5 questions for the Wild in the second half of the season
It's been a roller coaster of a season for the Minnesota Wild and that ride should continue as they enter the second half beginning with Wednesday night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
With 33 games to go, several storylines will play out and they could determine whether Minnesota returns to the playoffs or looks ahead to next season.
1. What will the Wild do at the trade deadline?
While the Wild have been frustrating on the ice, you could argue they've been even more frustrating off of it. General manager Bill Guerin locked himself into the current roster by adding no movement clauses to contract extensions with Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno at the beginning of the season and the salary cap restraints caused by the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter limit what they can do at the deadline.
This led The Athletic's Michael Russo and Joe Smith to hint that the Wild probably won't be as aggressive at the deadline when they acquired Gustav Nyquist, Marcus Johansson, Oskar Sunqvist and John Klingberg but could look to move their pending free agents.
Unfortunately, the group of pending free agents is underwhelming. Russo speculates that Pat Maroon, Brandon Duhaime, Zach Bogosian, Marc-Andre Fleury, Dakota Mermis and Alex Goligoski could be moved but it's unknown what they would bring back in return. Pending restricted free agents Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime could also be moved, but the Wild could just wait and see what they ask for in arbitration next summer.
Put it together and there may not be a lot the Wild can do regardless of whether they want to buy or sell. While moves could be made, they may not be impactful and could lead to a quiet deadline on Mar. 8.
2. Can the Wild get healthy?
The first half of the season was dominated by injuries for the Wild and while some players returned, they weren't the best version of themselves.
The most glaring difference was noticeable in Kirill Kaprizov, who entered the season coming off a significant knee injury suffered in March of 2023. While Kaprizov returned for the playoff series with the Dallas Stars, he had just one point in six games and looked sluggish before suffering an upper-body injury against the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 30.
While Kaprizov still leads the Wild with 45 points, he's not the only player that has been bogged down by the injury bug. Jared Spurgeon was ruled out for the season due to hip and back injuries last month and Jonas Brodin, Matt Boldy, Zuccarello, Filip Gustavsson and Fleury have all missed significant time due to injury this season.
Injuries haven't been the main cause of the Wild's disappointing season but a return to health would give them a fighting chance to turn things around.
3. Can Brock Faber win the Calder Trophy?
Kaprizov became the first player in franchise history to win the Calder Trophy (aka the NHL's version of the Rookie of the Year Award) during the 2020-21 season but Faber is making his own case with a strong rookie campaign.
Faber ranks only behind Brodin (+7) and Spurgeon (+5) among Wild defensemen with a +4 plus/minus rating and he's fifth in scoring with 29 points and ranks third with 25 assists.
Faber's accolades extend beyond the Wild, however, as his 29 points rank second behind Chicago's Connor Bedard and he leads all rookie skaters in assists.
With Bedard expected to be out a few more weeks with a broken jaw, Faber has a chance to make an impression and could be the second Wild player to win the Calder Trophy over the past four seasons.
4. Will the Wild catch a playoff spot?
The Wild's roller coaster can be seen with a simple glimpse of their schedule. After starting the year with a 5-10-4 record under Dean Evason, the Wild won 11 of their first 15 games with John Hynes. But the Wild have a 5-10-1 record in their past 16 games including back-to-back losses to the Nashville Predators and Anaheim Ducks before the All-Star Break.
Minnesota now enters the second half seven points behind the St. Louis Blues for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference and would need to jump Nashville, Seattle, Arizona and Calgary to find their way into the tournament.
With the Wild's last win against a Western Conference opponent coming in a 2-1 shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 16 and their last regulation win coming in a 3-0 win over the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 10, making up ground doesn't seem likely, which leads the Wild to the biggest question of all.
5. Will the Wild tank for a draft pick?
The Wild's mission statement is to push for a playoff spot no matter the circumstances and Guerin didn't seem ready to give up when he met with the media for his mid-season press conference last month.
"If you look at our roster like when we are healthy,” Guerin said on Jan. 15. “I think it’s a good team. I want to keep the expectations high. … There’s a lot of hockey to be played,” Guerin said. “So we’re definitely not ready to wave the white flag or anything like that. We just want to get healthy and move forward and see what we can do.”
Unfortunately, the Wild haven't done much to validate Guerin's claims and their special teams and goaltending remains some of the worst in the league. Although their schedule lightens up, there seems to be too much to overcome – especially with 30 games against a conference they can't seem to beat.
With several top prospects including Boston University standout and projected top pick Macklin Celebrini within reach, tanking for a draft pick has to be a conversation as Minnesota heads into the second half.
