NHL Central preview: Minnesota Wild
As NHL training camps get set to open this week, here's a brief look at what to expect from the Blackhawks' Central Division foes this season.
MINNESOTA WILD 38-33-11, 87 points, fifth place
Postseason: Lost in six games to Dallas in first round.
Key additions: Forwards Eric Staal and Chris Stewart, and coach Bruce Boudreau.
Key losses: Forward Thomas Vanek.
The skinny: The Wild has been muddling along in the Central Division, finishing in fourth or fifth place each of the past three years. So out went coach Mike Yeo and in comes Bruce Boudreau, who won eight division titles with Washington and Anaheim in the past nine years.
The odds of Boudreau lifting Minnesota to a division crown seem slim, but he has a stable of talented forwards in Zach Parise (average 29G, 28A last three seasons), Mikko Koivu, Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter and Jason Pominville. It will be interesting to see how Eric Staal, who spent his entire career in Carolina before being traded to the Rangers last season, fits in. Staal has 325 career goals, but scored just 13 last season - the lowest total since his rookie year of 2003-04. Minnesota also needs 33-year-old Pominville to be a scoring threat again. He had 18 goals in 2014-15 and just 11 last season after piling up 30 in 2013-14 and 2011-12.
The Wild's defense is solid (only three teams in the West allowed fewer goals) and 6-foot-6 goalie Devan Dubnyk (.918 save percentage last season) has rounded into form the last two seasons. If Boudreau successfully implements his system and this team scores 15-20 more goals, a 100-point campaign isn't out of the question.