The 2016-17 NHL preseason is off and running. Here’s what Minnesota Wild fans should take away from preseason action.
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Training camp and preseason are underway, marking the official start of the NHL season. Sure, no meaningful games have been played yet, but hockey is back nonetheless. The Minnesota Wild are 1-1-0 thus far in the preseason. Losing to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday and beating the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
It has been a weird start to camp, as it has come at the same time as the World Cup of Hockey. Meaning several important players in the Wild lineup have only recently returned to practicing with the team while Nino Niederreiter and Team Europe play Canada in the final.
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So far, the lineups have looked weird as a result, with the top line against Colorado consisting of Eric Staal, Jason Zucker, and Jason Pominville. These lines are not permanent or anything, and are obviously missing star players from them on most nights during the preseason. So what can fans gain from the preseason action?
Well the most important thing is a sense for how new head coach Bruce Boudreau intends to use this team, what his defensive and offensive systems will look like. Along with this, fans can see how the players react to the new coaching staff in a game setting.
Secondly, this is a chance to get an extended look at some of the talent the Wild have coming up the pipeline. Thus far, players such as Zac Dalpe, Alex Tuch, Joel Erikkson-Ek, and Kurtis Gabriel have got extended looks playing during the preseason. These players are important to what the team hopes to accomplish in the future, and it is good for fans to see the young talent that will hopefully be seen at the NHL level in the near future.
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As action starts to ramp up and the regular season draws nearer, it will be easier to tell what exactly the team envisions the lines to look like come the start of the season. But right now given the new coaching staff and additions to this team I would say that it is worth monitoring what the forward lines are going to look like.
There has been speculation that Niederreiter will slot into the second line alongside Koivu and Granlund. However he also played well on a line with Haula and Pominville last year so those are the two lines that bear watching during these next couple of games.
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So with lots of possibilities for lines stay tuned to what Boudreau has in store. He’s trying out a lot of different mixes of players to see what exactly the best combination is. One things for certain this offseason has been one like no other in Wild history, which will hopefully translate to a season like no other in Wild history.