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Minnesota Wild: 3 questions that need to be answered

By Brennen Rupp

ST. PAUL, MN - MARCH 16: Jared Spurgeon #46 of the Minnesota Wild skates with the puck in the third period against the New York Rangers on March 16, 2019 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Minnesota Wild defeated the New York Rangers 5-2. (Photo by David Berding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, MN - MARCH 16: Jared Spurgeon #46 of the Minnesota Wild skates with the puck in the third period against the New York Rangers on March 16, 2019 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Minnesota Wild defeated the New York Rangers 5-2. (Photo by David Berding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Minnesota Wild opened training camp Thursday and their season opener is in 20 days. The Wild are coming off a season in which they missed the playoffs for the first time in six years and are looking to prove that they are still a playoff quality team.

“Every team that didn’t win is going to say it has a chip on its shoulder,” Wild coach, Bruce Boudreau said. “All I know is when they predict us to be No. 32 in a 31-team league, it might upset us a little bit.”

With a chip on their shoulder can the Wild get back to the postseason and silence their critics? That’s just one of many questions the Wild are facing as they gear up for the 2019-2020 season.

Three Questions

1. Where will the scoring come from? The Wild will be leaning on self improvement to improve from last year’s offensive output. Last season the Wild finished dead last in scoring and were shutout 11 times. The return of Matt Dumba will help, but the Wild will need Jason Zucker and Eric Staal to enjoy bounce back seasons. They will also be looking for Kevin Fiala, Ryan Donato, Jordan Greenway and Luke Kunin to have breakout seasons. Mats Zuccarello was the big addition this offseason and the highest scoring Norwegian in NHL history will create plenty of opportunities for his linemates.

2. What will the lines look like? As you read this Boudreau tinkered with the depth chart. Earlier in the offseason Boudreau projected that the first line would be Zucker, Staal and Zuccarello, with Zach Parise, Kunin and Fiala on the second line. A few weeks ago that changed. The projected first line at the start of training camp is Zucker, Staal and Fiala (once Fiala arrives). The second line is Parise, possibly Kunin and Zuccarello. It will be very interesting to see how the lineup looks on opening night and all the different lineup combinations Boudreau tries throughout the preseason.

3. Which direction will Bill Guerin take? Since being hired as the new general manager, Guerin has said and done all the right things. He seems to be a good fit and it will interesting to see what direction he decides to take this team. The Wild will be tested early this season, as their first four games are against teams that made the playoffs last season. They play 13 of their first 18 games on the road and a slow start could mean doomsday for this Wild team. A good indicator could be what Guerin opts to do with defenseman, Jared Spurgeon.

"“Whether or not he’s traded this season will be the simplest way to tell which way Guerin wants to go with the Wild,” Brett Marshall, the host of PuckPourri podcat said. “If Spurgeon stays, he wants to compete. If Spurgeon is traded, the team is going be torn down and rebuilt.”"

If Guerin can lock up Spurgeon before the start of the regular season it’s a good sign that Guerin believes this core can compete. No deal, combined with a slow start could mean Spurgeon is out the door as Guerin looks to start a rebuild in the State of Hockey.

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