WildHBcommunity:For MNWild the Pieces Dont Fit & Yeo will Pay the Price
Huge Expectations Make the Failure of the Minnesota Wild Eye Opening
These are extremely depressing and disappointing times in the 'State of hockey', if you are paying attention you can see the leveraging of blame and politics already spinning on who will take the fall for a disastrous 2014-15 NHL season.
I personally have yo-yo'd in my opinion of Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo during his almost 4 seasons as the bench boss here in Minnesota. I think it is very apparent that Yeo has failed to draw a line in the sand or better yet on the ice, when it comes to under performing veterans on his roster. I think Yeo has done a good job of knowing his team and taking all the credit for shortcomings and letdowns despite it mostly being the fault of his players.
In Yeo I believe Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher hoped to have a bench boss that could help foster the development of a prized group of young players while selfishly protecting himself from a game of politics that could have come had he hired a veteran head coach. Fletcher hired back to back 1st time NHL head coaches, firing Todd Richards to hire Yeo who was coaching the Houston Aeros, the AHL affiliate of the organization.
Fletcher has done an outstanding job of rebuilding the NHL roster here since taking the helm in the wake of the previous regime burning things to the ground on the way out the door. Fletcher has been methodical in acquiring prospects and veterans that he believed would create a winning culture and blend here to make the Wild a Stanley Cup Contender.
Now halfway through the 2014-15 NHL season, one that was supposed to be the elevation of this franchise to the top of the Western Conference and national prominence in the hockey world, instead this team is a hot mess.
The worst part about the situation facing the Wild at this point is that Fletcher has OVER COMMITTED to a group of veteran players who have failed to elevate this team consistently. The captain of this team is a very talented overall player but as a franchise player, in comparison to that caliber of player around the league for each individual team, Mikko Koivu falls short.
I will never contend that Koivu isn't a gifted player or that this team doesn't rely on him to contribute at a position that is the hardest to fill but honestly his game is certainly declining and his contract is impossible to move.
Fletcher inherited Koivu as the franchise player here in Minnesota after the handling of Marian Gaborik which was ATROCIOUS by the way, by Doug Reisbrough and Jacques Lemaire left the franchise without any asset in return for the best player in franchise history. Koivu holds all the cards because of the terms in his contract and it certainly plays a large part in the organizational strategy to avoid confrontation with him.
I have mentioned Yeo as a "Tired Narratives Coordinator" and an "Avoidance Specialist" in his leadership/management style but I certainly believe that he has the unenviable job of being middle management here between Fletcher who has chosen this roster and has been leveraged by contracts and posturing of the veterans he has on this roster.
This current veteran core is certainly talented individually, but I believe that this group lacks a true superstar and a ton of killer instinct. I believe Zack Parise is as close as this group gets to a superstar player but he more accurately resembles a blue collar all out effort type of guy rather than #1 superstar type. Dont get me wrong Parise is a game changer type player but it has to do with his leadership by example stemming from his work ethic not overall talent.
In Ryan Suter the team brought in a extremely talented athlete who is a steady presence and has the ability to limit opponents and contribute some offense. Suter is certainly not a superstar point producer or punishing physical difference maker. Suter has been very inconsistent in the defensive zone this season which has gone UNDER-REPORTED because in truth he plays all game basically and often does enough right to help people forget about the mistakes.
In Suter though the Wild has their top defender playing too many minutes and his own discretion to hear it told by former Wild defender Clayton Stoner and even Yeo admitted that he has empowered his top defender to play the minutes he wants to. The problem has been that often this season Suter gets caught not moving his feet near the end of long shifts or at pivotal moments and it appears fatigue and concentration is the problem.
Though this season there has been several games the Wild has driven the possession and out chanced opponents, this team seems to avoid the reality that it needs to have players step up and be aggressive with the puck and take shots that have a chance of going rather than just getting the puck on the net.
The guy that I see as MOST movable should it be determined the Wild are sellers at the trade deadline is Jason Pominville. On the one hand he is the most marketable and his points per 60 mins is still among the top 25 in the NHL. I think Pominville is a player that is consistently productive but is definitely more a complimentary piece rather than a top option type of guy.
I have been disappointed with Pominville's role in Yeo's system and specifically on the power play. Pominville has been responsible for countless turnovers while manning the point of Yeo's power play in addition to losing many puck battles and failing to either hit the net with his shot or even get it off.
Pominville brings intangibles and is WELL respected and liked here by team mates and fans but honestly he should have been removed from the Top 6 during down points of season this year for Nino Niederreiter, Jason Zucker, or Thomas Vanek and Yeo avoided dealing with it completely. Pominville could be moved to a contender for a return of assets and it would clear the way for the younger wingers to elevate their ice time and roles.
The Wild is NOT mathematically eliminated from the playoffs BUT the current state of affairs has them very very deep in the hole both in division and conference. The next week or so will provide us with a glimpse into what will be left of the wreckage caused by this disaster of a season.
Yeo is going to get fired but maybe just maybe Owner Craig Leipold decides that his right hand man Fletcher has painted himself into a corner committed to a veteran core that has failed him and young core that has failed to produce to projection.
Fletcher is about to fire his second coach of his choosing and is entirely responsible for the contracts of several struggling veterans who he can not move due to performance and salary cap implications. Fletcher has swung and missed on both Niklas backstrom, Josh Harding, and Darcy Kuemper this year between the pipes.
One is past the point of no return with ANOTHER year left on a guaranteed because of AGE contract with a no move clause, another has a debilitating illness that has virtually ended his hockey career but even before that happened he was suspended for a NON-hockey injury, and the young gun future at the position has failed to launch!
Honestly even if this team somehow pulled off the miraculous and salvaged their season like was the case last season it would just further push the obligations of correcting ills of this roster and organization into the next year after they lost in the first or second round again. There is ZERO chance this group as currently assembled or even if they added a rental via trade, has what it takes to compete for a cup.
Fletcher must face the facts that he needs to create permanent solutions rather than band aid a broken formula. I think there are very good pieces both on the NHL roster and in organizational prospect depth but the pieces certainly don't fit and the accountability for what has not worked has not been created by Yeo. Maybe we are not looking at a tear it all down situation but CERTAINLY you cant dump an minor piece of this problem and hope it is a cure all either.
Stay tuned Wild fans I am not sure we shall see decisive action because as a Minnesota sports fan and content creator here I have become well versed in passive aggressive blame shifting and double talk full of tired narratives and avoidance from the top decision makers of our professional sports franchises.
Just My Take,
Tony Dean
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