Minnesota Wild: Lineup Flexibility Key to Strong Start
Shuffling of the lineup, both on the forward and defensive lines has been a calling card of coach Bruce Boudreau in his short time behind the Wild bench. And thus far it has been the cornerstone of his success.
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Thus far Jason Pominville has been cycled up and down the lineup, Charlie Coyle has found himself on the fourth line, and Nino Niederreiter has replaced Zach Parise on the top line.
All of these moves would seem unthinkable in any other season, or at the very least one would think the season was not going as the Minnesota Wild had planned. However, through the first seven games of the Boudreau era, the Wild find themselves tied for first place in the Central Division. They have shown the potential that this is the year they will finally deliver on the success many envisioned after signing Parise and Suter in the summer of 2012.
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The movement throughout the lineup should come as no shock. Flexibility has been a goal from the beginning of the offseason. Both Eric Staal and Chris Stewart were brought in over the summer to give the team better depth, more players who can play in more spots depending on what is needed on a given night. It is clear that Coach Boudreau prefers to vary his lineup depending on the opponent, for example he shift Niederreiter to the top line to play with Coyle and Staal because the team played against a physical Boston team.; The line responded with a strong effort in the 5-0 blowout win.
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There have also been instances where a player has been demoted on the roster as a result of a poor stretch of play, think Charlie Coyle skating on the fourth line. And in these instances, the motivation seems to have worked, as Coyle responded with a goal. All of this is an encouraging sign because last season when Coyle struggled the team still put him out there with the top line every night. Boudreau is clearly a different coach who expects more from his players than the previous regime and won’t hesitate to send a message, and so far it has worked on this group.
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So when fans see things like Charlie Coyle skating on the fourth line, they should not panic. Instead they should trust in a coach who has shown he knows what he’s doing with this roster to this point in the season. Which admittedly is something the team has not had since Jacques Lemaire was on the bench. But it appears the Wild may have found their missing ingredient to having the type of success many thought this team was capable of.