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NHL insider believes one HC's job is secure despite being on 5-game losing streak
The Minnesota Wild find themselves in a challenging position, sitting 28th in the NHL and on a five-game losing streak. Despite their struggles, there seems to be a vote of confidence in the team's head coach, Dean Evason.
TSN insider Chris Johnston suggests that Evason's job is not in immediate jeopardy, providing insights into the management's perspective on the situation. According to Johnston, the team's management perceives the issues as beyond a quick fix through a coaching change or trade.
Johnston stated during a recent edition of "Insider Trading":
“The sense is he’s not in imminent danger and I think that’s mainly because management looks at this roster and says, it’s not a trade away from being fixed, it’s not a coaching change away from being fixed."
Johnston then pointed to individual performances:
“It’s up to the best players on this team to pull them through what’s been a difficult stretch. Look at the roster, you’ve got Kirill Kaprizov with five goals, Marcus Foligno with two goals, Matt Boldy had 31 last year, he’s only got one goal on the season.
"So, I think right now, when Bill Guerin had a pretty heated meeting with his players here within the last week, the message is that it’s up to them to get themselves out of it, rather than a change coming from above.”
The Wild's woes run deep, with deficiencies evident in special teams. The team's penalty kill has been particularly problematic, ranking as the worst in the NHL at just 65.5 percent. This marks a significant decline from the previous season's 82 percent, which placed them 10th in the league. The power play hasn't fared much better, sitting at 24th with a 15.6 percent success rate.
Minnesota Wild's goaltending woes in the 2023 NHL season
Goaltending is another area of concern for the Wild. After a standout campaign in the previous season, Filip Gustavsson has struggled, posting a 2-4-2 record with a .882 save percentage and a 4.15 goals-against average. Even veteran Marc-Andre Fleury has faced difficulties, with a .875 save percentage and a 3.46 GAA.
The team's defensive struggles are reflected in their fifth-worst goals against (68) through 17 games, coupled with a middling 20th rank in goals scored (53).
Despite these challenges, the team made a pair of trades on November 8, acquiring forward Adam Raska and a 2026 fifth-round pick in exchange for defenseman Calen Addison. Additionally, they added defenseman Zach Bogosian from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft.
The Wild's recent playoff history adds additional pressure. While they made the NHL playoffs last season, they faced a first-round exit for the third consecutive year.
Complicating matters, the team is grappling with a dead cap of $14.7 million due to the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. This financial burden adds to the complexity of the team's current predicament.
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