Can the Minnesota Wild Find Goals from Their Own Roster?
We start our Minnesota Wild Chasing Goals Series with…the Minnesota Wild! What? Yes. The first thing we have to do and what we imagine any general manager and NHL Hockey Operations department does is to make sure there aren’t already players within their organization that can score goals. There are going to be some players already on the roster and in the system who are goal-scorers and maybe some players that can turn into goal-scorers. If they can’t find them on their own team, how are they going to find them through the NHL Draft, Free Agency and from other NHL teams through trades?
What is a Goal-Scorer?
A Goal-Scorer is a player who Scores Goals. That’s simple enough, right? But, let’s set some things straight to start off with before we get into the thick of what the Wild or any other team can offer in terms of players who score goals.
First, every team is looking for players who can score goals. We often hear a scout or an announcer say a player has “an NHL Shot.” Well, that means they should be able to score in the NHL but….
Second, there’s a difference between a player who can score goals and a player who can do it by themselves, either with their speed, their hands (puck control), their hockey sense or a combination of any or all of those skills. There are different types of goal-scorers. There are shooters, speeders, muckers & grinders and receivers. Muckers & grinders tip shots & get rebounds by going to the tough, dirty areas in front of the net. Receivers are players who know where goals are scored from and/or how to be available for a pass for a one-timer.
Third, goal-scorers can rarely do it all by themselves. It doesn’t matter how good they are. They’ll always need help from their linemates and teammates to score goals whether it’s a playmaking player that gets them the puck or gets them space to score on their own. If you put a bunch of goal-scorers on the same line, they’d probably score some goals but they might all be unassisted goals because none of them want to pass the puck.
Obviously, they’d learn how to play with each other but, basically, what we’re saying is, it takes a combination of different players to score goals consistently as a line and every team has to figure out how their players fit together so they can have the most success.
Do the Wild Have Any Goal-Scorers?
No! Ha! That’s not true! They have players who can score goals. There’s Zach Parise, Jason Zucker, Eric Staal and Matt Dumba. We know those players can score and will score because we’ve seen them do it in the NHL. Will they continue to score goals at their current pace, whether that’s a good or a bad pace? You’d like to think so but it’s impossible to know but, they have the talent to keep scoring goals because they are goal-scorers.
But that’s only 4 players and one of them is a defenseman. There’s nothing wrong with a defenseman being a goal-scorer but they usually don’t score a ton of goals. Last season in the NHL regular season, there were only 29 defensemen who scored double-digit goals with only 1 player scoring 20 (Toronto D Morgan Rielly.) That’s not even one defenseman per team scoring 10 goals. Wild D Matt Dumba was 17th on that list with 12 goals and he only played 32 games.* Does having a defenseman as one of your top goal-scorers present a problem? Yes, and no. Yes, if there aren’t many other goal-scorers around him, kind of like the Minnesota Wild. But no, if he scores a lot of those goals on the power play. Having a defenseman as a goal-scoring threat actually could open up more chances for the other players on the ice. Obviously, the more players you have that can score goals, the better.
*It makes you wonder what Matt Dumba would’ve ended up with if he played all 82 games, doesn’t it? WOW! Half of those 12 goals came on the Power Play, too.
Secondary Goal-Scoring?
Secondary goal-scoring is goals scored from players who aren’t necessarily goal-scorers but score goals because they are good players. Mikael Granlund comes to mind as a player that scores goals but isn’t necessarily a goal-scorer. A goal-scorer wants to shoot first, never hesitates to shoot and rarely stops shooting the puck. You don’t have to tell Zach Parise to shoot the puck. He knows who he is. Granlund is a pass-first player and it’s sad because he should be a goal-scorer. He scored on some great shots this season for the Wild but he may have been traded largely because he looks to pass the majority of the time.
For the Wild, D Jared Spurgeon, F Mikko Koivu, F Marcus Foligno and D Ryan Suter are secondary goal-scorers. They will score sometimes but aren’t really being counted on to score goals. That’s a pretty sad list save for Spurgeon. There should really be more to that list but there should also be more to the primary goal-scoring list, too, and we wouldn’t be talking about it if there were more players on that list.
Nino Niederreiter was a primary goal-scorer and Charlie Coyle was a secondary goal-scorer that was supposed to be and should’ve been a primary goal-scorer for the Minnesota Wild. Nino struggled with injuries and holding his spot in the top 6 because he wasn’t scoring goals. Charlie has a tremendous shot but he doesn’t shoot. That’s why they were both traded and went from being core players with the Wild to being role players with Carolina & Boston.
