The evaluation has already begun for the Minnesota Wild, with head coach Mike Yeo and general manager Chuck Fletcher trying to diagnose why their team fell in the second round to the Chicago Blackhawks again.
Fletcher said he was "stunned" the season ended so abruptly in a sweep to Chicago. The Wild believed this year would be different. Instead, they suffered a playoff loss to the Blackhawks for the third year in a row, in the second round for the second straight season.
"We just have to find a way to get better, and I know we lost in four but we're not that far away," Fletcher said. "It's incumbent on me. Really, this is on me to find a way to make the team better. I like our coaching staff. I think Mike and his staff, they're hard working, they're smart people, they make adjustments. I like our players. I like the character of our group. Devan (Dubnyk) came in and provided some outstanding goaltending, but there's no question we're going to have to keep looking at ways to get better. It'll be a new challenge next year."
Fletcher and Yeo have time to assess their current roster. Minnesota showed improvement this season and finished with 100 points (46-28-8), the second-highest point total in franchise history. The Wild set franchise records for road wins (24) and road points (50) in a season while trying the NHL record with 12 consecutive road wins.
But Minnesota fell short in the end, missing a chance to get past its playoff nemesis.
Here's a look at what the Wild will be evaluating this offseason along with grades for the 2014-15 season:
Forwards: B
The improvement is most noticeable in the team's scoring. Minnesota was 24th in the NHL last season with 2.43 goals per game and was 29th with 26.6 shots per game. This season, the Wild jumped to 12th in scoring, averaging 2.77 goals per game. They also averaged 30.8 shots per game, which ranked 13th in the league. The team's 277 goals during the regular season established a franchise record.
Two big factors in the surge were young forwards Nino Niederreiter and Jason Zucker. Niederreiter and Zucker -- 24 and 21 goals, respectively -- each hit the 20-goal plateau for the first time in their careers. Zucker reached the mark despite playing in just 51 games because of a broken clavicle. Zucker's scoring was nearly on par with Zach Parise, who led the team with 33 goals becoming the fourth player in team history to reach the 30-goal mark.
Other than Parise and Zucker, though, there was inconsistency throughout the lineup. Charlie Coyle went from 12 goals in 70 games last season to 11 in 82 games this year. Justin Fontaine slipped from 13 goals in 66 games to nine in 71. Jason Pominville had the worst shooting percentage of his career (7.1 percent) in going from 30 goals last season to 18 this year.
Beset by injuries and the league-wide mumps early in the season, the Wild lost 282 man games to injury. Coyle and Pominville were the only players to play in every game. A total of 35 players appeared in at least one game and 24 players scored at least one goal.
Thomas Vanek didn't quite meet the expectations placed on him after he was the big offseason acquisition, finally coming back to Minnesota after all the rumors of the past few years. Vanek's scoring went along as the team's did. He struggled early on while the team slipped in the standings. Then he produced near his career per-game numbers as the Wild went on their second-half, NHL-best run.
Vanek finished with 21 goals and 31 assists, ranking third on the team in points. The 21 goals were the second-fewest in a single season in his career and the fewest in any full season. He had 20 goals in 38 games during the lockout-shortened 2013 season.
Minnesota featured more depth than at any time in its history. Coyle spent much of the season at center, giving the Wild a trio of Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund and Coyle down the middle. Trade-deadline acquisition Chris Stewart (three goals and eight assists in 20 games with Minnesota) added depth and Yeo could play matchups with the fourth line, juggling Kyle Brodziak, Matt Cooke, Ryan Carter, Jordan Schroeder, Erik Haula and Sean Bergenheim (another midseason pickup who had one goal in 17 regular-season games).
Scoring, ultimately, was a big reason the Wild were sent home by Chicago. They scored seven goals in the seven-game series against Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford and went eight periods at one point with just one goal.
Defense: A
Despite all the changes that have occurred in goal for Minnesota, the defense has been remarkably consistent. That's a credit to one of the best defensive groups in the NHL and the structure used by Yeo. With Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin on the top pairing to go with further development of Jared Spurgeon and Marco Scandella, as well as the arrival of Matt Dumba, the Wild have one of the deepest groups of defensemen in the league.
The improved scoring was also aided by the back end. Scandella chipped in 11 goals to become the seventh defenseman in team history to reach the 10-goal plateau. He scored four game-winning goals. Spurgeon added a career-best nine goals and Dumba burst onto the season with eight goals in 58 games and added two more in the playoffs.
Defense is the calling card though, and Minnesota was fourth in the league in giving up just 27.6 shots per game this season. Demonstrating the consistency, the Wild allowed 27.7 shots per game last season, which was fifth in the league.
Brodin continued his steady play as a defensive standout. He was tied for ninth among all NHL defensemen with a plus-21 rating during the regular season. Dumba's game became more controlled and he was a plus-13. Scandella was a plus-8 in 64 games.
