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Can The Minnesota Wild Reclaim The Top Of The Division?

By Brandon Quast

Jan 17, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) celebrates his goal with the bench in the third period against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 17, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) celebrates his goal with the bench in the third period against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /
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Could the Minnesota Wild rise and reclaim the top spot in the Central Division?

The answer is short and very sweet, yes, yes they can.

The Wild were on quite some streak before injuries and the COVID bug hit the team but through those issues, the Wild still weren’t a bad team. The team currently sits 4th in the division and due to the revised schedule, the “make up” games if you would call them that, could have an excellent chance to rise back to the top.

How you may ask? Well, it seems we keep seeing better and better news coming out of Minnesota everyday. Top defensive center Joel Eriksson Ek will be returning to the team after having been on the COVID protocols list. Jonas Brodin is getting close to returning and perhaps in the next little while we will see number one netminder Cam Talbot return.

The Wild have been actually really good without so many key players too. Ryan Hartman has been the literal definition of a bargain this season scoring literally at will and being one of the hottest players in the league. He also leads the league in plus/minus. Goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen also needs to be shown some spot light here as well as he has been spectacular in relief of Cam Talbot being absent.

Nov 30, 2021; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild right wing Ryan Hartman (38) skates with the puck against the Arizona Coyotes in the second period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 30, 2021; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild right wing Ryan Hartman (38) skates with the puck against the Arizona Coyotes in the second period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports /

The things that need to be done?

Staying healthy will be the number one priority for the team as we live in the world of COVID-19, an outbreak could happen at anytime so players should be smart with their off-ice decisions. The 2nd is playing as a team. There is no one player on this team that makes it as much as I would like to say that Kirill Kaprizov and Ryan Hartman have been putting the team on their backs this season.

Jan 17, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) controls the puck in overtime against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 17, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) controls the puck in overtime against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Even with Colorado being in the top spot in the division as of right now, there is still hope to reclaim, it could be slow and painful but the Wild have shown to be strong and gritty this season even with missing players but as long as they stick to their principles, the team will show their success on the ice.

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