Minnesota Wild: How to Fix the Penalty Kill

The Minnesota Wild finished last season 27th in the league on the penalty kill. Having their penalty kill in order will be key if they hope to have successful run next season.

This past season saw the Minnesota Wild regress in most areas compared to past seasons. The area in which the team struggled the most was the penalty kill. Coming off a season in which the team finished first in the league in penalty kill and with largely the same cast of players, the team was expected to once again finish among the league leaders in this category.

That did not prove to be the case, as the Wild finished the regular season ranked 27^th in the league in penalty kill percentage at 77.94%. So what went wrong with the team down a man last year and how can the team return to the form that saw them lead the league in 2014-15?

The most obvious difference in the team’s penalty kill compared to a season ago was the loss of Kyle Broadziak via free agency to the St. Louis Blues. In his tenure with the Wild, Broadziak was a steady defensive presence and a fixture on the penalty kill unit. In addition to being among the best defensive forwards on the team, Broadziak was also successful in the faceoff circle. Both roles were supposed to be filled by Jarrett Stoll. Suffice to say the Stoll experiment did not payoff in the way the Wild would have liked.

Broadziak is not coming back to the team, so the Wild would do well to identify a player or group of players that can bring the same intangibles Broadziak did. The Wild do possess defensively responsible forwards and defensemen to choose from, so it may just be about new coach Bruce Boudreau putting the right groups of people together in a way neither Yeo nor Torchetti was able to last season.

The group of players the team should be choosing from in no particular order should be Koivu, Parise, Haula, Fontaine, Suter, Brodin, Scandella, and Spurgeon. The team needs to have to have two lines of successful penalty killers, so expect Boudreau to experiment with different pairings throughout training camp and the regular season.

Apr 18, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon (46) defends Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn (14) in the third period in game three of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xcel Energy Center. The Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /

The Wild already know what they are going to get from Koivu, Parise, Spurgeon and Suter. Of the group, Jared Spurgeon should be the one in line for a larger role as he led the team in blocked shots with 157, a skill that can be very valuable when down a man. For what it is worth, Suter also is adept at this skill, finishing second on the team with 142 blocked shots.

Given that both are also regarded as sound positional defensemen, there’s no doubt they should both be included on the penalty kill. Spurgeon and Suter also were 1^st and 2^nd among Wild defensemen in goals allowed per 60 minutesshorthanded with averages of 6.1 and 6.5. Considering they were also regular defensive partners all of last year, it would be wise to make that pairing the top defensive pairing on the penalty kill.

In Brodin, the Wild have a potential defensive stalwart who is just entering his prime (Brodin is 22). Brodin should be included in the penalty kill given the fact that he has been on the unit for four years now which should carry weight since that represents his entire time in the league plus the Wild with the exception of last year are usually good on the penalty kill, so Brodin must be part of that past success.