Suter continued to log big minutes, averaging 29 minutes, 4 seconds per game during the regular season. Suter went from eight goals, 35 assists and a plus-15 last season to two goals, 36 assists and a plus-7 this year.
The Wild were deeper after the acquisition of Minnesota native Jordan Leopold at the trade deadline. Leopold helped Dumba's progression as the two played together on the third pairing. Nate Prosser and rookie Christian Folin also played significant minutes during the regular season, adding to the depth.
Goaltending: B-minus
The defense has allowed the Wild to survive a constantly changing situation in goal, but it doesn't diminish the impact Dubnyk had this season. The Wild's goaltending grade is an average between Dubnyk's brilliance and the struggles before he was acquired in a trade on Jan. 14.
Before trading for Dubnyk, Minnesota allowed 88 goals in 25 games, an average of 3.52 goals per game. In 40 games with Dubnyk, the Wild allowed 71 goals the rest of the regular season, easily the best mark in the NHL. During that span, Los Angeles was second with 86 goals allowed. Minnesota had a plus-45 goal differential with Dubnyk in the regular season.
Along the way, Dubnyk started a franchise record 38 straight games. Including his final start in Arizona, he made 39 consecutive starts, which was the most by an NHL goalie since Evgeni Nabokov started 43 straight games for the San Jose Sharks in 2007-08, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
With Dubnyk in net, Minnesota settled into its game. While other parts improved, Dubnyk deserves a lot of credit for helping steady the team. He became a Vezina Trophy finalist, given to the league's top goaltender, by going 27-9-2 with a 1.78 goals-against average and .936 save percentage with the Wild. He set career highs across the board and finished second in the NHL in goals-against average (2.07), save percentage (.929), was tied for fourth with six shutouts and was tied for sixth with 36 wins combined with Arizona and Minnesota.
A strong finish by Dubnyk helped the Wild to an average of 2.42 goals against per game, which was sixth in the league. For the second straight year, Minnesota gave up 198 goals during the regular season.
Dubnyk was needed after Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom couldn't find their game during the December and January swoon. Josh Harding never ended up playing a game for the Wild this season. Kuemper started the year strong and appeared to ready to seize control of the position long term before he ran into midseason troubles.
Kuemper finished with a 2.60 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and was 14-12-2 after starting the season with shutouts in three of his first four games. Backstrom was 5-7-3 with a 3.04 goals-against average and .887 save percentage.
Power play: D
A conundrum for Yeo was the power play. Minnesota had plenty of talent but never got its power play going. The Wild were 27th in the league on the power play, scoring on 15.8 percent of their chances. Down the stretch, the team's second unit seemed to have the most cohesiveness and generated some of the best scoring chances.
Then in the playoffs, Minnesota scored on 30.4 percent of its chances, the second-best average of any playoff team. Again the second unit, particularly Dumba, looked strong.
There were moving parts at times, but Yeo didn't stray far from his preferred groupings. Vanek saw time on both units, but was mostly on the top power-play group. Suter, despite just two goals scored, was on the top unit the entire year. Dumba saw time on the first unit, but was mostly used on the second grouping when he joined the team midway through the season.
Parise is a relentless worker and led the team with 11 power-play goals. Niederreiter, on the second unit much of the time, was second on the team with six power-play goals. Dumba scored two of the seven power-play goals in the playoffs, and the second group was responsible for three of the goals with Spurgeon adding one goal.
Penalty kill: A
On the flip side, Minnesota didn't allow teams to score with the man-advantage either. The Wild led the NHL in penalty killing, killing off 86.3 percent of their short-handed situations. On home ice, Minnesota's penalty kill was successful on 87.8 percent. At one point, the Wild had killed off 32 consecutive opponent power plays.
With Dubnyk in net, Minnesota's penalty kill really shined. In the second half of the season, the Wild killed 90.8 percent of its short-handed situations. With Dubnyk, Scandella, Brodin, Spurgeon, Suter, a dedicated group of penalty kill forwards (such as Brodziak, Haula, Cooke, Carter, Koivu and Zucker) and the team's defensive structure, Minnesota's penalty kill was the best in the league.
Coaching: B
For the second straight year, Yeo was hearing plenty of heat from the fans as Minnesota underachieved in December and January. As fate would have it, Dubnyk arrived and the Wild faced the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 15. A 7-0 win against Buffalo propelled Minnesota to the league's best second-half record and the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The similarities are eerie compared to the previous season. By some accounts, Yeo's job was saved the previous year with a win against the Sabres, which kickstarted a second-half run and a second-playoff appearance.
But along with Dubnyk's arrival, Yeo's consistent message and demeanor helped the Wild overcome the struggles. Players credit Yeo for his behind-the-scenes work, consistency and belief in his team.
Minnesota overcame plenty this season, including the mumps which struck several players. There were the off-ice concerns as team leaders Parise and Suter both dealt with the deaths of their fathers. There were also losses of key players like Zucker, Granlund, Spurgeon, Scandella, Brodin, Cooke and Carter.
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