Youthful Wild players improving, growing together
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Last season, Charlie Coyle could simply text Mikael Granlund or Jonas Brodin and ask them where they wanted to walk for dinner. Oftentimes, fellow Wild youngster Erik Haula would join them.
When they were both out with injuries last October, Coyle and Brodin watched road games together.
Minnesota's stalwart youth movement manifested itself publicly on the ice, especially in last season's playoffs. But there's a relationship element, too, the kind that hockey tends to produce from guys that are the same age going through the same struggles and triumphs.
"It kind of makes you feel more comfortable, knowing there's other guys going through what you're going through," Coyle, a 24-year-old right winger entering his third NHL season, told FOXSportsNorth.com.
The Wild's 2014-15 opening-night roster isn't technically set, but it's expected to include at least five returners who were born after 1990. Four of them -- Coyle, Brodin, Granlund and Nino Neiderreiter -- lived in the same downtown Minneapolis apartment complex last year. So did occasional AHL call-up Jason Zucker, who has a good shot at making the NHL club for good this time around. Haula made his in-season dwelling just down the road.
Each youngster came into his own at a different pace and in a different way. But by the end, a collectively strong foundation had been established.
"I think everyone talked about that our young guys coming in, the talent we have coming up to add with what we already have here with the older guys and the vets," Coyle said. "We all, pretty much, got a year or two under our belt, so it's nice to keep playing with these guys and come back and just be with them."
It's the most promising harbinger of sustained success in the Twin Cities -- a young, affordable core to complement Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and the rest of Minnesota's wily, well-paid veterans. General manager Chuck Fletcher did his darnedest to keep it intact this offseason, and the result is a group without much turnover intent on improving upon last year's Western Conference semifinals finish.
Continuity is as key as anything.
"The more familiarity you have," Suter said, "the more you're around guys, the more you can create, the more you can talk about certain plays, just the more comfortable you feel."
Granlund was a revelation in his second full NHL season, chipping in 41 regular-season points before postseason heroics that included four goals and three assists. Fellow Finn Haula, a University of Minnesota product, had the same postseason output after appearing in 46 regular-season games. Coyle proved his worth as a reliable, gritty two-way forward, Niederreiter vindicated Fletcher's decision to deal Cal Clutterbuck for him, and Brodin ranked second on the team in ice time, missing just three games.
And then there was goalie Darcy Kuemper, who joined the Wild's goalie Tilt-A-Whirl late in the year and backstopped them to three playoff wins.
After a summer of haggling, Fletcher brought back Niederreiter, 22, for three years and $8 million and Kuemper, 24, for two years and $2.5 million.
With that group unaltered, expectations are climbing rapidly, Coyle said.
"We made some strides, which is nice and all, but we want to get (further)," said Coyle, who had 12 goals and 18 assists in 70 games last year. "I think doing that, this year, has definitely put pressure on us to exceed those expectations or exceed what we did last year. I think we've got the team to do it again. It's here for us, I think, if we want it and work for it."
No arguments from their head coach.
"It's fun to watch the difference in just sort of their attitude, how they come to the rink that next year, coming back with the confidence and knowing that they belong on the team and that they're a huge part of it and they're ready to contribute," coach Mike Yeo said. "The learning curve, a lot of it, they've been through already."
For that reason, Coyle said, Minnesota's young horses will be comfortable living a little more spread out from each other this season. But they'll still reside in the same geographical vicinity.
And the nucleus they've established isn't going anywhere.
"It's great," Granlund said. "There's a lot of guys who are kind of, like, in the same situation. You're kind of pushing each other every day. We want to be better every day, and the guys we have -- fix, six guys -- are in the same situation. It's kind of cool."
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