After a long preseason of line juggling, it looks as if the Wild have the lines they want to go forward with. The projected second line on this year’s Minnesota Wild squad has the makings of a line that could be among the better lines in the NHL.
Projected to start the season skating on the second line for the Minnesota Wild are Mikael Granlund, Mikko Koivu, and Jason Pominville. This line is an interesting combination that could pay huge dividends right away for the team.
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The numbers for each player are from last year (with possibly the exception of Pominville) are solid and can be expected to jump given the talent on the line. Granlund (13+31=44) posted career highs in goals and points last season. At age 24, he can only be expected to improve upon those numbers. Also encouraging is his play after being moved to the wing last season, his creativity and speed were on display more often than has been the case in the past. He also displayed good chemistry at the World Cup of Hockey playing on a line with Mikko Koivu.
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Speaking of Koivu, the Wild captain benefit greatly from playing on this line. The aforementioned chemistry displayed with Granlund will help him, as will Granlund’s ability to make plays. That will take some of the pressure off of Koivu to create plays for the other players on the line and allow him to be more of a scorer. In the past, Koivu has hit the 20 goal mark three times, and playing on a line where he isn’t expected to be as much of a playmaker could see him hit that mark again. In addition, to the offensive threat that he is, Koivu is also recognized as one of the best defensive players on this roster, which only adds to the overall effectiveness of the line.
Pominville is coming off somewhat of a down year by his standards (11+25=36) but the team as a whole did not perform up to standards and with him under contract for awhile the Wild had no choice but to bring him back. With that said, Pominville is a proven scorer at the NHL level and playing with two playmakers of this caliber could revive his career. He’s not going to score 30 goals like he did 2 years ago, but its reasonable to expect him to post 20 given the fact that both Koivu and Granlund had over 30 assists a piece last year.
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His play also picked up towards the end of last year, playing on a line with Nino Niederreiter and Erik Haula, Pominville led the team in scoring (4+3=7) during the playoffs last year. He is definitely more of a wild card than the other two on this line, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he bounces back to have at least a 40 point season this year.
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If all three players improve on their performance from last year, this line could be something special. The line has a player with multiple 30 goal seasons on his resume, a consistent 50 point defensive stalwart, and a young playmaker coming off his best season yet. If they gel quickly, this could be a fun line to watch.