Minnesota Wild: Who Should be in the top 6?

After buying out the remainder of Thomas Vanek’s contract, the Minnesota Wild are down a top six forward. Who on the Minnesota Wild’s current roster could step up be among the top six forwards next season?

It is important to remember that a line in hockey is not necessarily made up of the best players on a given team. If that were true, Patrick Kane would not be on the second line for the Blackhawks. Instead, a line is made up of players that work well together and fill a given role for a team.

The most basic makeup of any forward line involves a goal scorer, a play maker, and a gritty player who wins battles. With that in mind looking at the Wild roster as it is currently constructed, I will attempt to predict what the top 2 forward lines will look like next season.

There are two basic locks on the first line, Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise, and with good reason as the two have been the most consistent performers for an otherwise very inconsistent team. Both are capable of putting up offensive numbers that top line forwards are expected to have (56 and 53 points respectively last season). Parise’s numbers are not entirely reflective of his play as he was hampered by a back injury last season. Expect his point totals to jump back into the 60’s this season if he stays healthy.

The third member of the top line deserves to be Charlie Coyle. He completes the makeup of a good line as he adds a big body up front who can do the dirty work, and he still has the ability to provide offense. This trio has played together before with success during the 2013-14 season, and that was prior to Coyle’s transformation into one of the best forwards on the team. In short, a top line made up of Koivu (17 goals last season), Parise (25), and Coyle (21) would be able to score goals and defend as well as any in the league given the reputation both Koivu and Parise have as two-way forwards.

The second line is where things become a little more difficult to predict, mostly because I expect the Wild to sign an outside free agent who ideally would be plugged into that second line. So with that expectation, I’m only going to name two players for this line in the hope the Wild sign someone like Kyle Okposo this offseason.

With that in mind, the two players who I am most intrigued by in a second line role would be Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter. Both players had something of a breakout year last year, with Granlund passing the 10 goal threshold for the first time and Niederreiter putting up career highs in both points and assists while putting up his second straight 20 goal season. These two fulfill the requirements for a successful line, as Granlund is an accomplished play maker and Niederreiter is able to do the dirty work or serve as the main offensive threat on the line.

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Additionally, these two players offer Chuck Fletcher the most flexibility when searching for outside free agents. Granlund is able to play the center or wing position and as stated earlier, Niederreiter can fulfill two different roles. This means the team is not pigeonholed into signing one particular position or even type of player. Depending on who the team signs to fill the hole left by Thomas Vanek on the second line, this could be the most dangerous offensive line on the team. Although perhaps not as defensively sound as the top line.

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The Wild will certainly have some choices to make when it comes to their lineup. Bruce Boudreau will have his work cut out for him, but he should have most of the players already to form two excellent top lines. If the Wild acquire another forward or two that job will be much easier. One thing is for certain the Wild will be need a dominate top six forward group to reach their championship aspirations.

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