Whether you’re talking about a group of 5 people that are trying to get a group project done for a university class or a corporation of hundreds of people trying to work its way up the Fortune 500 rankings, every group or team relies on a few superstars to work their magic and boost their chances of doing well.
It’s no different for a hockey team as a couple of guys per team are designated as difference-makers. For the most part, they will make a positive difference because they have the natural ability to handle the task better than others. However, if they can’t live up to those expectations, the organization is sunk and will find itself in trouble.
That’s what happened to the Minnesota Wild last season. They had the names in place to be a playoff team, but the difference makers failed to elevate their games in order to elevate the results of the franchise. At the forward ranks, the disappointment starts with Martin Havlat as he was only able to pick up 54 points in 73 games. Mikko Koivu held up his end of the bargain by leading the team in points. Havlat simply needs to be better.
The top two lines on this team is full of experience and talent, but the problem lies with the bottom two lines that are full of youth and inexperience. Except for John Madden, the Wild will rely on former first-round picks that have failed to live up to expectations and young guys looking to get their feet wet.
Defensively, they’re going to have to hope that a couple of guys that were can’t-miss prospects a couple of years ago become solid NHL d-men. Brent Burns had a ton of trouble with injuries last season and only played 47 games. Cam Barker is a former 3rd overall pick, but has never really showed off why he was projected so high coming out of junior. Marek Zidlicky leads this group and had a very solid season a year ago, but he’s hoping that he doesn’t have to do it all himself again this year.
Everyone thought goaltending would be an after-thought after Niklas Backstrom put up three straight seasons with a .920 save percentage and signed a massive contract, but he under-performed last year. He’ll have to pick up his game to regain the respect that he had gained throughout the league.
Two players to look out for in camp are Andrew Brunette and Guillaume Latendresse. At 37 years old, Brunette just continues to defy the critics and put up big seasons. He quietly scored 25 goals and 61 points last year to have his best year since 2006-2007. Can he continue to produce first-line numbers or will he hit the wall this year? Latendresse was considered a bust as he moved from the Habs to the Wild, but in only 55 games, he scored 25 goals and 37 points. Is this the start of a stretch of big seasons for Latendresse or was it just an aberration?