Wild have two underrated secret weapons heading into playoff series against Stars

It’s been well-established that the Minnesota Wild not making a trade before the deadline might be something that comes back to bite them in the playoffs. Not having a 1C center is no doubt a massive flaw in their Stanley Cup plans, but it’s not as fatal as it might get made out to be.

Part of this is the wealth of talent elsewhere on the roster, from Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes, to Brock Faber, Matt Boldy, and Vladimir Taresenko, to the goaltending duo of Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson. What cannot be overlooked — but appears to be in the lead up to the series against Dallas — is how heavy the Wild are entering the series.

Michael McCarron and Yakov Trenin are another duo, much like Wally and Gus, who deserve a ton of attention. One is a 6-foot-7 excuse for a fight and the other is the new single-season franchise leader in hits.

Together they help make up a menacing fourth-line that could rattle Dallas in a way that helps flip the series.

Wild are coming as heavy as they ever have to playoff series against the Stars

Technically not the center Minnesota needed, McCarron is someone who could pan out to be one of the best deadline acquisitions the Wild have made in quite some time. He’s not going to provide top-line offense or be a game-changer with his stick but what he can do with his body might help equalize things.

We saw this almost right out of the gate once he landed in Minnesota; the Wild have an attitude and an edge they’ve sorely lacked. Part of the reason for the early playoff exits all these years has been partially due to the fact that the Wild are prone to getting bullied around.

Look back at the ridiculous Ryan Suter cross check on Kaprizov and the lack of response the other way. Minnesota has the muscle now to match the physicality that teams in the playoffs bring and it goes deeper than just what McCarron and his knack for starting fights to inject some energy brings.

Trenin set the franchise record for most hits in a season against the Stars back in March. He’s been a force as a wrecking ball on a line that also includes the Foligno brothers — who are giving Hanson Brother vibes at the exact right time.

That heavy line is one that matched up well against much softer Dallas depth. We saw it in th last meeting between the two teams and it was just a taste of things to come.

It’s not the sole factor that will flip the series but it’s one of the underrated reasons why this is going to be a capital-S Series. Minnesota has offensive star power like we haven’t seen before but the muscle coming heavy to a series where the Wild can’t afford to lose momentum by being bullied around is going to be a secret weapon that could be more important than even those already identifying this as a factor might think.

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