With the Stanley Cup Final commencing this evening between the Wild's Central Division rivals, the Colorado Avalanche and the 2-time defending Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, it is a good time to assess the Wild and their progress.

Losing in the first round of the playoffs this season was a disappointment for sure, and another dose of the reality of the NHL playoffs for the Wild. Losing to St. Louis is by no means a travesty, as we all knew from the start this was going to be one of the most hotly contested matchups in the first round.

It was not decided as to which team was going to have home ice advantage until the final day of the regular season, so the series was absolutely a coin flip going in. However the Blues have had a decided advantage over the Wild the last three seasons and unfortunately thta continued to be the case when the series came to it's abrupt end for the Wild after game 6.

What have we learned?

Winning in the first round of the playoffs is absolutely the hardest series to win, period! The Stanley Cup playoffs are a war of attrition and good fortune typically comes to those that survive. Matchups play key roles and injuries and fatigue play even bigger roles in how series are decided the later the playoffs go.

So what happened with the Wild in round one this season?

They lost to a more playoff ready team, with a more experinced coach who was able to make the adjustments necessary to get his team to perform despite the fact that the Blues were the team that experienced major injury issues.

Dean Evason, had to go thru this experience and he will be better prepared moving forward. He pulled the right strings throughout the season and had his team playing great regualr season hockey over the entire 82 game marathon.

However that does not translate into wins in the postseason as we have seen play out here year after year. Evason is a very good coach, that said he needs to evolve himself if he plans to be the guy to take this team to playoff success.

First and foremost, the yelling and cussing at officials has to stop, or at the very least be tapered to a low roar. That behavior has an aderse affect on his players who take on that very same attitude on the ice. Bad calls are going to occur, and they happen both for and against the Wild, and every other team for that matter.

Next comes the line and matchup adjustments. Evason has long been quoted as saying he really does not match lines all that much, however in a playoff series that is absolutely imperative. That along with being able to juggle lines and creating tougher matchups for the opposing coach deal with.

Kirill Kaprizov is a force of nature, a true superstar. Yes, he has tremendous chmistry with Mats Zuccarello, but in the playoffs teams that are successful do not just roll the same lines they ran in the regular season and expect the same success. Juggling lines and creating better chemistry among the forward group is imperative to long term success in the postseason.

The goaltending mess also played into the equation and although on the surface everything appeared to be very smooth sailing for the WIld following the trade deadline acquisition of Marc-Andre Fleury, and for the most part it was, because the Wild were winning, and winning masks a lot of the underlying blemishes.

Losing on the other hand, brings those demons to life and they can undo much of the positive momentum that winning had established.

The Wild team makeup is also not where it needs to be to make a serious run, and when I say serious run. The need for a playmaking center is evident, and even though Ryan Hartman put up some very impressive numbers he is better suited slotting in either a number two center role, with the ability to bump up tot he top line when needed.

Freddy Gaudreau is solid in all three zones and a lot of his work goes unnoticed by the casual observer, but his playoff performace was nothing to write home about. As a matter of fact that entire line was held in check for most of the series after being the Wild's best trio heading into the playoffs.

This offseason is going to be one of many roster decisions and moves as Bill Guerin enters year one of the cap crunch her created last summer. Kevin Fiala is an RFA and more than liekly has played his final games here in Minnesota. Coming off career highs in goals (33), assists (52), and points (85), with the bulk of that coming in the final 53 games (67 pts, 1.26 PPG over that stretch), Fiala is poised to make a significant raise.

Can the Wild afford to pay Fiala? Was his playoff performance or lack there of a deciding factor? These are questions that will be answered over the next few weeks.

What about Matt Dumba who has one year remaining on his $6M/year contract? This one has me leaning more toward Guerin working something out to retain the longtime Wild defenseman. Dumba has always been the other defenseman through Chuck Fletcher and Paul Fenton's time as general manager of the Wild. That changed when Guerin took the helm, and it began with the buyout of Ryan Suter, enabling the Wild to protect Dumba from the expansion Seattle Kraken. It was further enhanced when Dumba was named alternate captain prior to the 2021-22 NHL season.

The Wild are not there yet that we know. What we do not know is who will be here when the lights come back up in October both in the Wild crease and up and with some very key personnel.

The next few weeks should be interesting...

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