Future Goal-Scorers Already on the Wild
So, that leaves us with what the Wild has for future goal-scorers, players who are currently on the team or are prospects who have the potential and the history of being goal-scorers. The Wild have a lot of players who have the ability and/or the potential to score goals but they either have yet to live up to that or are early in their NHL careers and are still figuring out their role or how to play at the NHL level.
Fs Ryan Donato, Luke Kunin, Jordan Greenway, Kevin Fiala, Joel Eriksson-Ek and Victor Rask (Yes, Victor Rask) have the chance to be primary goal-scorers because they’ve done it throughout their careers and there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to keep doing that but, let’s take a closer look:
Ryan Donato
NHL-68 games (3 seasons)-15 goals, 19 assists
Wild-22 games (2018-19)-4 goals, 12 assists (5 PPA)
- Has a great shot and likes to shoot
- Not a great skater but has speed and gets where he wants to go
- Competes for pucks and wins battles
- 60 goals & 104 points in 97 NCAA games (Harvard)
- 5 goals in 5 games for Team USA at 2018 Olympic Games
Luke Kunin
NHL-68 games (2 seasons)-8 goals, 13 assists; 40 PIMs; -12
Wild in 2018-19-49 games-6 goals, 11 assists; 27 PIMs; -9
- Great shot; likes/wants to shoot
- Good to Great skater with speed
- 41 goals & 70 points in 69 NCAA games (Wisconsin)
- 27 goals & 47 points in 76 AHL games; 6 goals & 8 points in AHL Calder Cup playoffs in 2019
- Leadership qualities-been a captain everywhere he’s played except the pros; named Captain at Wisconsin as a sophomore; Captained USA U18 Team (’15) & U20 Team (’17) to Gold Medals; USNTDP Captain in 2015; Alternate Captain for U17 & USNTDP teams in 2014
- Easy to see how much this kid wants to make it and why he’s a leader every time you hear him talk during or after a game; will mix it up to protect his teammates, drop the gloves if he needs to. He just loves to compete!
- Asked to play for Teams USA at the 2019 IIHF World Championships – Next Game is tomorrow at 9am CST on the NHL Network
Jordan Greenway
NHL-87 games (2 seasons)-12 goals, 13 assists; 29 PIMs; -12
Wild in 2018-19-81 games-12 goals, 12 assists; 29 PIMs; -12
- Big – 6’6, 227 lbs; knows how to use his body to protect the puck but is still learning how to do it consistently in the NHL
- 28 goals & 92 points in 112 NCAA games (Boston)
- Helped Team USA win Gold in 2015 (U18) & 2017 (WJC) on the same team as the guy above; 3 goals, 8 points in 7 games in 2017
- Maybe not a primary goal-scorer but a better playmaker than people think.
- Good skater but something he can improve along with his shot
Kevin Fiala
NHL-223 games (5 seasons)-48 goals, 56 assists; 80 PIMs; -3
Wild in 2018-19-19 games-3 goals, 4 assists; 10 PIMs; -12
- Looks like he may want to pass too much but he can shoot it and has great hands
- Called a “GameChanger” by GM Paul Fenton after trading for him
- Good to Excellent speed
- Needs to get better at the defensive side of the game
- Probably tried to do too much in his new role in the top 6 or the Wild so he was turnover prone but a full offseason & training camp should make him more comfortable with his teammates
- 36 goals & 89 points in 121 AHL games, 141 PIMs, -16
- Played 2 games in the NHL at 19-years-old – 1 in the regular season, 1 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
- 5 goals, 1 assist in 18 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games
- Playing in the 2019 IIHF World Championships for Switzerland; has 4 goals & 2 assists in 5 games including 1 PPG, next game is tomorrow at 2pm on the NHL Network vs Russia & a certain other future WIld goal-scorer, F Kirill Kaprizov who, surprisingly has 0 points so far for Russia
Joel Eriksson-Ek
NHL-148 games (3 seasons)-16 goals, 21 assists; 46 PIMs; -4
Wild in 2018-19-58 games-7 goals, 7 assists; 20 PIMs; -7
- 8 goals, 10 assists in 18 AHL games
- Great skater; has a good shot but needs to shoot more
- Tremendous on the forecheck and great two-way player
- Stepped it up after Koivu injury looking like a different player, a player who belonged in the NHL
- Captained Sweden’s 2017 WJC team to a Gold Medal scoring 7 goals and 9 points in 6 games
- 21 goals & 37 points in 101 games in the SHL (Swedish Hockey League)
Victor Rask
NHL-362 games (5 seasons)-65 goals, 101 assists; 76 PIMs; -34
Wild in 2018-19-49 games-3 goals, 6 assists; 8 PIMs; -4
- 17 goals, 27 assists in 86 AHL games
- 47 goals, 57 assists in 101 WHL games (Canadian Jrs)
- Helped Sweden win Gold at the 2017 World Championships with 2 goals & 5 assists in 10 games
- Decent skater but something he can improve for sure
- A normal offseason in a new place could do him wonders and a disappointing season likely has him very motivated to improve
In the Wild’s System
These are players that have or should play for the Wild in the near future. Fs Kyle Rau, Gerald Mayhew and Sam Anas are really the only ones that look like they may be able to provide some immediate help. Well, there is that Russian sniper named Kirill Kaprizov who will join the Wild in the 2020-21 season.
