Minnesota Wild: How will Central Division re-alignment affect the Wild?
By Luke Ryan
Only six teams in the league have given up more games to the Minnesota Wild than the Arizona Coyotes; so when the announcement was made that they’d be moved to the Central Division, it should be seen as a great thing for the Wild!
The impact is minimal really; it means the division has an even number of teams and that scheduling gets slightly easier. Timezone-wise, it’s only an hour different in Arizona, so it doesn’t impact bed time too much for Minnesota Wild fans!
Beyond that, the bonus for the Wild is their strong record against the Coyotes. obviously, you can’t base the future (especially a couple of seasons’ away) on the past, but you can typically pick out certain bogey teams when you start looking at head-to-head records.
Interestingly for the Minnesota Wild, their best record isn’t against a fellow Central Division side, but rather one of Arizona’s (soon to be former) Pacific Division rivals, the Edmonton Oilers. In 89 encounters with them, the Wild has come out victor on 52 occasions. You can look at the dreadful years before Connor McDavid (and even last season, after his arrival) for the reasoning behind that.
In terms of current Central Division rivals, the Colorado Avalanche, Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues all prove good opponents for the Minnesota Wild, all sitting above the Coyotes on the Minnesota team’s all-time win-loss record.
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You’re fully justified to look at these records, of course, and say that they’re caused by weak teams.
The Arizona Coyotes have been weak for a number of years, the Edmonton Oilers likewise. Central Division rivals are seen more often than Pacific ones, so you have to take the number of wins with a grain of salt.
Even so, looking at points percentage, to remove that point bias from the equation; the Arizona Coyotes will still rank (at this moment in time) as the Wild’s third highest point percentage against a divisional rival. The Wild net 0.578% of the points from their all-time games against the team from the desert.
Looking at one of the other options, at least geographically; a return to the Central Division for the Detroit Red Wings, with Nashville moving to the East – the Minnesota Wild might actually be a little disappointed.
Connor Dewar should be at WJC selection camp. dark. Next
Whatever happened though, the fact is the Central Division is still a hard division to make the play-offs from. The Arizona Coyotes, when they arrive, aren’t going to make it any easier. Playing fewer games with other strong teams might!