Boy, what a turnaround from a disastrous start to the season for Erik. Here is a statistical breakdown of the season for him to celebrate the fact that he is currently riding a 6 game point streak, which without looking it up, is a career high for him.
1) First 33 games under Yeo: 3+3 6 points +2
Prorated: 6 goals and 15 points in 82 games
2) 14 games under Yeo after that: 2 goals 5 assists 7 points +6
Prorated: 12 goals and 41 points in 82 games
3) First 19 games under Torchetti: 19 gp 7 goals 9 assists 16 points +11
Prorated: 30 goals and 69 points in 82 games
This is awesome for the Wild since he is still under contract for only $1,050,000 the next season after which he becomes a RFA. With 8 games left I presume he will hit 35 points for the season (he has 29 points now). What would his expectations then be for next season? I personally would bet that next season he hits 40 points which would be awesome, but still well below his Torchetti prorated season numbers of 69 points. Anything close to this would be an unreasonable expectation since no Minny player will score 60 points this season and it is hard to see Haula getting more offensive opportunities than Koivu, Parise, Granlund, Vanek, Coyle etc. ... Or could he be slotted higher in the line-up, or even getting PP-time? I don't think that is his bread and butter (his strengths lie elsewhere, but what do I know?). How do you guys feel? Are the expectations of 40 points for next season too high or too low? I am not even sure where he will be slotted, but take a wild (hehe) guess.
Anyway, here's hoping that Minny makes the playoffs as an 8th seed. If Dallas is the 1# seed I could see you guys even advancing to the second round as their goaltending is suspect and they lack playoff experience. The same applies to some degree to the current #2 seed St. Louis.