Minnesota Wild

[chuckcouples]

Zucker, Nino and Koivu have been Minnesota's best line all season. They are dominating play most games. Zucker is getting 2nd unit PP time so as long as he keeps getting that he should approach 50 points for the season. Whether a 45-50 point guy has value in your league is up to you to decide.

[franklin]

Zucker, Nino and Koivu have been Minnesota's best line all season. They are dominating play most games. Zucker is getting 2nd unit PP time so as long as he keeps getting that he should approach 50 points for the season. Whether a 45-50 point guy has value in your league is up to you to decide.

I will grab him thanks for your help!

[Zorro]

This team just seems to keep hammering out close wins.. I don't see this team winning a playoff round, but I can see them sneaking into the big dance!!

[loco man]

How has Zucker looked since his return? I snagged him off the wire hoping he really clicks with the new system - ours is heavy G weighted and I know he loves to shoot.

Think he is a solid option down the stretch?

[Zorro]

Are there any Wild fans on this forum?? Does anybody have much faith in Granlund as he gets more NHL experience??

I'm hoping for a solid season as it is a contract year!!

[chuckcouples]

I am a Wild fan.

I have faith in Granlund. I am expecting him to get over 50 points this year. The Eric Staal signing means that Granlund is going to start the season on the wing with Koivu. The top two lines are expected to be Parise-Staal-Coyle and Koivu-Granlund-Zucker (maybe). The way Niederreiter-Haula-Pominville played to finish the season means that is the most likely 2nd line. Zucker could be replaced by Chris Stewart or one of the "rookies" (Schroeder, Graovac, Downing, Tuch, Gabriel, Bertschy) but I think that is Boudreau's plan to start the season. Granlund should continue to get at least PP2 time and Boudreau tends to use his PP lines pretty equally.

[Sulla]

Right now I think Granlund is a nice pick for 50... Anything else is gravy - I'm a fan and had hoped he'd hit some nice numbers last season so I'm still waiting a little

[Zorro]

Thanks for the inside info boys!! I like Granlund for around 50 aswell.. I don't like the whole 3rd line news, HaHa..

[chuckcouples]

Thanks for the inside info boys!! I like Granlund for around 50 aswell.. I don't like the whole 3rd line news, HaHa..

I meant that Nino-Haula-Pominville would likely start the season together as the shut down line. If you look at TOI stats, most teams don't have a top 6 and a bottom 6 but they instead of a top 9 and a 4th line. The reason fantasy people like the top 6 term so much is because teams only have two PP units. This also isn't true because about 2/3rds of teams these days use 4 forwards on their powerplay units which means that 7 or 8 forwards get PP significant PP time in most games.

[chuckcouples]

Why does everyone think that the Minnesota Wild are going in the wrong direction?

They have a pretty young team as 6 of their top 9 skaters in terms of TOI/game were under the age of 26 last year. 13 of their top 18 were also under the age of 26. They were the 12th youngest team in the NHL last year. Their defense corps was the 5th youngest last year (4th if you use a weighted average). The only significant player they lost from last year is Thomas Vanek and they added Eric Staal and Chris Stewart. More importantly they added Bruce Boudreau and Scott Stevens to their coaching staff.

[Zorro]

Why does everyone think that the Minnesota Wild are going in the wrong direction?

They have a pretty young team as 6 of their top 9 skaters in terms of TOI/game were under the age of 26 last year. 13 of their top 18 were also under the age of 26. They were the 12th youngest team in the NHL last year. Their defense corps was the 5th youngest last year (4th if you use a weighted average). The only significant player they lost from last year is Thomas Vanek and they added Eric Staal and Chris Stewart. More importantly they added Bruce Boudreau and Scott Stevens to their coaching staff.

I actually like the additions and I believe they can only improve on last season!! The coaches alone are going to make this team better..

[chuckcouples]

Wild lines at practice today were as follows:

Parise - Staal - Coyle
Granlund - Koivu - Pominville
Nino - Haula - Stewart
Zucker - Eriksson-Ek - Dalpe/Bertschy

[Potatoeman]

Haven't been able to watch any Minny preseason games, how's Mike Reilly been doing? Any chance he gets a larger role than last year?

[loco man]

Hey Wild fans

I see Scandella and Dumba got most of the PP time last night. Was this just an anomaly or are they the plan on the top unit? I thought it was supposed to be Suter and Spurgeon but would love to see Suter off the PP

[jcairns]

Wild lines at practice today were as follows:

Parise - Staal - Coyle
Granlund - Koivu - Pominville
Nino - Haula - Stewart
Zucker - Eriksson-Ek - Dalpe/Bertschy

Ugh. Is Zucker done? Was just a promising young player not long ago. Now 4th line and 9-10min a night. Debating whether I should wait it out on him or not.