The Wild Forwards' Evaluation for 2011-12

The Wild had two primary problems during the 2011-12 season.  They were decimated by injuries.  Only three players -Heatley, Brodziak and Powe- played all 82 games.  The lost Guillaume Latendress for all but 16 games, Pierre-Marc Bouchard for 45 games and Mikko Koivu for 27 games.  All three players are very important, top-six forwards for Minnesota.  The loss of these players played an important part in Minnesota's inability to score. A few of the positive and also a few of the disappointing players will be noted here.

Dany Heatley was acquired in a trade with San Jose, in which we gave them Martin Havlat.  The trade served two purposes for Minnesota.  First, apparently, Havlat didn't ever gel with his teammates either on or off of the ice.  Second, Minnesota needed to add a shooter and Heatley is nothing if not a shooter.  Heatley potted 24 goals and at times was the offensive player Minnesota had hoped for, but he didn't perform at that high level as often as liked.  That being said, he was one of only two forwards who played regular minutes that was plus.   Mikko Koivu again demonstrated how important he is for this roster.  He contributed in every facet of the game and led by example.  Koivu collected 44 points in 55 games and led the team with a plus-10.  Kyle Brodziak was rewarded with a three year contract extension because of his terrific year in which he lifted his offensive output to a career high of 44 points.  By necessity, he was used in an expanded offensive role.  This provided him with more opportunity, but it wouldn't have been his role had there not been so many injuries.  One forward, in my view, is under-appreciated.  Darroll Powe was acquired from Philidelphia for his forechecking, physical play and energy.  He did all of those things.  Additionally, when the team was beginning its downward spiral, Powe became more physical and dropped the gloves a few times when the team needed a lift.  At times, it seemed as if he was the only one who was angry about how poorly the team was performing.  Honestly, I don't understand how nobody in the public or media recognized the timing of those actions and his contributions.  Finally, Matt Kassian played in 24 games and posted no points except for when he scored two goals against Montreal in a lopsided loss.  I thought his work along the boards was good for an enforcer as was his sense to "go to the net" to create traffic and bang away at any loose pucks.  His willingness to engage in fisticuffs, of course, continues to not be an issue.

Putting aside the injuries, there weren't that many regulars in the line-up for which one would have reasonably high expectations.  The player that was the most disappointing was Devin Setoguchi.  He has speed and a willingness to shoot, but the team certainly hoped for more than 19 goals and 36 points.  There were stretches of games where he was a complete nonfactor.  Fortunately, he's young and will certainly have much better years in the future -hopefully in Minnesota.  Another player that was good for certain periods of times, yet entirely absent for other periods of time was Matt Cullen.  Once again, he started the year hot, but then, for the second year in a row, put up very limited production the second half of the year.  Finally, though he only played nine games, I was really unimpressed with Nick Palmieri.  Palmieri was acquired as a part of the trade of Zidlicky to New Jersey.  He is supposed to be a power forward with some offensive skill but I saw no power, no offensive skill, no speed, no fire, no...anything.  He contributed exactly zero goals and zero assists in nine games.  He'll be in Houston all of next year unless he's traded or shows he belongs on an NHL roster.  This is particularly true as Minnesota has two promising power forwards entering their system this summer.