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Predictions
EAST
1. WAS
2. BOS
3. PHI
4. PIT
5. CAR
6. MTL
7. NJD
8. TBL
9. TOR
10. BUF
11. NYR
12. FLA
13. ATL
14. OTT
15. NYI
WEST
1. CHI
2. VAN
3. ANA
4. DET
5. SJS
6. CGY
7. CBJ
8. LAK
9. MNW
10. STL
11. DAL
12. EDM
13. NSH
14. PHX
15. COL
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
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40-33-9
89 PTS
Playoff Result: N/A
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TOP SCORER: Mikko Koivu, 67
TOP GOAL SCORER: Andrew Brunette, 22
TOP ASSISTS: M. Koivu, 47
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PP RANK: 9
PK RANK: 2
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Ceiling: $56.8M
Wild: 53.675
Floor: $40.8M
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CLOSED
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Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Too much dough
for 16 goals.
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Anze Kopitar
Kopitar jumped right out of the
starting gate three seasons ago and he needs build on that if the
Kings want to see playoff action again. The 22 year old has all the
skills in place and management is counting on him to produce after
signing him to a seven-year extension last season. |
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9. Minnesota Wild
Coach of the Wild since the franchise’s inception,
Jacques Lemaire, was shown the door. Marian Gaborik, the club’s first draft
pick, left for Manhattan. General Manager Doug Risebrough was shown the
door, too.
The team will likely throw its defense-intensive
trapping scheme out the window and go with a more offensive, uptempo game
plan with new coach Todd Richards, a former Sharks assistant who worked
under brand new GM Chuck Fletcher with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).
“Guys scoring ten goals are making four million
dollars a year,” Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne said recently at a public
appearance.
In the case of Pierre-Marc Bouchard, that quip hits
a bit too close to home. His five-year, $20.4M deal enters its second
season, and he needs to improve on the 16 goals he put up in 2008-09.
Mikko Koivu emerged as predicted here and elsewhere,
taking full advantage of his newfound status as first-line center. Since
Marian Gaborik missed 65 games to injury last season, the change to the
post-Gaborik era won’t be too severe. Martin Havlat (29-48-77) jumps aboard
after an acrimonious exit from Chicago, and will join Koivu on the first
line.
An interesting trio of veteran forwards at moderate
prices give the Wild enough depth to challenge for the postseason. Andrew
Brunette (22 goals), Owen Nolan (25) and Antti Miettinen (15) give the club
veteran jam for $2.5M per for Brunette and Miettinen; $2.75 for Nolan. Petr
Sykora, at 32 coming off his second Stanley Cup victory, is a welcome
training camp invitee. Sykora won the Cup with New Jersey in 2000 as a
full-time participant, last season with Pittsburgh as a part-time player,
and appeared in a Cup final with Anaheim in 2003. He has scored 20 goals ten
times.
Brent Burns is entering his sixth NHL season. The
durable Burns missed 23 games to injury last season due to post-concussion
syndrome. Free agents Greg Zanon joins the Wild after years in Nashville
while Shane Hnidy arrives from Boston. Kim Johnsson has missed only nine
games in the past three seasons, and Nick Shultz rounds out a defense that
finished second in the NHL.
While the Wild will trap no longer, they still have
a dominant group of defensemen, not to mention the league’s top hitter in
Cal Clutterbuck. They’ll be tough to play against, as always. Not to mention
Derek Boodgard. Where’d they find that monster?
Niklas Backstrom was stellar and received some
Vezina votes. The team will once again turn to 25-year-old Josh Harding for
a backup, but has brought in Wade Dubliewicz after a season in the KHL, to
spice up the goaltending competition.
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