WILD WEDNESDAY - Gus Bus Leaking Oil
Devastating Losses
When the Wild needed to win most, they fell short. Both losses against Nashville and St. Louis were major setbacks in keeping a playoff run alive as they are now nine points out of the last spot.
The Wild’s performance in Nashville was inexcusable and it was the first time Coach Hynes questioned the team’s effort. The Wild played well against St. