wild will have to find offence from somewhere.With Zidlicky taking a step back last season in production, Johnsson or Schultz will have to play above their potential.

Analysis
No matter how well Backstrom/Harding plays, this team is in for a long season.Unless Havlat can manage to stay healthy and score 30-40 goals, and drag 60-80 points out of Brunette/Koivu, they will be near the bottom of the Western Conference.They are about five million under the salary cap, so it is possible for them to add during the season via trade or free agency to try and boost their lineup.

Prediction: 13^th in the West