Minnesota Wild: What to do about the dilemma at center?
By C.G. Jones
There’s been a lot of chatter about what the Minnesota Wild could and should do in the postseason, but there’s no good reason for the team to make any major moves. The prospect of acquiring Jack Eichel and/or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins should be of no concern for the club. The risk is too high, and the contracts would almost certainly be too much for a team that’s already hamstrung into a several, high-cost deals.
The focus for head coach Dean Evason and general manager Bill Guerin should be to sculpt a contender for next season, while trimming any pre-existing fat. With the exception of picking up a two-way prospect and searching for a middle-of-the-road centerman, the upper brass should, more or less, remain fairly quiet this offseason.
The Dilemma at Center
While Jack Eichel will undoubtedly perform at an elite level with whatever club acquires him from Buffalo, the Wild simply have too much to lose, should they be one of the teams interested. There are cheaper options that will be available—to say nothing of players already on the roster.
Ryan Hartman and Nico Sturm appear to be players who will likely be protected before the likes of Jordan Greenway, for the simple fact that they can player center. If there was a way to convert Greenway into a versatile forward who could fill in the gap at center, I would do everything I could to ensure that he was protected before the expansion draft.
Hartman is not a terrible option at center. Over the course of 51 games played in the 2020-2021 season, he registered seven goals and 15 assists for a total of 22 points. These are not bad numbers, but they’re not necessarily world-changing either.
Nico Sturm is not a spectacular option. He chalked up 11 goals and six assists for 17 points over 50 games this season. These are fourth-line numbers, if that.
One hope would be that Alexander Khovanov develops a bit sooner than he has, but he has shown almost no promise in the KHL. He was demoted to the VHL, raking in eight goals and 16 assists for 24 points in 30 games. I wouldn’t count on his ability to suddenly be better any time soon.
It may be that the Wild look to the market for an upgrade at the centerman position. And I don’t agree that this is a feasible possibility, but they should not break the bank in order to do so.
One (Slim) Possibility
One unpopular possibility for the Wild this offseason is to take back Mikael Granlund. He played well this postseason, scoring two goals and registering three assists in six games played.
Granlund would likely cost less than half of what the likes of Eichel or Nugent-Hopkins would be asking, and he has the upside of already being familiar with how the Wild operate. I’m not sure he could be called a veteran, but he still has a lot of potential that hasn’t been exercised to the full with Nashville.
With 13 goals and 14 assists in 51 games, it’d be wise for Guerin to at least consider bringing the Finnish player back to the north. He’s not going to be a leading goal-scorer on the team, but he would be a good asset that can help in the development of the younger players on the team.
One can hope, right?
Final Thoughts
Either way, the Wild will be losing a quality player in the expansion draft—whether that’s Greenway or Matt Dumba. Depending on what the Seattle Kraken will be looking for when it comes time, it’s incumbent upon the Wild to consider fleshing out the third and fourth-line centerman role as soon as possible. And they will have to figure out how to do this without losing quality roster players and/or other future assets.
We shall have to wait and see!