Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Wild's West Coast Connection

If I were to tell you on that on July 6, 2011, the Minnesota Wild would be going into the season without three of their top four scorers on the roster, you would be worried, right? Well, how about if I told you that the Wild now had a two-time 50-goal scorer and another winger who has scored 31 goals on the team? That is the reality for Minnesota's favorite hockey club as General Manager Chuck Fletcher made two separate trades with the San Jose Sharks, acquiring four-time All Star Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi, along with prospect Charlie Coyle and a 2011 first round pick, which was used on center Zack Phillips.

Love him or hate him, Dany Heatley has the capability at any moment to put the puck in the net, the kind of player the Minnesota Wild has lacked since the days of Marian Gaborik. Last year was definitely a down year for Heatley, who put up a career-low 64 points, which still would have put him at the top of Wild point-scorers. However, he spent most of the second half the season dealing with a hand injury. Most of the controversy and criticism surrounding Heatley comes from the fact that he has now been on four teams in the last eight years at a somewhat younger age (only 30), leaving some to think of Heatley as a crybaby who thinks he can leave a team whenever he wants. This was not the case this time, as it was actually the Sharks' decision to trade the former Wisconsin Badger and not his own. Some have speculated that his lack of goals in the playoffs (five in 32 games)lead to his unexpected exit. Regardless of what you think of Dany Heatley, you have to respect his scoring ability and he immediately improves the Wild's rather anemic offense. Although it's a shame to see such a smooth puck mover and handler in Martin Havlat go, the Wild didn't really have anyone who makes scoring a main priority, a point Fletcher made after the trade was completed. It looks like the Wild have found that player.

The Heatley trade took away much of the attention from the Wild's first summer transaction, a draft-time trade that saw the Wild trade star defenseman and fan favorite Brent Burns and a 2012 second round pick to San Jose for Devin Setoguchi, 2010 first round pick Charlie Coyle and Zack Phillips, who the Wild selected with the Sharks first round pick. As with Heatley, the addition of Setoguchi upgrades the goal-scoring potential of team that ranked 26th in the league last season. Setoguchi, much like the departed Burns, has struggled with moments of inconsistency but still has 84 goals over his first four professional seasons. Thoughts of Setoguchi playing on a line with his former teammate Heatley must have crept into the minds of Wild fans the moment the second trade was announced, but I see the Wild balancing out their offense by putting the two on separate lines, perhaps with Heatley playing on the first with captain Mikko Koivu and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Those two possess excellent puck-passing skills, allowing Heatley to flourish in his natural role. I see Setoguchi sharing the second line with Matt Cullen and Guillaume Latendresse, who missed most of last year but was a pleasant surprise for the Wild after he was acquired during the 09-10 season.

These two trades Chuck Fletcher has made have turned the Minnesota from a bland team that is too bad to make the playoffs but too good for a high draft pick into an intriguing club that will have the eyes of the media and fans alike this season. They may still be a few players away from making the postseason, but they have made the right moves to keep up in an ever-improving Western Conference.

No comments:

Post a Comment