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Minnesota Wild: Three Reasons They Finish Higher Than Colorado

By Luke Ryan

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 24: Colorado Avalanche Center Nathan MacKinnon (29) and Minnesota Wild Center Mikko Koivu (9) face-off during a NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche on November 24, 2017 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN.The Wild defeated the Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 24: Colorado Avalanche Center Nathan MacKinnon (29) and Minnesota Wild Center Mikko Koivu (9) face-off during a NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche on November 24, 2017 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN.The Wild defeated the Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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DENVER, CO - JANUARY 06: Colin Wilson #22 of the Colorado Avalanche handles the puck infront of goaltender Devan Dubnyk #40 of the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center on January 6, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Wild 7-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – JANUARY 06: Colin Wilson #22 of the Colorado Avalanche handles the puck infront of goaltender Devan Dubnyk #40 of the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center on January 6, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Wild 7-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Goaltending More Certain For Minnesota Wild

Devan Dubnyk hasn’t always been the perfect goaltender for the Minnesota Wild; he has his moments, but then again all goaltenders do.

Likewise, Alex Stalock; the number two for the Minnesota Wild may not have the ability to fulfil a starter’s workload, but he does have an ability to put up strong performances when called upon as backup.

Not forgetting that there’s is more NHL experience further down the depth chart, with Andrew Hammond awaiting the call-up to replace an injured goalie.

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In Semyon Varlamov and Phillipe Grubauer, the Colorado Avalanche have a stronger pairing on paper at least.

However, neither has ever truly been a starter; they have a situation almost akin to one the Toronto Maple Leafs once suffered whereby Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer didn’t know who was the starter and who was the backup.

That’s exactly what I see in Colorado, and the Minnesota Wild may be able to take advantage of uncertainty amongst the goalies.

If anything, goalies are creatures of routine and rhythm; if neither can hit their stride, requiring starter workloads to do so; it could be a challenging season.

Not forgetting that Semyon Varlamov has proven quite injury-prone over his career. This team doesn’t look as deep in terms of goaltending when you factor him out for a chunk of the season.

Between them it’s reasonable to see a full year being covered, given Varlamov’s career-high games in one season was 63 back in the 2013-14 season, whilst the young German, Grubauer managed 35 with the Stanley Cup winning Washington Capitals last campaign.

It is however going to be an interesting situation; will the competition for the starter spot spur greater performances from both, or will it be their undoing?

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