Kyle Rau
NHL-42 games (4 seasons)-2 goals, 3 assists; 6 PIMs; -4
Wild in 2018-19-6 games-0 goals, 1 assists; 0 PIMs; 0
- 78 goals, 83 assists in 256 AHL games including 49 goals the last 2 seasons in 138 games (23 goals in 2017-18 & 26 last season); 4 goals in 11 playoff games
- 67 goals, 97 assists in 160 NCAA games (Minnesota)
- Captain for his JR & SR seasons in High School and College
- Very good skater, good shot, very good to great compete level
- Kyle Rau might just need more of a chance to stick for the Wild & with only 1 more year left on his contract, if he doesn’t get that chance in 2019-20, he’s probably gone.
Gerald Mayhew
NHL-Yet to make NHL Debut (3 AHL Seasons)
Iowa Wild in 2018-19-71 games-27 goals, 33 assists; 51 PIMs; 15
- 49 goals, 50 assists in 160 AHL games
- 52 goals, 67 assists in 150 NCAA games (Ferris State)
- Hard to say much about him because I haven’t seen him other than highlights
- He’s kind of the definition of development as he’s gotten better in every one of his 3 AHL seasons from 6 goals & 1 assist in 17 games after completing his SR season at Ferris State to 16 goals & 16 assists in 72 games in 2017-18 to 27 goals and 33 assists in 71 games last season AND 9 goals and 2 assists in 11 playoff games
- He also signed an NHL contract with the Minnesota Wild on May 10th so he’ll be in his first NHL training camp in about 3 and a half months.
Sam Anas
NHL-Yet to make NHL Debut (3 AHL Seasons)
Iowa Wild in 2018-19-66 games-14 goals, 24 assists; 12 PIMs; -13
- 52 goals, 75 assists in 196 AHL games plus 1 goal & 6 assists in 11 playoff games this season
- 69 goals, 63 assists in 121 NCAA games (Quinnipiac)
- Sam is only 5’8 and 161 lbs so he has a tougher battle because of his size but he has the hockey sense to score points.
- It looks like he struggled this season but he missed more than a month between the end of November and early January. He still didn’t produce as much as he did in 2017-18 but he did improve in the 2nd have with 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) in 41 games.
- The majority of people will not think he can stay healthy or play in the NHL because of his size but he’s likely dealt with that for the majority of his life, too, so it shouldn’t stop him just like a certain Minnesota Wild player, D Jared Spurgeon, who is 5’9 & 167 lbs and he’s one of the best defensemen in the NHL right now.
Kirill Kaprizov
NHL-Yet to make NHL Debut
KHL in 2018-19-57 games-30 goals, 21 assists; 16 PIMs; +36
- 88 goals, 80 assists in 236 KHL games, 112 PIMs, +57
- Has an offensive feel for the game that maybe no Wild player has ever had before
- Thought of as the savior of the Wild by many fans because he looks like he’s going to be that good; has one more year left on his KHL contract before he can sign an Entry-Level Contract with the Wild
- Began playing in the KHL, the top professional hockey league in Russia, when he was 18-years-old; has improved every season in all but one season in his goal & point total but every year in his plus/minus
- Captained Russia’s 2017 WJC team to a Bronze Medal while scoring 9 goals and 3 assists in 7 games
- Won the Gold Medal in the 2018 Olympics scoring the Golden goal as part of his 5 goals & 4 assists in 6 games
- Won the Gagarin Cup, the KHL Championship, this season with CSKA Moscow, which makes us think he has nothing else keeping him from coming over to North American after the 2019-20 KHL season
- Playing in the current 2019 IIHF World Championships but has 0 points in 4 games. He began the tournament playing on the wing with Evgeni Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin as his linemates but the coach didn’t think it was working so he changed the lines, Russia’s next game is tomorrow (Sunday, May 19th) at 1pm against Kevin Fiala’s Swiss team on the NHL Network so….set your DVRs, ClutterPuckers!
