In the eve of the trade deadline the Wild find themselves four points out of the final wild card position with three games in hand. Coming off a two game western Canada road trip sweep of Vancouver and Edmonton and 9-4-1 over their last 14, the playoffs are not a pipedream.
However the long term future is a far more pressing focus for Bill Guerin.
There are many of the Wild faithful that would like to see this team blown up with the eyes on a high draft pick, but is that even a possibility or in the best interest?
We all know the surface value of that question is the top picks give teams the best opportunity to secure impact talent that's obvious but also not guaranteed.
Professional athletes are driven far beyond the average person and they have pride that runs deep within them that burns to win. The organization believes that they have a playoff team on their hands albeit one that is a bubble team at best.
Making the playoffs would do a lot for the kids to gain much needed experience of what it takes to play and win when it counts. As we all know that playoff hockey is a whole different level of compete than is theb82 game grind of the regular season.
Combine that with the fact that the Wild have so many contracts that are far too difficult to move and a strong veteran presence they are not in position to tank and some would like to see.
At the end of the day don't we all want to see our team win?
Today it's the Blues in St. Paul and a chance to take another step forward.
Luke Kunin and Carson Soucy who both left Friday's game in Edmonton, will be lost to the team for significant time. Kunin is expected to miss 10-14 days with an upper body injury while Soucy's upper body injury is expected to keep him out even longer estimated at two to four weeks.
Two significant injuries but also an opportunity for someone else to step up in their place. It has been a next man up mentality all season so nothing new here today.
A lot to play for still regardless of who is still here after tomorrow's deadline.
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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