MINNESOTA WILD: 08-09 Season Preview

07-08 RECORD: 44-28-10 98 points
DIVISION: 1st
CONFERENCE: 3rd
RESULT: Lost in 1st round

OFF-SEASON:
ARRIVALS: LW Andrew Brunette(COL), LW Owen Nolan(CGY), RW Antii Miettinen(DAL), RW Craig Weller(PHO), C Krys Kolanos(AHL), C Cody Locke(MON), D Marek Zidlicky(NAS), D M-A Bergeron(NYI/ANA), D Tomas Mojzis(NYR)
DEPARTURES: D Keith Carney, LW Pavol Demitra, LW Todd Fedoruk, RW Matt Foy, D Sean Hill, D Petteri Nummelin, LW Brian Rolston, LW Chris Simon, LW Aaron Voros, RW Mark Parrish

New faces will be all over the Wild's roster. The Wild headed into the free agent season with alot of UFA's and elected to head in a different direction, letting alot of them walk. With the loss of both Brian Rolston and Pavol Demitra, the Wild lost alot of offense so it was the focus on the summers transactions. The Wild started with two trades for defensemen Marek Zidlicky and M-A Bergeron. Both will be looked to help bring some more offense from the back-end. The Wild then brought in fan favourite Andrew Brunette on July 1st. Brunette has continued to produce offensively but was the Wild's really only true top-6 forward acquisition. The Wild then added some grit in signing LW Owen Nolan, RW Antii Miettinen and RW Craig Weller. Miettinen and Nolan will be looked upon to add some secondary scoring as well as their grit. The Wild finished off the off-season by buying out RW Mark Parrish to make some extra room under the cap.

CAP-HIT: 50.38 million

FORWARDS:
My Projected Lines:
1- A.BRUNETTE-M.KOIVU-M.GABORIK
2- O.NOLAN-J.SHEPPARD-P-M.BOUCHARD
3- C.GILLIES-E.BELANGER-A.MIETTINEN
4- S.VEILLEUX-B.POULIOT-C.WELLER
E- D.BOOGARD-C.LOCKE-C.CLUTTERBUCK

The Wild's biggest concern heading into the 08-09 season will be goal scoring. After the Wild lost 30 goal man Brian Rolston and 54 point man Pavol Demitra who had good chemistry with Marian Gaborik, the Wild brought in 59 point man Andrew Brunette from the Avalanche and Owen Nolan who only had 38 points last season. There will be big pressure on Mikko Koivu and youngster James Sheppard to prove they can be the top 2 centers. Gaborik's health is also a concern and if he misses a long period of time, the Wild could be in big, big trouble. P-M Bouchard will also have to step up this season an contribute 70-80 points on the Wild's second line. Colton Gillies looks like he is going to make the big squad, at least to start the season and with his great speed he could be a guy to watch for. Eric Belanger and Miettinen can play both ways and will have to be at their best night in and night out. Stephane Veilleux and Craig Weller will bring the grit and toughness while Benoit Pouliot looks like he will finally become a everyday NHLer.

DEFENSE:
My Projected Pairings:
1- B.BURNS-K.JOHNSSON
2- N.SCHULTZ-M.ZIDLICKY
3- M.SKOULA-M-A BERGERON
E- E.REITZ-K.FOSTER(INJ.)

As long as the Wild have Jacques Lemaire behind the bench their defensive game will never be a problem. Lead by Brent Burns, the Wild have a solid group of defensemen, 1 through 6. Burns continues to become one of the best in league and one of the leaders of this team. Kim Johnsson didn't bring the offense like the Wild hoped for when they signed him last year but was played a solid all-around game which made up for the loss of offense. Nick Schultz is the Wild's best defensive defensemen and will be put against the oppositions best night in and night out. Zidlicky and Bergeron will be looked to help Burns to add some offense from the back end. Kurtis Foster will start the season on injured reserve after that awful icing incident with the Sharks Tory Mitchell where he broke his leg.

GOALIES:
1- N.BACKSTROM
2- J.HARDING
3- B.BRUST

With Lemaire's defensive first game plan and with a solid top-6 in front of them, the Wild's goaltending should be a problem. Nicklas Backstrom and Josh Harding are both capable NHL goaltenders. Backstrom will get the majority of the work but Harding is more than capable of playing in 25-30 games.

OVERALL

We all know it is tough to score goals against the Wild but will they have enough scoring to even win the 2-1 or 1-0 games? Gaborik has to stay healthy and that will be the biggest concern throughout the whole season. Forwards like Bouchard, Shepard and Koivu all have to take their game to the next level cause Gaborik cant do it by himself. There are alot of new faces in the very competitive Northwest division and it will be very tough for the Wild to encore their division title from last season.

PREDICTION: 3rd Division, 8th Conference