NHL Preview: Minnesota Wild

Charlie Boccanegra thinks the Wild have improved on offense but the defense is still a cause for concern.

Todd Richards has been trying to implement a more offensive style of hockey since he took over as the Wild’s head coach two seasons ago. Richards was moved on during the summer, and now it’s up to rookie head coach Mike Yeo to take over where Richards left off. This offseason the Wild made a huge off-season trade with the Sharks to help improve the top six forwards on the team as the first step on that offensive project.

Forwards: The big trade with the Sharks saw Minnesota acquire former 50 goal scorer Dany Heatley along with young up and coming forward Devin Setoguchi. They will be a welcome addition providing the Wild with more offensive depth they have ever had.

If Heatley can be half decent and show some heart competing every night he can still be an elite scorer. Setoguchi is a quick young forward with potential to be a good top six forward. Heatley and Setoguchi join Mikko Koivu, one of the more underrated two way centers in the NHL and Minnesota could find themselves with one of the better lines in the league.

The second line also has tremendous upside if young talented forwards Pierre Marc Bouchard and Guillame Latandresse remain healthy.

Don’t look for much offense in the bottom six forwards in terms off offense, but they will be extremely effective in their roles as grinding, physical, shut down players.

Defense: The Wild lost their best overall defenseman Brent Burns in the trade to San Jose in order to acquire the offensive help. This has left the back end very thin and could remain a problem all season long.

Marek Zidlicky and Nick Schultz are Minnesota’s only formidable top four defenseman. The remaining defensemen – Greg Zanon, Clayton Stoner, Jared Spurgeon and Matt Lundin – are not good enough to be quality NHL top 4 defensemen.

The additions on offense and the weakness on defense suggest that Wild games could be good NHL betting over bets. The Wild look very likely to remain clean-shaven during the playoffs – they’re 25/1 to win the Northwest, and 40/1 for the Western Conference – but betting on goals in Minnesota games is a good way to go.

Goaltending: Niklas Backstrom has been one of the most underrated goalies in the NHL for the past number of years. He’s a legitimate top five net minder in the NHL and does not get the respect he deserves. Without him on an annual basis this would be one of the worst teams in the league. He will need to be even sharper this year with the defense getting worse.