As the Minnesota Wild look to possibly deal a defenseman this offseason for forward help, the remaining defensemen will be challenged to fill the void. This makes it important that the Wild’s bottom three defenders Folin, Prosser, and Reilly up their games.
The likelihood of a Minnesota Wild defensemen being moved this offseason seems to be more and more of a reality as time passes. The idea that the team can take a strength/talent surplus in the defense and leverage it to gain in an area where they are lacking in forwards is exactly what makes a good trade. The other side though of any trade is what is left after players are moved. The Wild will need to take a hard look should they move a defender to see if the players remaining can pick up the slack.
When looking at who would be left on the Wild in the event a defenseman is moved, the discussion should revolve around the bottom three players on the defensive depth chart because they will most likely not be moved. For the Wild, the consensus bottom three defensemen are Christian Folin, Nate Prosser, and Mike Reilly. If you were to remove a current Wild defenseman, and not gain anyone in return, these three players would fill two spots in the three defensive pairings.
Drawing on past performances and current potential it seems as if these three players could fill these open spots, but the defense will be a bit less capable if they do. Although all of them have NHL experience, it should be said that they all have different weaknesses that will need to be addressed as they look to take on bigger minutes and roles on the defense.
Folin, Prosser, and Reilly all have issues revolve around their ability to make sound decisions with the puck. All three of them have Corsi and Fenwick numbers in the mid-forties suggesting that possession maybe issue. As defensemen the possession numbers and good puck decisions are extremely important for defensive zone play and transition play.
Additionally, when diving into their offensive numbers you see more of the same unimpressive lower numbers. Reilly did only play in 29 NHL games and leads the group with 7 points. Folin only played in 26 games and notched 4 points. Prosser played a healthy 56 games and still was last with only 3 points. If the Wild lose a player like Matt Dumba who tallied 26 points or Marco Scandella who notched 21 points, this group will have issues making up for those lost points.
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Folin and Reilly have the possibility to do better. Both of them posted better numbers in college and in Iowa. Reilly actually posted 23 points in 45 games with Iowa last season, while Folin had 13 points in 28 games in Iowa. Both of them will continue to get better as the they gain more experience. But that will take some time to accomplish, and the Wild will possibly need them to play full-time NHL minutes right away.
Prosser on the other hand has had some chances to take his game to the next level, but has not succeed in getting up to that level. At age 30 he’s already played 243 NHL games and it seems that we’ve seen the best of what Prosser has to offer. He brings excellent experience and can eat minutes, but he’s been known to take his slightly above average physical game too far. His decision making has cost the Wild with bad penalties at crucial times.
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The bottom line here is that Folin, Prosser, or Reilly are all able to be inserted effectively into the Wild’s everyday defensive lineup if needed. They all are talented players with NHL experience. Still with the possible loss of a more productive defensemen, these three players will need to be better if the Wild hope to keep the same level of defensive performance when the team breaks camp in October.