Only 18 games into the 2021-22 season and the Wild are not only a surprising team, but they have easily been one of the most impressive teams to watch this season. Whether they are dominating 7-2 games or making miraculous comeback wins, they are one of the more entertaining teams to watch. As of November 23, they are sitting in the 10th spot in the overall league standings, and the key to this? Below you will find five takeaways for the start of the season. You will find mostly positives for the team with some added things that need some work. If the Minnesota Wild keep playing like this, there is no doubt that they have the playoffs in sight.
1. Kaprizov’s slow start? I don’t think so…
To start the season off, it took Kirill the Thrill 9 games to get his first goal of the season, but he still managed to get six assists during that span. In the 9 games since that first goal, he has gone on to score four more goals and added seven more assists to give him 5G, 13A, 18P in 18 games. The Wild’s other known goal scorer, Kevin Fiala, has also struggled early as he went 10 games without scoring a goal after netting one opening night. Like Kaprizov, he has been making up for it on the playmaking side of things with totals of 3G, 9A, 12P in 18 games. After signing Kaprizov to a $9 million/year and both him and Fiala leading the team in goals/points in the 2020-21 season, most expected the same again, but I still wouldn’t be too worried. Here is why:
- Kaprizov is known for his slow starts dating back to his time in the KHL. He even said so himself that he normally starts slow and then takes off. Down from last year, he is on pace for 22 goals this season, but he is still on pace for 82 points which means he is still producing on the offensive side. An 80 point season has not been done in a Wild sweater since Marian Gaborik in 2007-08 so seeing this pace is a great sign for Wild fans. Remember, he is only in his sophomore year!
Fiala is also no stranger to slow starts. Through 10 games last year he had 4 goals and no assists, and the previous year (2019-20) he had 2 goals and 1 assist in the first 10 games. He ended up scoring over 20 goals in both of those shortened seasons so like Kirill, the goals will come. Stay patient!
2. Goals, Goals, Goals!
Although Kaprizov and Fiala have started slow on goal scoring, others have picked up the slack with the current top 3 goal scorers for the Wild are Ryan Hartman, Joel Eriksson Ek, and the surprising Mark Foligno. Even without a top 10 goal scorer, the Wild have managed to stay Top 5 in the league’s Goals For stat column. Lastly, Wild defenseman haven’t shied away from being a part of the goals as they have points on 82% of the team’s goals Below are additional scoring stats I found interesting:
- Of players with minimum 10 games played this season, Jordan Greenway is the only player without a goal in the 2021-22 season through 18 team games.
- 12/63 goals have come from defenseman, which is up 8% from last year’s ending total.
- Last season’s top two goal scorers, Kaprizov and Fiala, scored roughly 19% of the team’s goals while this year that number is 12%.
Still early in the season, overall goal scoring has increased per game has actually increased from last year’s 3.28 to the teams current 3.50 goals per game.
3. Power Play and Penalty Kill Need Work
Being Top 5 in goals for this season, one would think that the Wild should also be doing well on the power play chances but unfortunately that is not the case as they currently sit at the 18th spot. They have good chances and are making good use of their possession time and finding open opportunities but not getting anything in the net or on net for that matter. I think I speak for every Wild fan when I say, SHOOT THE PUCK!
On the flip side, the penalty kill is also not doing so well as they are currently the 20th ranked penalty kill team. On top of that, they are ranked 4th in most penalties this season which certainly doesn’t help anything. Like the PP, this is also no surprise to Wild fans as the last time they finished in the top 15 was the 2016-17 season. Long gone are the Jacques Lemaire coached years with top 5 and top 10 finishes in the PK category almost every year but hopefully Dean Evason brings them back to the glory days of a solid penalty killing team.
4. Goaltending not bad but not good
Last season, when the Wild signed veteran goalie Cam Talbot I was a bit unsure what to think as he had been coming off some struggling years. He has since changed my mind and has done a solid job as the starting goalie. He finished his season 8th in wins but outside of the top 20 for GAA, Save%, and Shutouts. This season, he is looking very similar as he currently sits at the 5th spot in wins but outside of the top 20 in the other three categories again. The backup, Kaapo Kakkonen, has also been subpar to start the year. Although he has only played 4 games this year, he has only been able to win 2 of those with a GAA of 3.30, which is up from his season-ending 2.88 from the 2020-21 season. Combined, the two goalies have zero shutouts, Save% of .900, and a GAA of 3.00, which is not something fans like to see. As long as the offense keeps scoring and if the goals against go down, I think this goalie duo has another chance to remain top 10 in combined wins. They have both done enough so far to keep their jobs.
5. A Warm Welcome –
Over the summer, the Wild spent some money outside of the Kaprizov deal signing Fredrick Gaudreau, Alex Goligoski, Dmitry Kulikov, Jon Merrill, and Jordie Benn. On top of that, they re-signed and called up rookie Brandon Duhaime and snagged Rem Pitlick off waivers. Outside of Jordie Benn (who has only played two games), all of these new additions have been producing early. Of the 63 team goals, these newcomers have accounted for 47 combined points.
Not to be compared to the rookie that Kaprizov was, Duhaime has looked great early on all ends of the ice. He currently sits at 12th in points and 10th in goals amongst all other rookies this season. The most impressive addition so far this season is 36-year-old veteran Alex Goligoski. The Minnesota native has an impressive 12 points in 15 games which is tied for 4th on the team. He is already 10 points away from the 22 points he ended with last season. For Goligoski, it was a very welcoming return home.
As I stated earlier, the Wild have not only been one of the most surprising teams to watch, but they have also been one of the more impressive teams to watch as well. They are currently the 10th best team according to the standings and scoring goals within the top 5 highest scoring teams. Everyone seems to be producing on the offensive end in some shape or form whether it be Kaprizov leading the team in assists not goals or defenseman getting involved on 82% of the team’s goals. Even the offseason additions have been getting in on the action by contributing to 75% of the team’s goals. Although I am loving this Wild team this season, that doesn’t mean all things are great. Power Play and Penalty Kill units are struggling as both are ranked in the bottom 20 teams this season. Both special team units could use some improvement whether it be shaking up the lines or just altering strategy or both. Goaltending also needs some improvement as they are struggling outside of the win column.
All in all, with some tweaks to the PP/PK and defensive side of the puck I believe this team has what it takes to get us into a first round playoff run. After that, who is to say as the Wild have not made it out of the first round since the 2014-15 season. Will this be the first time they get past that? Stay tuned.
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