5 reasons why the Wild will make the postseason

For the first time during the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter era the Minnesota Wild missed out on the playoffs last season. The run of six straight playoff appearances came to a crashing halt. It was a season that saw then general manger, Paul Fenton trade core pieces like Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter and Mikael Granlund. Fenton was recently fired after lasting a whopping 14 months on the job.

Even with all the mayhem surrounding the team this offseason, the Wild still have an experienced core mixed with some tantalizing young talent. That mix could lead to a surprising playoff berth for the Wild. Let’s take a look at five reasons why the Wild may make the postseason this season.

Fenton made a lot of questionable decisions, but before he was fired he signed free agent, Mats Zuccarello. Sure, one could say he signed him for a few years too many, but there is no denying Zuccarello is the type of playmaker that the Wild haven’t had during the Parise/Suter era. The winger is the highest scoring Norwegian in NHL history and will play alongside Parise on the first line. In 2013-2014, Zuccarello broke out with the New York Rangers. He led the team with 59 points and scored 19 goals and recorded 40 assists. This past postseason with the Dallas Stars, Zuccarello scored four goals and recorded seven assists.

SIMBA RETURNS! Okay. No, he’s not Simba, but Matt Dumba returning from injury this season is basically like Simba returning to Pride Rock in the movie Lion King. The Wild were 17-13-2 with the defenseman last season. With Dumba sidelined due to a torn pectoral muscle the Wild went 20-23-7. If it weren’t for his season-ending injury, Dumba was likely on his way to having a career year. In 32 games he scored12 goals, which is two shy of his career-high.He’s one of the best two-way defenseman in the league and has scored 10 or more goals in four straight seasons. For a team that finished 27th in scoring last year the Wild will welcome back Dumba with open arms.

If the Wild are going to get back to the postseason they will need a few of their young players to have breakout seasons. Not all of Fenton’s moves were terrible this season as two of the trades brought back

Ryan Donato and Kevin Fiala

. When thinking about players that are in store for a breakout season for the Wild, Donato and Fiala top the list. In 22 games with the Wild, Donato finished with 16 points. He scored four goals, recorded 12 assists and had 64 shots on goal. Fiala was more up and down, with more downs, but he flashed at certain points last year that lead one to believe that he could be in store for more this season. In those 19 games with the Wild, Fiala finished with seven points, scoring three goals and recording four assists. His best game came against his former team in Nashville. In his first game in Nashville as a member of the Wild, Fiala scored two goals.

ST. PAUL, MN – APRIL 02: Zach Parise #11 of the Minnesota Wild celebrates his 2nd goal of the night in the 1st period during a game with the Winnipeg Jets at Xcel Energy Center on April 2, 2019 in St. Paul, Minnesota.(Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)

No, the Wild don’t have any marquee names, but they do have a duo in Parise and Suter that still produce at a high level. Despite missing the playoffs, Parise had one of his finest seasons as a member of the Wild last season. He led the team in goals (28) and points (61). Suter finished the season with 40 assists and 47 points, even though he got off to a slow start after coming off the ankle injury he suffered at the end of the 2017-2018 season. Parise could be in store for a big season playing alongside the playmaking Zuccarello. Suter won’t be coming off a major injury and could be more in line with the numbers he put up during the 2017-2018 season when he posted a career-high in assists (45).

Jason Zucker is due for a bounce back season. Zucker is coming off a solid 42 point season for the Wild. He scored 21 goals and recorded 21 assists, all the while with trade rumors swirling. Those numbers for Zucker are respectable. However, the Wild were likely expecting more from him in 2018-2019. Especially when you consider Zucker had a career-year during the 2017-2018 season. That season he finished with 64 points, scoring 33 goals and recording 31 assists, all career-highs for the winger. If the Wild are going to get back to the postseason, they will Zucker to be more of the 2017-2018 version of Zucker.