Minnesota Wild Need to Improve Their Offense to Succeed This Season
The dump and chase mentality of the Minnesota Wild may have been fruitful in the past, but it’s time for the team to work on their offense in earnest.
When a team is scoring 3.2 goals per game, and securing points in four of their first six games, it seems silly to question a team’s offense. The Minnesota Wild are currently sitting right behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, boasting 3 wins and 2 losses. In their recent game against the Los Angeles Kings, they won 6-3.
If they’re producing results and getting on the board, that’s all that matters, right? All is well in the North Star State!
Maybe not.
Without the game against the Kings, the Wild are looking at a much more pedestrian 2.6 goals per game. And though they are ranked just below the Penguins, they are in the bottom 10 of the league in shots per game.
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This could very well be a result of acclimatizing to a new coach with a new system. Mike Yeo coached the Wild from 2011 until 2016, when he was fired, and interim coach John Torchetti was brought in. Over the summer, the Wild acquired Bruce Boudreau as their new coach. Having three coaches in less than one calendar year could shake even the best of teams. And clearly Yeo’s style of coaching was not working for the Wild, so there may be some relics from his tenure that the team has to unlearn.
However, the Wild‘s offensive struggles are nothing new. In the past, when the Wild have been unable to get past another team’s defense, they have basically played games of dump and chase technique. This style of hockey doesn’t bring an organization much in the way of success. Instead, this style of hockey brings low possession numbers and low offensive production. In order to be successful this season, the Wild need to make a point of working on offensive production that will be consistent and sustainable.
In four of their first six games, the Wild have put less than 5 shots on net. Further to that, they’re not even attempting a lot of shots, with less than 10 attempts per first period when both teams are at full strength. If their 40.4 CF% for the first period were to continue for the whole game, they’d be the worst team in the league.
After the first period, the team appears to be fine. Minnesota improves so much in the final two periods that it shows that they are in fact capable of playing well for the entire game.
So, what gives? During the first period the Wild seem lost. They can’t complete passes, they can’t break out of their defensive zone, and they can’t handle any pressure in the offensive zone. Could it be a lack of readiness? Is it a matter of not preparing physically or mentality before game time? Do they simply need 20 minutes to figure out the other team’s strategy?
Wherever this issue stems from, the Wild need to address it, or their starts are going to keep putting them at a disadvantage for the remainder of the season. Perhaps all the Wild need is time. Boudreau has proven himself to be able to make adjustments for his teams to succeed. The Wild have the makings of a great team within them – they just need to tap into it.
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