Minnesota Wild: Lack of Forwards Could Mean Big Line Changes

A lack of NHL ready forwards on the Minnesota Wild roster could have an effect on the line combinations and players positions heading into next season. If one of the young forwards earmarked for a move up cannot crack the lineup, then you could see the Wild have to move players up or down to compensate.

The uncertainty of the Minnesota Wild forward depth chart seems to be causing a lot of stir as the season moves near. The fact that the Wild only currently have 10 NHL forwards seems to have inserted doubt as to where many of the forwards of the Wild will play next season. The lines that were once thought to be set, could be put in jeopardy in favor of moving players up or down the lineup to fill positional holes.

One of those moves has already been suggested by Bruce Boudreau, when he suggested to Michael Russo in his State Fair interview that Charlie Coyle could be moved back to play center. After Coyle’s last season scoring explosion when he moved to the wing, it is inconceivable to think that he would fall anywhere that was not playing the wing on the first or second line. Coyle had career numbers in goals and points, and it seemed like it wasn’t just a coincidence that it happened in a season where he was moved from center to the wing.

Currently the Wild only have three NHL ready centers on the roster. The hope is that a player like Tyler Graovac, Christoph Bertschy, or even Joel Eriksson-Ek can come in and crack the lineup as a starting center on the fourth line. The issue is what if they aren’t up to the task? That means the Wild will need to look to Coyle to play center on the fourth or third line. If he moves to the third line that means that Erik Haula would move to the fourth, further complicating the problem.

The blunt truth here is that Coyle is currently the second best goal scoring winger on the team next to Zach Parise. He should be playing on the first line and in a role that best facilitates his goal scoring talents. On a Wild team that still looks like it could have challenges putting points on the board, they’ll need to maximize the lineup to score and moving Coyle off the top lines and back to center will not do that.

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Still the Wild will need to do what they have to do to roll four lines. If Coyle has to play center again on the third line the best choice to move up to play with Parise and Eric Staal would be Nino Niederreiter. Like Coyle he’s coming off a career year and looks to be primed to approach or reach 30 goals. But that has repercussions on the chemistry that Niederreiter had playing with Pominville and Haula the Wild’s best line in the second half of the season and the playoffs.

Bringing in another center on a PTO might be the answer here. Ryan Carter is a winger and not really able to play insurance policy for center. So seeking out a true NHL center for a PTO might be the right call here to preserve the Wild forward lineup in its optimum configuration.

Next: Minnesota Wild Sign Ryan Carter to PTO

The inability of the Wild to bolster their forward depth has put them in a position where they might have to shake their lineup up in a way that could decrease its scoring potency. This all could end up being an academic only exercise if one of the players mentioned earlier comes through and makes the team. And there is a high probability that one of those players will be successful, but still keep an eye on the young kids progress in camp because it could have a bigger effect on the Wild than just them making the Minnesota roster.

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