Minnesota Wild: Camp Is a Tryout for Every Wild Player

The first two days of Minnesota Wild training camp under Bruce Boudreau have been by all accounts a tough and physical affair with players conditioning being rigorously tested. The new Wild bench boss is looking to size-up his squad and have the players show him what they’ve got to offer. Sounds like a lot like a tryout right?

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The Minnesota Wild might be more tired than they’ve ever been to start a training camp. By all accounts days one and two were about sizing up the Wild players and their current physical conditions, while at the same time inserting the system of Bruce Boudreau. The learning curve is high and the players are having to work harder than they have in a long time.

Everyone seemed to know that things would be different with Boudreau, but the phenomenon were seeing is something this team has needed for a while. Boudreau doesn’t know these players well so he needs to figure out their strengths and limits by putting them through some rigorous practices. Basically he having everyone go through a tryout.

On a simple level Boudreau is looking to see how players look in his up-tempo system. He wants to know that they’ll be able to thrive in the system where he’s going press the play on the opposing team. Jared Spurgeon explained to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune that ““That’s the way Bruce wants to play, always going and you always want to tire other teams out. That first practice was a sign of things to come.”

He maybe be stuck with most of this roster, but what he can control is where they play and how much they play. The line combinations of last year seem to be almost completely null and void. Right now, Boudreau is playing all his players together in different combinations to see if they can mesh and where the best combinations might be.

Apr 18, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Minnesota Wild center Charlie Coyle (3) in the game against the St. Louis Blues during the first period in game two of the first round of the the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Charlie Coyle summed it up best by telling Russo “It’s going to be physical, it’s going to be a hard-nosed camp. Everyone’s here to get a job and knock people out of their job. Everyone came prepared.”

What Coyle is getting at is the idea that under Boudreau the Wild will need to earn their spot in the lineup. In the past there has been a perception that some of the players were placed in certain spots in the lineup, because of who they are rather than their performance. That will not be the case under Boudreau. Additionally, the hard nose-camp as Coyle describes makes an environment where Boudreau can best simulate what these players will do in what will be much more stressful game situations.

One of the keys for the Wild to move on from the disappointments of last year is to wipe the slate clean and build from the ground up. Not to mention Boudreau wasn’t with the Wild last season so by design it has to be a clean slate.

As Boudreau tells Russo “Everything is sort of off the table in our memory of you last year. It’s what you show me now that’s important. So guys that had bad years or didn’t do good things last year have a great opportunity this year because we’re seeing them for the first time.”