Minnesota Wild: Forward Lines Just About Set

The Wild have spent the summer to bring players to change the dynamics of their forwards for this upcoming season.  The chemistry being built mixed with the existing chemistry among the returning forwards will go a long way to building four excellent lines to start the 2016-17 season.

Heading into this season it looks like the Minnesota Wild will have a slightly new look group of forwards.  Everyone knew after the disaster that was last season some big moves were going to be made with respect to the up-front lines of the Wild.  After all many attributed the colossal mid-season meltdown to a lack of scoring by the forwards, and even the often myopic Chuck Fletcher agreed that the Wild’s forwards were in need of a shakeup.

So the team acted quickly by buying out underperforming Thomas Vanek from the last season of his contract to clear up some much needed cap space.   Then on the first day free-agency the Wild announced the signings of Eric Staal and Chris Stewart adding two solid players to put into the forward lineup.  Since then there’s been little action to add to the forward corps, but as it stands now the Wild will have three strong top lines.  The fourth line looks some question marks, but there are options on how to solve those questions.

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What stands out on this group of Wild forwards is that barring a major injury or change in thought, the lines seem to be mostly set before a single puck drops at training camp.  The comments from Bruce Boudreau and the chemistry from last season have made it fairly clear what we can expect for forward lines going into the upcoming season.

Line 1:   LW- Zach Parise, C- Erik Staal, RW- Charlie Coyle

Boudreau has already hinted that this line will be a reality next season.  Almost from the time Staal’s signing was announced it was thought that he could be the top center, but his recent decline in points had some second guessing that notion.  Still the idea here is that by playing with Parise and Coyle, Staal will unlock some of his past scoring magic.

Coyle will be on the wing like he was at the end of last season where he saw himself surge to 21 goals, and playing with talent like Parise and Staal he could see at least another 20+ goal season.  The biggest question marks for this line staying together seems to be if Staal can really find some of his past scoring glory, and if Zach Parise’s back will stay healthy.

Line 2:   LW- Mikael Granlund, C-Mikko Koivu, RW- Jason Zucker

I’m excited for this line!  Granlund and Koivu have shown so much chemistry playing together that it should be a foregone conclusion that both Finns will be paired up next season.  At the World Championships for Finland they played on the top line guiding Suomi to a silver medal finish with a combined 22 points (Koivu 10, Granlund 12).  They’ve got so much potential as they both are comfortable playing together and will get to do it for much longer this season.

Zucker is the wild card here.  He needs a bounce-back season for sure and could benefit from playing with this great chemistry.  Or he could go the other way and continue his spiral down the lineup and possibly out of the Wild.  I think he’ll have a bounce back because if Granlund and Koivu operate as expected he’ll have lots of time to get into space and make something happen as the defense might pursue his Finish line mates a little too much.

Line 3:   RW Nino Neiderreiter, C- Erik Haula, LW- Jason Pominville

This was the best line for the Wild in the John Torchetti era.  In the last two months of last season and into the playoffs no one scored more than Jason Pominville.  Lots of people have called for his head on a stick, but they are quick to forget that playing with the youth of Neiderreitter and Haula he found a bit of youth himself.  This unit will again be intact this season and will more than likely see the complete season bounce-back of Pommer as he returns to 20+ goal form.

The younger line members Neiderreiter and Haula will be looking take the next steps in their career from promising young talents to outstanding veterans.  Both of them seemed on such a roll at the end of last season that it might well be a higher scoring campaign for both players next season.  The only question mark here is if Haula has truly turned a corner or if he’ll revert to the player of the first half of last season.

Line 4:  RW- ? , C- Tyler Graovac , LW- Chris Stewart

This line is the biggest uncertainty on the team right now for obvious reasons.  As it stands now there is no clear winner for the right wing spot and questions about Graovac’s health keep him from being a lock to take the center spot.  The only certainty for the fourth line is newly signed Chris Stewart who will be the anchor of the line at left wing.  Stewart will add grit and scoring touch making the fourth line a scoring threat almost no matter who the coaching staff pick to fill out the line.

Who is to fill out the fourth line is really a difficult question as it could be an established veteran like Jordan Schroeder, an unsigned UFA like Ryan Carter, a young gun like Alex Tuch, or someone from outside the organization.  One thing is for certain we may not know the answer to that question till possibly the end of the Wild’s training camp next month.

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So with the Wild’s lineup about set it’ll make for an awesome training camp where the players can do nothing but concentrate on their chemistry with their line mates.  In cases where there are no set lines it tends to make camp a bit less effective as the team searches for the right player combinations.  The Wild have their combinations already, and sure they might experiment a bit, but they’ll be able to have all their players clicking with their line mates by the first puck drop in St. Louis.