{"id":554800,"date":"2026-04-17T21:33:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/554800\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T21:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:33:16","slug":"the-wild-will-immediately-tell-us-if-they-can-beat-dallas-minnesota-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/554800\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wild Will Immediately Tell Us If They Can Beat Dallas – Minnesota Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tHere we are, a decade removed from the 2014-15 season, when the Minnesota Wild last advanced to the second round of the playoffs. It\u2019s been seven years since August 2019, when the Wild hired Bill Guerin<\/a> to get them over the hump, to borrow a phrase<\/a>. Analytically, they have a 50\/50 chance<\/a> of advancing past the first round. It\u2019s the best opportunity they\u2019ve had to get out of the first round and go on a run since Guerin took over.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tStanding before us is the Wild team that emerged from cap hell<\/a>. They have superstars<\/a>: Kirill Kaprizov<\/a> and Quinn Hughes<\/a>. Matt Boldy<\/a>, Brock Faber<\/a>, and Joel Eriksson Ek<\/a> are strong supplemental players. They also have two viable goalies and a veteran core.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, they don\u2019t have a bona fide No. 1 center, meaning Minnesota will enter the playoffs with a lot of uncertainty. Few teams have won a Stanley Cup without a star No. 1 center or ample center depth to compensate for that.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIf the Wild\u2019s final game against Dallas is any indication<\/a>, we\u2019re in for a fun series. Still, there\u2019s anticipatory stress that accompanies Minnesota\u2019s first-round matchup with the former North Stars. However, nobody has to wait for the series to end to know whether the Wild can compete with Dallas. They\u2019ll tell us soon enough.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tUltimately, Minnesota must generate scoring while keeping Kaprizov and Boldy on separate lines.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Wild will have to improvise because they lack a No. 1 center. Therefore, they will likely elevate Ryan Hartman<\/a> to the top line and hope that Mats Zuccarello<\/a> can act as a pseudo center for Kirill Kaprizov \u2013 something they\u2019ve done for years. That means the lines will look something like this:\n<\/p>\n

\n\tPeople who followed the Wild all year will be familiar with each line. There\u2019s the Kaprizov and Boldy lines, with Zuccarello and Johansson setting them up. Then, the Russian line with the resurgent Vladimir Tarasenko and Danila Yurov, and the Foligno line.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, if the Wild cannot generate offense, John Hynes will likely put Kaprizov and Boldy on the same line while deploying players who can keep Dallas off the scoresheet. Doing so will leave many players on the team marooned.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat is Zuccarello\u2019s role if he\u2019s not setting up Kaprizov? Will Hynes trust Tarasenko to carry a scoring line, given his defensive deficiencies? Will he bury Yurov as he did<\/a> with Marco Rossi<\/a> last year?\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIf Hynes pairs Kaprizov and Boldy, the Wild functionally becomes a three-line team:\n<\/p>\n

\t\tKaprizov-Hartman-Boldy<\/p>\n

\t\tJohansson-Eriksson Ek-Trenin<\/p>\n

\t\tMarcus Foligno-McCarron-Nick Foligno<\/p>\n

\n\tMinnesota would have a scoring line, a lockdown line, and skilled goons. Doing so would allow the Stars to use all their resources to shut down Kaprizov and Boldy. The Wild would also have their best center on their second line because Eriksson Ek is a sound defensive player. Meanwhile, Dallas will try to get Minnesota\u2019s enforcers to unspool<\/a> as they did in 2023.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tEven if the Wild manage to score with Kaprizov and Boldy on separate lines, their roster construction highlights the lack of a No. 1 center. Hartman is volatile. He\u2019s been a clutch performer in the playoffs, but has also let his emotions get the best of him<\/a>. A lot of Minnesota\u2019s success rides on his mood.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAbove all else, he isn\u2019t a true center. Using Hartman as a No. 1 center is like a baseball team asking a utility player to be their franchise shortstop. The Wild chose to build a team good enough to make the playoffs but not enough to win a series while enduring Zach Parise<\/a> and Ryan Suter<\/a>\u2019s dead-cap hits. In doing so, they passed on the opportunity<\/a> to tank and draft a bona fide No. 1 center. Now, they\u2019re facing the consequences of that decision.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFurthermore, they probably won\u2019t use<\/a> Bobby Brink<\/a>, whom they traded<\/a> David Jiricek<\/a> for at the deadline this year, in a prominent role. Instead of pooling their resources to go all-in for a No. 1 center, they prioritized finding an eventual replacement for Jared Spurgeon<\/a>. Another mistake that cost them the opportunity to fill out a championship roster.\n<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, the Wild can win this series. They\u2019ve just made things harder on themselves by mismanaging resources. Ultimately, Guerin has been on the job since August 2019, and Minnesota still only has a 50\/50 shot at advancing in the playoffs this season. You\u2019d think they\u2019d be further along by now.\n<\/p>\n

\n Think you could write a story like this? Hockey Wilderness wants you to develop your voice, find an audience, and we’ll pay you to do it. Just fill out this form<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here we are, a decade removed from the 2014-15 season, when the Minnesota Wild last advanced to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5118],"tags":[147,5,537,799,161,38,5280,4,162],"class_list":{"0":"post-554800","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-wild","8":"tag-dallas-stars","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-kirill-kaprizov","11":"tag-matt-boldy","12":"tag-minnesota","13":"tag-minnesota-wild","14":"tag-minnesotawild","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-wild"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116422194217935579","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}