Midseason Report: Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Wild (21-18-3, 45 pts): With loss of superstar Marian Gaborik and an offseason that yielded no real replacements for the losses of veterans like Brian Rolston and Pavol Demitra, the Wild couldn't have been too optimistic about their season's outlook. Gaborik's inability to come to terms with the organization, and subsequent injury has removed him from any capacity to perform in this season's proceedings, but the Wild have still been hanging around the backdoor of the Western Conference playoff picture.

Despite the emergence of Mikko Koivu as a legitimate scoring threat, the Wild have one of the league's most apathetic offenses, scoring less goals than all but the struggling Kings, Predators, Lightning and self-destructing Senators. Four of the team's top ten scorers are defensemen, and Koivu is the only forward to have more than thirty points so far.

It has been the goaltending of Niklas Backstrom, combined with solid play from the Wild's blueline corps, that has kept them in the hunt thus far. Backstrom has been nothing short of amazing so far, winning 20 of 35 starts while posting a 2.19 GAA and a .926 save percentage that has forwards around the league shaking their heads. If the Wild can get some help offensively and Backstrom proves he can handle the strain of being called upon to perform night in and night out, they might have a shot at being a dark horse candidate in the 2009 postseason.

Current League Rankings:

Goals - 26th
Goals Against - 2nd
Powerplay Goals - T-8th
Powerplay Percentage - 9th
Shorthanded Goals - T-21st
Penalty kill percentage - 2nd