Minnesota Wild: Expectations for the Kids Should Change

With a lineup comprised mostly of younger non-NHL roster players, the Wild turned in a sloppy performance in last night’s 4-1 loss to the Avalanche. Looking at the team’s performance and Bruce Boudreau’s comments, one would have to wonder if expectations might be a little too high for these young players.

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Talent is only one part to the equation that makes up a good player. At some point that talent needs to be translated into results. The great part about young players in hockey is there are a ton of avenues for them to develop that talent into results. The problem for teams can often be when you see that talent you might want to make the leap thinking it will lead to results way before it has had a chance to develop. The Minnesota Wild might be getting a big lesson in that right now.

Last night’s preseason tilt against the Colorado Avalanche was populated heavily with some of the younger kids of Wild who many have said have a good shot to make the Minnesota roster. There was a huge buzz about the premier of 2015 1st round draft pick Joel Eriksson-Ek, and of course all eyes were on him and the 2014 1st round pick Alex Tuch as they look to make good on the hype surrounding their chances to make the NHL roster.

The result was a 4-1 loss where neither one of the two young guns scored a point, and Eriksson-Ek was a minus one. Kinda a letdown for the premier of such a high touted prospect who some think is NHL ready. Sure according to Michael Russo Eriksson-Ek was “by far the best forward in the third period”, but I’d have to say what did that result in? A loss where he tallied no points, and the Avs scored twice in the third period.

Sep 27, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek (54) protects the puck from Colorado Avalanche defenseman Duncan Siemens (15) during the second period of a preseason hockey game at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /

That seems to be the issue people “think” these young Wild players are NHL ready without much in the way of NHL level results. In modern day parlance this a phenomenon is called expectations, and the issue with expectations is that sometimes they are based in past observation rather than current performance. In hockey it’s important to see what a player is doing now before levying expectations on them. In the past their competition could have been at a lower level, the player could have an injury that has developed since he was last seen, or any other countless changes since a player was last evaluated.

Right now that evaluation might not be going as well as the young players would like. After last night’s loss Boudreau hinted to Russo that he might want to see a bit more out of his younger players. “These are the kind of games in the first week where the kids really outshine the veterans. Unfortunately for us tonight, I thought our best line was the [Eric] Staal line [with Jason Zucker and Jason Pominville]. I wanted to see a little bit more from other people.”

Sep 27, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau looks on during the third period of a preseason hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche at Xcel Energy Center. The Avalanche defeated the Wild 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /

Those “other people” are the “kids” in this case. Boudreau wants to see them play to the NHL standard, and while he recognizes their talents and good work, he has his criteria to make this team and everyone needs to meet it. When pressed further by Russo about some poor passing by the kids he answered simply “It’s the NHL,” implying that they need to be playing the game up to the NHL level and speed.

And that’s really what I’m talking about is that a player has to be ready for the NHL game. It doesn’t matter if they can crush prospect level competition when you are asked if they are ready for the NHL. They need to be excelling against NHL level competition to make an NHL team, if not you need to put them in a position where they can learn the skills and develop into that player than can compete with NHL level competition.