The Wild were one of the best defensive teams last season. With the departure of Matt Dumba, what can be expected out of the blueline this season?
The Central Division appears to be headed for another tight competition for the top three spots, much like last season when only six points separated the top three teams. The Minnesota Wild came in third, with 103 points, but for stretches of the season was in the thick of the race for home ice in the playoffs.
Before the new season gets underway, it’s time to look at the Wild’s changes in the offseason and try to determine whether those changes will lead to improvements in the standings. We’ll begin by looking at the stronger parts of the Wild roster: the defense.
KEY DEPARTURES: Matt Dumba, John Klingberg
Klingberg, acquired at the trade deadline from the Anaheim Ducks, was expected to help quarterback the second power play unit and provide some puck-moving depth on the backend. He contributed two goals and nine points in 17 regular season games and one goal and three points in the four games he played in the Wild’s first-round exit at the hands of the Dallas Stars. Generally, the impact of Klingberg’s departure isn’t likely to be much with the depth and younger players the Wild have ready to step up into bigger roles this season.
The same won’t be said for Dumba, though.
Drafted 7th overall to the Wild in 2012, Dumba had spent his entire NHL career in the Twin Cities. He put up 79 goals and 236 points in the 598 regular season games he played with the Wild. For a time early in his career, he played the high-risk, high-reward offensive defenseman the modern game has preferred. After a pectoral injury that seemed to limit his offensive side, Dumba transitioned to a 200-foot player committed to playing both sides of the puck and helping to lead the stout defensive structure that has become the hallmark of Wild hockey over the past few seasons.
But while his most impactful minutes on the ice are likely behind him, where he’ll likely be missed the most is in the locker room. Dumba was a key part of the leadership that transitioned the locker room from the Ryan Suter/Zach Parise era. From all accounts, he’s made it a very welcoming and close locker room environment for new and younger players and was a key voice in the room. Those kind of intangibles are harder to replace because they have to come about more organically than pure on-ice skill sets that need replacing.
KEY ADDITIONS: Brock Faber (sort of?)
Because of the absolute stranglehold the dead cap space has on the Wild’s ability to build a roster for this season (and will continue for another two seasons), the Wild weren’t left with much cap space to really look for an external replacement for Dumba and Klingberg. Instead, they’ll look at Brock Faber to take a step and contribute this season at the NHL level after leaving the collegiate ranks to turn pro. Faber got two regular season games of experience before appearing in all six of the team’s playoff games in the first round loss.
Though he did not record any points in any of those games, he appeared to slot right into the high pressure of the NHL in that situation and turned in some decent all-around games. He was able to look like he belongs in low minutes and should be ready to contribute in a third-pairing role this year.
POTENTIAL PAIRINGS:
Jake Middleton – Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin – Calen Addison
Jon Merrill – Brock Faber
Alex Goligoski
OUTLOOK:
It’s tough to envision a team finishing high in the Central Division standings without a top-20 ranked defenseman in the NHL, but that’s what the Wild will set out to do this year. Overall, the defense looks to be about on the same level as last year even with the changes made to the roster, so it feels realistic that the Wild finish the season as a top-8 defensive team once again. Defense is seemingly the biggest strength of the roster, and should be enough to get them into the playoffs again this season.
The question is really how far they’ll go once they get there. Though everyone in hockey claims that playoff hockey is a more defensive-oriented style, last year’s playoffs were significantly more high-flying offense, blowing that feeling right out of the water. If it comes down to a shootout against a top team in the Central Division again, will they have enough firepower to finally get that first playoff round win since the 2014-15 season?