Christian Folin entered the season with an uncertain future with the Minnesota Wild. But after excellent performances in the Wild’s last three games the young Swede looks have played himself into the lineup, and might be there for a long time as he impresses Heach Coach Bruce Boudreau more and more each game.
The defense of the Minnesota Wild is deep. So much so that the lineup of defenders seems to be different every game. Mike Reilly looks to log some serious game time as the Wild continue to develop him and see if he’s got what it takes to be a full-time NHL defender. Christian Folin looked to be in the same boat as he would look to get the time that Reilly didn’t get with the same goal of looking to see when/if he can be a NHL defender.
But largely Reilly was thought to be head and shoulders above Folin. Folin simply was as flashy or highly touted as Reilly. But after four games played by the Wild this season, it looks as if Folin might be the more highly touted of the two young defensemen.
Surprisingly though Folin seems to have gone from a bubble player who is clawing for playing time to a firmly planted member of the lineup. He’s played in three of the Wild’s first four games, and shown head coach Bruce Boudreau that he can bring a physical aspect to the Wild defense that the other defenders can’t.
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In his three games played Folin has not recorded a point, but he seems to be doing everything else right. He’s second on the team in hits with ten thus far, second in penalty minutes with eight, and is leading the Wild in plus minus at +5 despite not recording a single point and only being scored on once while on the ice. Not bad for someone who figured to be at the bottom of the eight defenders on the Wild’s NHL roster.
Last game against the Maple Leafs, Folin looked to have played a reckless game with three minor penalties. However, the Wild’s bench boss Boudreau didn’t see it that way. He expressed his pleasure with Folin by saying after the Toronto game “You know what, he played pretty good. He took three penalties, and probably one wasn’t warranted for sure – the first one. The other two definitely were warranted, but at the same time, I thought, especially when you go down to five defensemen, and he hasn’t played a lot – he played a lot of minutes today, so I was happy with him.”
Perhaps even more of an endorsement by his coach was the decision before the Toronto game to scratch Matt Dumba in favor of Folin. Granted that move was most likely more about sending a message to Dumba, but at the same time to have Folin take the lineup spot of a player who is making about three times more than him is huge. It really hammers home that Boudreau likes Folin’s game.
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So going forward it looks like Folin will be in the lineup until he has a very bad game. But thus far he seems not likely to do that. He’s taking his strength of a physical game defense first game and executing it well. When Reilly and Dumba are showing unable to protect the puck and lacking in defensive tools, it opens the door for Folin who is playing solid defense to take their playing time.
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That’s the basis of Bruce Boudreau coached team. Play well and you get more playing time and right now Folin is playing well. It might be a coincidence, but the Wild haven’t lost the three games Folin has played. He’s done the dirty work in those wins, and looks to be willing accept his role. And right now it’s a roll that the Wild need and will continue to put into the lineup.