Minnesota Wild: What To Expect From New Look Forward Lines

Two games into the NHL Season, the Minnesota Wild have 2 losses to show and only 2 goals total. With 4 days off between games, there has been some line shuffling in practice. What should we expect from the new line combinations?

Coming into this season, the top 3 lines for the Minnesota Wild seemed set for the season and built well enough to withstand any challenges. Less than 7 days into the season and we are already witnessing the wheels coming off.

Minnesota got 1 goal in their first game, a solid play by veterans Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise, but were otherwise heavily out worked by the younger and faster Colorado Avalanche. Not to say there weren’t some good chances, but nothing to write home about.

Game 2 was a better defensive performance, but again the offense was only able to muster a single goal for. Fittingly, the goal in that game came from defenseman Mathew Dumba on a hard-working play that he both started and finished with a minimal assist to Charlie Coyle.

The Minnesota Wild top line of Jason Zucker, Eric Staal, and Mikael Granlund accounted for 16 of the Wild’s 51 shots through 2 games, and zero points. The powerplay went 0 for 5 across 2 games, and this trio is largely to blame for that as well.

So, in order to spark the offense and find a way to put some pucks in the net, coach Bruce Boudreau has been testing out new line combinations in practice during this time off. As reported on Twitter by Michael Russo, here are the Minnesota Wild lines from practice on Monday:

What should we expect from these new lines? I would think a better spread of speed, grit, and skill through the entire lineup. This should allow the Wild to be able to send out any line in any situation (although I’d prefer if they stop sending the 4th line against opposing top lines) and expect success.

Joel Eriksson Ek being promoted to the Staal line is a surprise, but a welcome one. Eriksson Ek is a skill player with a history and ability to produce points. He has never matured to that level in the NHL, but has also been left to try to produce on bottom 6 lines. This is a true opportunity for him to prove his value.

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With the promotion of Eriksson Ek, I actually believe the Staal line would be the new “2nd Line”. Moving Granlund to the Koivu & Parise line, coupled with that lines consistent ability to produce scoring opportunities, suggests it should be viewed as the top line now.

Granlund’s speed and skill is something that Nino Niederreiter cannot match, and with Nino on the Koivu line he was mostly invisible. Anytime chances were being generated it felt like Mikko and Zach were doing it on their own, they need someone who can match that skill and I believe Mikael is the best fit for that pair, and they are the best fit for him.

The 3rd line of Nino, Greenway, and Coyle is a big line of big bodied players who should be able to control the puck and battle possession off of any team. The key word there being “should.” Coyle uses his body to maintain possession well, and protect the puck from defenders, but he isn’t big on throwing hits or battling to gain possession in board battles.

Greenway should be reliable for winning board battles and gaining possession, but through 2 games this season he appears to be playing small and shying away from throwing his body around.

I see this going 1 of 2 different directions. Either adding Nino to this line, a line that now consists of 3 players all around or bigger than 6’3 and 220lbs, provides a size advantage and mismatch that the Minnesota Wild can exploit to become a dominant force.

Or they fail to use their size and speed as an advantage, instead shying away from contact and following Nino’s lead of being invisible on the ice. I’d hope it’s option one, but fear we may see a regression to option 2. If this line fails to produce, we could see Eric Fehr getting Greenway’s spot sooner than later.

The 4th line stays the same, which isn’t a surprise considering the faith Boudreau has been showing in them. This is my biggest concern so far this season, as this line is the oldest on the team and noticeably slow. Matching them up against opposing top lines is a major mismatch that needs to be avoided.

If the Fehr/Foligno line can get matchups against opposing 4th lines, I feel it would be a huge advantage in the favor of Minnesota as our 4th line is one of the best in the league as a 4th line. Time to stop playing lineups looking for an advantage, and lineup our best against their best and our 4th against their 4th.

Devan Dubnyk has been excellent at keeping this team in games while they try to adjust to the regular season speed again. As long as he can maintain this form, there is still plenty of hope that the Wild can turn the year around.

Hopefully these new lines can spark the Minnesota Wild players to get on the scoreboard, and we can start “Crowd Chant”-ing along to more goal celebrations starting Thursday at Xcel against the surprising Chicago Blackhawks.