The Minnesota Wild have a bright future with Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber locked into contracts. Things could get brighter if Quinn Hughes signs a massive contract extension before the start of next season. The presence of those four players presents a good argument that the Wild is entering its golden era as a franchise, but its lack of high-end prospects could give them some pause.
The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranked the Wild 24th in his annual prospect pipeline rankings and his analysis shows they are devoid of young talent. But the presence of the Dallas Stars (30th) and Colorado Avalanche (32nd) toward the bottom of the list may show it’s OK given Minnesota is in a “win now” mindset.
But any attempts to sugar coat their low ranking should come with a grain of salt as a lack of prospects could wind up hurting the Wild’s future as they remain a work in progress.
The Wild’s lack of prospects could keep them behind the Central Division’s elite
Looking at the Wild’s roster heading into next season, there’s no reason why they can’t compete in the Central Division. With Kaprizov, Boldy, Faber and Hughes in place the Wild have a floor that should at least get them to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and 62.4 percent of respondents in a fan poll at The Athletic agree, saying they should finish with 100 to 109 points in the standings.
But even with high-end talent on the roster, they still come into this year with several questions. The biggest is who will play on the top line as Kirill Kaprizov is the only player locked into his role. While Ryan Hartman is the frontrunner to be the top-line center as of right now, the Wild have been frantically searching for an upgrade and have been waiting patiently for the Detroit Red Wings to throw in the towel and trade Dylan Larkin to Minnesota.
The Wild also has big holes to fill on the wings. Mats Zuccarello, Vladimir Tarasenko and Marcus Johansson combined for 150 points last season, but all three of them have left, leaving the Wild to make low-cost gambles to fill those roles.
In the short term, that puts a lot of pressure on Bobby Brink and Maxim Shabanov. But in the long-term, finding those bargains could become more difficult as salaries skyrocket under the NHL’s rising salary cap.
There’s always the possibility of a midseason trade to fill these roles but with a lack of high-end prospects to get those players, the Wild may be facing a huge gap between themselves and some of the teams they’ll have to go through on the way to the Cup.
The Colorado Avalanche won the presidents trophy one year ago and while they lost Valeri Nichushkin, Ross Colton and Jack Drury this offseason, they still have a deeper lineup that includes Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Brock Nelson, Gabriel Landeskog and Cale Makar.
The Dallas Stars also lost a few key pieces including Mavrik Bourque and Ilya Lyubushkin due to salary cap issues, but returned a similar core with Jason Robertson, Mikko Rantanan, Wyatt Johnson, Roope Hintz and Thomas Harley as their cornerstones.
With cores like that, the Avalanche and Stars don’t need young talent and it can be argued they’re ahead of the Wild as they enter next season.
The Wild’s lack of prospects could make fixing their flaws a challenge
As mentioned before, this is where the possibility of a trade comes into play. But the Wild may not have the assets to get a truly impactful player such as Larkin.
Charlie Stramel is the Wild’s top prospect and trade chip going into next year, but Pronman projects him as a “bubble top and middle of the lineup player.” Even his assessment that Stramel can become a second-line center is generous and that theme continues as he goes deep into his list.
The No. 2 prospect on the list is Danila Yurov, who Pronman pegs as a middle of the lineup player. Kayden Lemire, Hunter Haight and Adam Anderson round out the top five as NHL prospects. The only player with “above NHL average” skills across the board is Adam Benak and he’s a questionable projection considering he’s undersized at 5-foot-7 and 164 pounds.
There may be a team that is still willing to take the risk on any of these prospects. But if the Wild need to dip further into their pool to add an impact player, they may have a tough time unless they dive into their draft capital.
While that formula works for a finished product like the Vegas Golden Knights, the Wild don’t appear to be on the same level after the departures they’ve endured this season. It makes a low ranking feel a lot worse compared to some of the other Cup contenders at the bottom of the list and could produce a big challenge when Guerin and the Wild hit the trade market in the next few seasons.
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