Minnesota Wild and those players who are free agents…who to re-sign?

Hockey season’s over. The draft is around the corner (actually, the NHL Draft is this weekend). However, the free-agency period starts on July 1^st and the Wild have some decisions to make on some of their players who are eligible for free agency.

As of today, the Wild have about $12 million in salary cap space for seven roster spots.

So, who should the Wild look at re-signing? Here is my top-three list of the players the Wild should re-sign:

#1. Devan Dubnyk

Devan Dubnyk has made it clear that he loves it here in Minnesota and he wants to remain with the Minnesota Wild. We all know about the miraculous run the Wild had after he was acquired back in January.

The reason why I am saying that Dubnyk should be re-signed is because of the goaltending mess before Dubnyk arrived with Backstrom and Kuemper. As of right now, I don’t see Backstrom playing again in a Wild sweater (he had elbow surgery in the off season and that affects the Wild’s ability to buy him out of the last year on his contract). Kuemper did have a good start to the 2014-15 season (opening the season with back-to-back shut outs against Colorado), but his inconsistency reared its ugly head and he failed big-time when he was given the chance to take over as the Wild’s top goaltender. In addition, there is speculation that Josh Harding is going to retire. (Harding did not play a single game in a Wild uniform this past season and it was the last year of his contract).

All I am going to say on the contract talks is that both sides are talking this week.

**Update** Dubnyk was awarded the 2014-15 Masterton Trophy at the NHL awards. He is the second Wild player in three years to be awarded the Masterton Trophy (named for the late Minnesota North Star Bill Masterton). Josh Harding was awarded it back in 2013.

#2. Chris Stewart

I know right off the bat here that this isn’t going to sit well with a lot of people, especially with Stewart being a “streaky” player and the questions about his effort and consistency.

The reason why I believe the Wild should make an attempt to re-sign him is that he brought a physical presence to the Wild that they haven’t had in a while. He is another free-agent who is hoping to return to the Wild next season.

Mike Yeo said this of Stewart during the play-offs, “He's a guy that has a physical edge. He's a big body. He's going to play the game hard.” The Wild haven’t had that in a while and it was great to see the Wild bring someone like him in, especially because he stands up for his teammates on the ice.

He was hampered by a separated shoulder during the series against Chicago, which he did try to play through before missing games 3 and 4.

However, Stewart could have potential suitors this free-agency period other than the Wild. So, the above mentioned cap space limitations for the Wild could come into play.

#3. Mikael Granlund

I know that Mikael Granlund is a restricted free agent and his name has been mentioned as a possible trade candidate. I think right now that the Wild will re-sign him, and depending how he does during the upcoming 2015-16 season, he could possibly end up being traded—which I know isn’t a popular decision.

From what has been reported, Granlund is only looking for a short-term deal and he will probably get it.

This is what was recently written about Granlund (and some of this is obvious to Wild fans):

 “On the other hand, he is small by NHL standards, doesn’t have elite speed, chooses to pass when he should shoot too often and has missed significant time with several different upper body injuries, most notably at least one concussion. In addition to failing to developing into a No. 1 center through three seasons, it sounds as though his camp will be seeking that kind of money. The Wild don’t have it and need him to prove capable of being a consistent and healthy top center before they can think about giving it to him.”

Granlund needs to prove that he can produce and he can stay healthy before any team will give him a long term deal.

Key NHL Dates (from NHL.com):

June 26-27 NHL Draft, BB&T Center, Sunrise, FL

July 1 Free agency begins at 12 PM ET

July 5 Deadline for player-elected arbitration notification at 5 PM ET

July 6 Deadline for club-elected arbitration notification at 5 PM ET

August 6 Deadline for arbitration decisions to be rendered 

Is Devan Dubnyk the answer to the Minnesota Wild’s goaltending situation?

**Update**

Devan Dubnyk was named first star of the week by the NHL after shutting out both Chicago 3-0 last Tuesday night and Colorado 1-0 on Saturday night. Last week, he was named the third star of the week by the league for going 3-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .967 save percentage when the Wild had a 3-0 successful road trip through western Canada right after the all-star break (nhl.com).



On January 14, Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher pulled the trigger and traded the Wild’s 2015 third round draft pick to Arizona for goaltender Devan Dubnyk in order to attempt to do address the Wild’s goaltending situation. Dubnyk, who will be a free agent at the end of this season, had been the back up to Mike Smith.  

Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk

Since then, Dubnyk “now as four shutouts in nine starts with the Wild and has allowed three goals in five games since the All-Star break. In nine starts, he is 7-1 (one no-decision in Detroit) with a 1.31 GAA and .948 save percentage. Per Elias, Dubnyk is the fasted to post four shutouts with a team among goalies…” (Josh Cooper, sports.yahoo.com 2/8/2015). He has also started all nine of those games.

Not bad for a goalie who has been with four different teams in the past two seasons (Edmonton, Nashville, Montreal/Hamilton (AHL), and Arizona) before coming to Minnesota.

Ever since Dubnyk has joined the team, the Wild have been playing with a renewed confidence.

Mikko Koivu made this statement after Saturday night’s win over Colorado, “Everything starts with goaltending…Winning teams have that and he’s been great ever since he came here.” (Chad Graff, twincities.com).

Before Dubnyk’s arrival, the Wild had seemed to find ways to lose games where they had the advantage on the shots on goal, with shaky goaltending to partly to blame. Chad Graff stated in his article today  “On Jan. 8, for example, the Wild lost 4-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks despite outshooting them 44-20.” 

