MN Wild Nearly Dead Last in Early Power Rankings

Halloween is now in the rearview mirror, but that doesn’t mean the Minnesota Wild don’t have plenty of frightful scenes still in front of them. To say they have gotten out of the gate slowly this season would be putty it kindly.

John Hynes’ team has looked mediocre to downright inept far to often this season. That’s not a good look when the roster was largely kept status quo from last season. At 3-6-3, their nine points are among the worst across the entire NHL. That’s reflected in early power rankings as well.

Power rankings way down on MN Wild early

There was a time before the season started that certain insiders suggested the Minnesota Wild may be a dark horse Stanley Cup contender. Then the puck dropped and the team has imploded. It would be impossible to overlook their performance thus far, and early power rankings have them in the basement.

There aren’t many more places for the Wild to fall after dropping from 21st at both ESPN and The Athletic. Each outlet fairly assessed the reason for the fall as well.

Starting next season, Kirill Kaprizov will be skating on the richest deal in NHL history, after inking that eight-year, $17 million per year deal this fall. Unlike Scrooge, Kaprizov hasn’t been stingy since putting his autograph on the contract, with 15 points through 11 games.

ESPN

Minnesota is 3-6-3, they’ve won one of their last nine, they’ve lost five straight, they’re getting booed off the ice at home and they’re one of the worst five-on-five teams in the league. Other than that, everything is fine.

The Athletic

Kaprizov now has 16 points through 12 games, but plenty of that production has been hollow and come at less than even-strength. He’s also a -5 thus far, and has little help around him.

This was the potential bed general manager Bill Guerin made when opting to run virtually the same roster back. Despite cap space, not much has been shuffled and the young depth has yet to make a substantial impact.

It’s still early for Minnesota, but it’s getting late early for John Hynes. If the head coach can’t get better efforts rolling soon, he won’t be around to see what the eventual outcome looks like anyways. Minnesota is back on the ice Saturday against Vancouver.