We didn’t put recent Wild college free agent signee, F Nico Sturm, because we’re not sure he’s a goal-scorer but he could turn into one. He did score 36 goals & 67 assists in 118 NCAA games (Clarkson) but he’s also known as a Defensive Forward but we felt he should at least be mentioned because he can skate. He’s 6’1 & 207 lbs and sometimes players improve and excel when they play with more skilled players so he’s definitely one to watch.
There are some other players in the Wild’s system that look like they could turn into something special in terms of goal-scorers and players and most of them are from the last 2 drafts so it’s too early to know if they’ll be able to develop into NHL goal-scorers. Players who have been signed to Entry-Level Contracts like Fs Alexander Khovanov, Connor DeWar, Mason Shaw (just tore his ACL in the AHL playoffs), Ivan Lodnia & Dmitry Sokolov.
Then there are still other players who have yet to sign their pro contract who are still playing in Canadian Juniors or NCAA Division I Hockey. So, in the next 3-4 years, players like Fs Jack McBain (Boston College), Damien Giroux (30 goals in 67 games; 9 goals in 17 playoff games in the OHL for Saginaw), Shawn Boudrias (QMJHL-Cape Breton), Sam Hentges (St. Cloud State) and Nick Swaney (UMD).
So, what will the Wild do?
The rumors have flown often and for a while that the Wild will try to trade F Jason Zucker since he was “reportedly” very close to being traded to the Calgary Flames at last season’s NHL Trade Deadline but it somehow, again “reportedly” fell through. The question, though, is, Why? The obvious answer is because he wasn’t producing last season but pretty much nobody was producing last season except for Zach Parise and Zucker still scored 21 goals in a “bad” season.
Jason Zucker has scored 110 goals in 370 games in the last 5 seasons. All but 1 of those seasons he scored over 20 goals and 2 seasons ago he scored 33 goals. We know he’s a goal-scorer because we’ve seen him do it.
So, if you have a goal-scorer, why would you trade a goal-scorer? Is he a 30-goal scorer or is he more like a 20-25 goal-scorer? Does it matter? He’s 27-years-old with 4 more years left on his contract at $5.5M per year. Is he not exactly what the Wild are looking for? A goal-scorer in or entering his prime years? Do they believe he’s not good for the room?
What do they think they will get for him in a trade? Assuming what we hear is true and the Wild want to make the playoffs next season, they will want a player currently playing in the NHL so, are you going to get a younger, better player? We know Wild General Manager Paul Fenton is a big fan of “Hockey Trades” or player-for-player trades that are good for both teams. He made at least 2 hockey trades last season with Nashville in the Mikael Granlund for Kevin Fiala trade and with Carolina in the Nino Niederreiter for Victor Rask trade.
It’s probably too soon to evaluate either of these trades because of the players involved and how their careers have gone up to this point.
Rask was already in the midst of a terrible season after falling out of favor in Carolina due to a weird injury early in the season and we’ve already talked about why Nino was dealt. He wasn’t producing for whatever reason, lineup consistency, confidence, etc… but he excelled when he got to Carolina because he was put in the top 6 with players that he & his game fit with. Rask didn’t look comfortable and then was injured, missing the majority of his time with the Wild so everyone looks at this trade as terrible for the Wild even if Nino wasn’t doing anything here, either.
The Granlund for Fiala trade actually looks better for the Wild because Granlund didn’t seem to fit in very well in Nashville, putting up just 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists (2 on the PP)) in 16 regular season games and 2 points (1G, 1A) in 5 playoff games while Fiala put up 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists (1G & 4A on the PP)) in 19 games with the Wild. This trade looks more even if you just look at points but it’s also trading a known commodity in Granlund who has put up points and been a major player for a player who is still looking to reach his potential in Fiala.
So, it’ll be interesting to see what Mr. Fenton pursues and, ultimately, receives for Zucker since the reporting world is saying this is happening. If you can’t tell, we’re not really in favor of trading Jason Zucker and we’ve pointed out why we feel that way.
But, this is why we’re doing this series. To find out who they could get in a trade, and what it will take to make that happen. We said last season that any and every player should be on the table to help this team improve and we saw Paul Fenton move 3 players that were part of the core of this team. Those weren’t tweaks. Those were major changes to the roster so the Wild’s Hockey Ops department have been looking & scouting players for quite a while. We just started so…uhhh….yeah. We’ll see how we do!
Let us know what you think in the comments or on social media (Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) &…ALWAYS…
