A closer look at the Wild

When the Minnesota Wild signed both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in the summer of 2012, the team became an instant Stanley Cup contender — at least in the mind of this writer.

So, when the team scrambled to get the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot, then subsequently found itself bounced in five games by the eventual Stanley Cup champion BlackHawks, it seemed the team had underachieved.

Last season the team improved to seventh overall and enjoyed a sweet seven game opening round victory over the Colorado Avalanche, a team that finished 14 points ahead of the Wild in the regular season.

Ultimately, the playoffs ended in the Conference semi-finals as once again the Wild ran into the Hawks. But, this time, the Wild made the Hawks earn the playoff win, battling them through six tough games before finally succumbing.

The Wild didn’t make a lot of off season moves. Probably the biggest and smartest decision was quickly getting Head Coach Mike Yeo re-signed to a multi-year deal at the end of May and they did pick up free agent Thomas Vanek as well while Dany Heatley left and was signed in Anaheim.

The only distraction for the team in the days leading up to the new season was  getting Darcy Kuemper’s name on a contract. He held out signing for some time and appeared to have the upper hand when it was discovered an foot injury to Josh Harding would actually keep him sidelined for at least a couple of months.

The Wild responded by bringing Ilya Bryzgalov back into the fold this season. With all three goaltenders (Harding, Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom) battling injuries last season on the eve of the playoffs, Bryzgalov was added and did a nice job for the team in the playoff run. His addition during the off season certainly clouds the picture of who will be wearing a Minnesota jersey and who will be in Iowa at the start though.

NIno Niederreiter also re-signed late in the off season meaning the team was able to focus on the upcoming season when it hit the ice to start training camp a few days ago.

Salary wise, this is an interesting club as there are some massive contracts — Ryan Suter, Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville — all north of $5 million but there are also nine rostered players with deals under $1 million. As a result, the Wild is well under the team cap and the team could be in position to be a buyer at the trade deadline if things are going its way this season. Also, the Wild could possibly be one of the teams that could benefit immediately as teams like Boston, Philadelphia and Tampa need to shed salary to get under the cap ceiling in the days leading up to the start of the regular season. Chicago is another team that needs to make a move or two, but it is doubtful they would choose a rival like the Wild as a trade partner.

The Wild preprared for its training camp recently as one of the eight teams at the NHL Rookie tournament at Traverse City, Michigan.

The Wild faced eventual champion Columbus Blue Jackets in its first game falling 6-4 (Ryan Walters 2, Kurtis Gabriel a d Zach Mitchell). In its next game, the Wild earned a 4-3 edge against the Blues in overtime (Christian Folin, Gustav Olofson, Matt Dumba and Walters) then wrapped up play in it’s four team pool with a 5-1 loss against the Red Wings (Pavel Jenys).

The 1-2 record ranked the Wild third in its pool and they wrapped up fifth spot overall in its finale with a 6-3 doubling of the New York Rangers. Mitchell led the way with three goals and others came from Brady Brassart, Dumba and Ryan Graham.

With that behind them, the Wild moved on open Training Camp with 56 players invited beginning on Friday.  Actually players were in camp a few days earlier for a team golf tournament and Captains practices.

The group was split into three squads right away and scrimmaged as early as the opening day of camp. The team will open its six game pre-season schedule on Monday with a trip to Winnipeg.

Cuts will come quick as the Iowa Wild is scheduled to open camp in Des Moines on Thursday.

Also affiliated with the Wild, as of this summer is the Alaska Aces of the ECHL.