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Minnesota Wild: What To Expect From New-Look Third Line?

By Luke Ryan

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - APRIL 11: Jordan Greenway #18 and Charlie Coyle #3 of the Minnesota Wild crowd the Winnipe goal in front of Tyler Myers #57, Ben Chiarot #7 and Connor Hellebuyck #37 of the Winnipeg Jets in Game One of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 11, 2018 at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jason Halstead /Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jordan Greenway; Charlie Coyle; Tyler Myers; Ben Chiarot; Connor Hellebuyck
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA - APRIL 11: Jordan Greenway #18 and Charlie Coyle #3 of the Minnesota Wild crowd the Winnipe goal in front of Tyler Myers #57, Ben Chiarot #7 and Connor Hellebuyck #37 of the Winnipeg Jets in Game One of the Western Conference First Round during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 11, 2018 at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Jason Halstead /Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jordan Greenway; Charlie Coyle; Tyler Myers; Ben Chiarot; Connor Hellebuyck /
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The Minnesota Wild appear to have their first three lines set in stone ahead of their season opener against the Colorado Avalanche. The third line trio of Jordan Greenway, Joel Eriksson Ek and Charlie Coyle is the freshest combination.

When the Minnesota Wild first determined to give Jordan Greenway a chance at center, it only made sense to surround him with other players that could perform at third-line level as opposed to top-six guys. Joel Eriksson Ek and Charlie Coyle both fit the bill as top-nine type players.

The third line for this season offers a lot of untapped potential; Charlie Coyle is someone who we’ve spoken at length about, suggesting he’s a good trade option and generally suggesting we’re a better team without him.

Joel Eriksson Ek meanwhile is recognised as having potential that he hasn’t yet managed to reach. The right trio though could help each other out.

Jordan Greenway as the Minnesota Wild’s third line center was an experiment that began in pre-season but seemed to reap rewards, so much so he now seems to have secured the spot.

From this grouping, we should expect a fair bit of hustle as all three have a bit of size to them. I’d expect Greenway to make himself known as a net-front presence whilst Eriksson Ek and Coyle seek to put puck on net in order to offer him rebounds.

Obviously, we shall see on all of that.

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Across the pre-season for the Minnesota Wild, the line when on the ice together put 18 shots on goal, whilst allowing (along with their defensive pairing) 24 shots against.

Not the best stats but given they’re a third line that may have been playing above that level in pre-season, are workable.

The more impressive line is that they matched scoring chances for with scoring chances against, with 16.

The fact that number is equal offers some reality that they are able to play a stable steady game.

A Corsi stat of 41.18% doesn’t scream out great in terms of possession; in fact, it’s actually quite bad.

However, the reality is that they only spent 39:52 on the ice together in pre-season suggesting that the sample size may not be useful.

The final pre-season glimpse of their potential was the fact they were scored 3 goals whilst only conceding 2 when all three were sharing the ice.

Every single statistic suggests that this line combination offers something at least a little intriguing.

Chances are they’re icing together as the third line on opening night, so it’ll be interesting and all might become a little clearer as to their potential when the Minnesota Wild take on the Colorado Avalanche.

Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.

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