We all know what has happened since. 

The Wild are definitely going to ride this out, with certain that Dubnyk is going to be carrying the starting role. Niklas Backstrom hasn’t played since January 13 at Pittsburgh, were he gave up six goals. Darcy Kuemper is scheduled to rejoin the Wild on Monday from his rehab stint in Iowa (and supposedly is the starter for Tuesday night’s game in Winnipeg).

Kuemper didn’t have that great of a stint in Iowa, where he went 2-3 with a 3.22 GAA and .891 save percentage.

Now, what do the Wild do with Kuemper and Backstrom? That’s going to be an interesting situation with three goaltenders. Does Yeo alternate using Kuemper and Backstrom as the back up? Does Backstrom get continuously scratched? (Backstrom will be 37 this month and has one year left on his contract with the Wild). Backstrom has a record of 5-7-3, 3.04 GAA, and .887 save percentage this season. (He is the Wild's winningest goalie with 194 wins and 28 shutouts in nine seasons with the team). 

Can Backstrom be sent down to Iowa for a conditioning stint? That could possibly happen. Could Fletcher look at possibly moving Backstrom before the trade deadline? That is unknown at this point. Backstrom has a no-move clause (which the Wild would have to get him to waive at this point) and still has one year remaining on his current contract. (There is also the possibility that the Wild could look at buying out his contract after this season). 

Josh Harding is not an option at all at this point due to on going issues with his Multiple Sclerosis (he hasn't played since November 29 and there hasn't been much of any update since then). He is currently in the last season of his current contract with the Wild. 

It's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out. 

In other news, the Minnesota Wild shut out the Colorado Avalanche for the third time this season on Saturday night. This is the first time this season where a team has shut out an opponent in three consecutive meetings (The Wild opened the season with a home-and home against the Avs and won both games 5-0 and 3-0). This is not the first time that this has happened to the Avalanche. In the 2007-08 season, they were shut out in consecutive games against Detroit three times. 

Wild Coach Mike Yeo Went Lashes Out At His Players In Practice. Was He Right In Doing So?

JP Parise with former North Stars teammate and good
friend, Tom Reid.

First off, my thoughts and prayers are with Zach Parise and his family during the difficult time they are facing right now with his father’s battle against stage 4 lung cancer. Zach didn’t play last night against San Jose after it was revealed his father, former Minnesota North Star JP Parise, stopped chemotherapy treatments and is now in hospice care. 

Zach's status for the Wild’s next game against Chicago is uncertain. (I am going with the assumption that Zach won’t be playing). He was not in practice on Wednesday, either. 

After the Wild's 7-1 drubbing in Dallas and the overtime loss to the Sharks on Tuesday night, Mike Yeo lashed out at his players Wednesday in practice. The Wild have lost 13 out of their past 20 games. The Wild have a tough stretch in their schedule after having played the Sharks last night, playing the Blackhawks tomorrow night, followed by games with Nashvile on Saturday afternoon and an upcoming road trip that involves Chicago and Pittsburgh. As of right now, the Wild are eight points out of the second Western Conference wild-card spot for the play-offs. 

According to an article posted on nhl.com, "Yeo laced into his team Wednesday with a tirade that, according to the Minneapolis-Star Tribune, demanded more effort and execution, detailed how poorly the Wild have been playing and lambasted the players for having the "audacity to show up and practice like this!" After screaming for about a minute, Yeo skated toward the visiting bench, slammed his stick into the glass, skated toward the Wild bench and left the ice." (nhl.com) (Video is here, courtesy of KSTP.com)

Was he right in lashing out? Yes. In my opinion, he should have lashed out at them earlier--instead of waiting until today. Thomas Vanek stated this to the Star Tribune's Michael Russo:

“I think Yeozie finally lost it here… He’s been pretty good with us, staying upbeat. We played well last night. It’s not good when you lose a hockey game. That was his message. He didn’t like how some of us practiced and came out, so those things happen.” (startribune.com, 1/7/2015)

Mike Yeo made this statement, which was in Michael Russo's column today on startribune.com:

“That’s everything that we’re in right now…We’re in a difficult spot and we’ve got a tough road ahead of ourselves. We might have guys out of the lineup and that’s fine. But the one thing you can always control is your work ethic and your attitude and everything else follows suit after that…We played a crappy game in Dallas and aside from that I’ve been happy for the most part with our games post Christmas. Do we just accept that hey we got a point? We lost the game but we played well? No. We can’t. We have to be better. The way we were practicing today, we weren’t practicing with the purpose of getting better. We could’ve just went through the practice and we might’ve been fine tomorrow, but that’s not the attitude that we need as a team right now. We need the attitude that we can’t just accept—and it’s going to be hard. We might play well again and we might lose. I don’t know. But whatever it is, every day we come back to the rink and we’ve got to find a way to be better.”

The question is how is the team going to respond after Yeo's lashing. I think that question will be answered tomorrow night against the Blackhawks and next three games after. 

Yeo did also mention that the pressure is starting to get to goalie Darcy Kuemper, who left practice early today due to a "minor, unspecified injury." Kuemper didn't speak to the media after last night's game and he didn't speak after leaving today's practice.  Yeo did finally state that he is displeased with Darcy Kuemper's play as of late. (It has also been reported that General Manager Chuck Fletcher is now searching for a goaltender). 

Will the Wild start to turn things around? That remains to be seen right now. I will say that Yeo should have lashed out at the team earlier than today and that he should do it again, if the Wild's play warrants it.