I'm at about a 6 or 7.. Not because we're off to a winless start but because I just don't think we have what it takes to be a successful team. For one, I think we're going to see a season full of rotating goaltenders & not in a good way. I hope I'm wrong but I was weary last year about our goaltending situation & as much as I respect what Backstrom has done in the past & how much heart Harding has I just think we have a risky & inconsistent goaltending tandem. Backstrom seems to be showing signs of wear that you usually don't see til later in the season & as much as I hate to even say it, Hardings questionable Heath scares me a bit. I know he's one tough guy & I respect the hell out of him & want more than anything for him to just put on a clinic this season but I just can't shake the feeling that he's fragile, if he's even bumped hard I worry about him. I won't even comment on off the ice worries related to the MS because I don't know enough about it but ya... I can't stress enough that I hope I'm wrong on him tho.
Furthermore, unless Nino just goes beast mode we're still missing that high quality finisher... If we had Heatley 5 years ago, or even a player like Matt Moulson who just seems to finish plays with goals, I think we have to many playmakers & workhorses. Basically if we just had one more player hitting his prime that we can rely on to consistently pot 30+ a season it could change everything. Right now I think Parise is our only hope to even get close to 30 goals & one player just doesn't cut it. Yes we could win with goals by committee but the wilds track record on goal scoring doesn't instill much hope on that front...
Lastly, I think we're just too young, shaky & inexperienced on defense. We lack at least one more solid,
Good sized, tough as nails, consistent defenseman. I think Brodin & Dumba will grow into exactly what we need, especially with Suter here long term but for this season, unless Scandella or Stoner somehow pull it all together & quick, we're just too porous to compete with deep teams. We can't ask Suter & Brodin to play 30+ mins a game all season, it's asking too much. Also as I mentioned above, we just lack the scoring ability & goal tending ability to compensate for the inevitable defensive lapses that will come...
So regardless of our slow start, I just don't think we have the ability to be anything more than a fringe playoff team. With all that said, a solid trade or a few players clicking & playing above their means could change this all but as I mentioned in another thread, watching us compared to watching numerous other teams, we just don't have that explosiveness. We're a bunch of grinders & it makes us medium successful but until I see us playing the type of games where you just saw "wow" on a consistent basis, I just don't see us being a serious contender this season...
But hey, if we can just make the playoffs, it's been seen that anything can happen but you're not going to be seeing me betting on the Wild to win it all this season, but with that said, I don't trust any major Minnesota sports team to win anything. As a state with 4 major sports we have about the least amount of championship wins in the whole country... I hate even having said all this because in every other aspect of life I'm an extremely optimistic & positive person but being a Minnesota sports fan has just killed any optimism I had when it comes to our sports teams. (Btw, I'm not a twins fan so no need to mention that the twins actually won something when I was still practically in diapers)
Go wild, prove me wrong.... Sorry for another long post guys.
