Minnesota Wild: Filling the Fourth Line
By David Fagan
With the Prospect Development camp just around the corner, July 12 to 17 for those counting, Minnesota Wild brass and fans alike are looking at the two glaring holes at the bottom of the roster. Who will GM Chuck Fletcher and Head Coach Bruce Boudreau lock in to solidify the fourth line?
The Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins demonstrated the importance of scoring depth and having four potent lines during their cup run last season. More importantly head coach Mike Sullivan demonstrated how four skilled, quick lines can effectively nullify the bruising, grinding play of a Pacific Division team. If anything it serves to highlight the shift in mindset in the NHL from the big bodied enforcers to speedy, possession driving players.
Minnesota Wild
As the Minnesota Wild’s roster begins to fill with the signing of UFAs Eric Staal and Chris Stewart and RFA Jason Zucker, the shape of the top three lines appears set. Stewart appears to be a value skill/size combination set for a spot on the fourth line wing and Staal is set to fill an immediate need at centre on the top or second line. With Stewart a lock, the rest of the fourth line is in a state of flux and presents an opportunity for Chuck Fletcher and Bruce Boudreau to set the tone of their depth line, at least for the start of the season.
Given the demonstrated value of having a skill and possession oriented fourth line there seems to be two options available to fill out the line, promote from within or sign a UFA to fill the role. While it is possible Fletcher could trade for depth in his bottom six it would seem to be a fruitless move given the skill sets of players available both internally and on the free market. Not to mention the prospect of having more than four picks at next year’s draft is appealing to all fans, as I’m sure it is to Wild management, given current lack of depth on the farm.
With Matt Cullen widely speculated to the front-runner to return to Minnesota and seek a third Stanley Cup, who else could the Wild turn to on their bottom line?
Related Story: Do Porter, Carter, and Stoll Have a Future With the Wild?
FROM WITHIN
Tyler Graovac
Coming out of training camp in September 2015 Tyler Graovac had impressed the coaching staff enough to earn a place on the opening night roster. It was a promotion that was cut short just 13:37 into the game against Colorado. Graovac sustained a lower body injury that kept him from playing for 26 games. A return from injury to a woeful Iowa Wild saw Graovac score 5 goals and 16 points in 39 games. Not quite at the pace he set in 2014-15 when he lead the team with 46 points in 73 games, but whether this can be attributed to lingering issues from the injury or playing on a weak squad it is hard to say.
As Danny Lambert highlighted Graovac is motivated to break back in to the NHL and make it stick this time around. The sample sizes on Graovac’s possession metrics are far too small (5 career games) to provide any meaningful insight but his size, reported good character and work ethic suggest he would be a useful fourth liner for the Wild who could challenge for the puck and chip in on scoring.
Grayson Downing
Grayson Downing was a college free agent signing in March 2015, coming off four years of playing for the University of New Hampshire. During his tenure there the 6 foot, 195 pound forward put up 56 goals and 112 points in 144 games, including 36 points in 38 games his senior year. In his first full(ish) season of professional hockey with the Iowa Wild, Downing was second on the team in goals (19) and points (40) despite missing the first 17 games of the season through injury.
His profile on hockeysfuture.com describes him as a sniper more than a play-maker who plays with“feistiness” but needs to develop the supplementary aspects of his game. On a Wild team that lacks anyone described as a ‘sniper’, above average shooting talent that could chip in 10-goals a season at the NHL level would be a welcome addition. With a good showing at training camp Downing could have a look in at cracking the roster. If he can translate his college and AHL scoring into an NHL game he might even stick around.
FREE AGENTS
Kris Versteeg
Kris Versteeg is a 29-year-old winger coming off a combined 15 goal, 38 point season spent in part with the Carolina Hurricanes and the Los Angeles Kings. Versteeg has been a positive possession player over the course of his career with a CF% of 53.6. This is a trend he has maintained, even on a Carolina squad that was tremendously outscored (196-221) last season where he posted an individual CF% of 57.1.
Versteeg is (just) on the southern side of 30 and is capable of putting up good scoring numbers but is coming off a four-year, $4,400,000 AAV contract (per generalfanager.com). He filled a second, and at times first, line role in Carolina and a second or third line role in LA. Would Versteeg be willing to take a pay cut to Chris Stewart levels and take fourth line minutes in Minnesota? Anything is possible and his presence on the fourth line would be invaluable in providing skilled, scoring depth and veteran presence for younger players called up to play alongside him.
Brandon Pirri
One of several restricted free agents not tendered a qualifying offer by the Anaheim Ducks 25-year-old Brandon Pirri is an intriguing prospect. A left-handed centre with second or third line potential Pirri was originally drafted in the second round by Chicago in 2009 and is described as possessing good puck handling and play-making skills with a hard shot.
However, he had trouble with an upper body injury in the 2015-16 season that saw him play only 61 games, split between Florida and Anaheim, and only suited up for 49 games in 2014-15. However, in those 61 games, despite changing systems and dealing with injury, Pirri put up 14 goals and 29 points whilst putting up possession numbers that weren’t abysmal relative to his teammates. Add to this that he’s only a season removed a 22 goal campaign with Florida and he projects to be a very interesting prospect that is sure to garner a lot of interest from around the league.
Next: Eric Staal’s Signing Was Done Right
It would be good to see a little of both, a fresh injection of talent from outside the organisation coupled with a promotion from within to fill out the remaining roster spots. Whichever way they go, with a glut of expensive veterans on the team it appears it would be prudent for Wild management to sign any external parties to a short-term, team friendly deal. Thus keeping cap space free for the, hopefully, impending trade that will see a true franchise number one centre come to Minnesota.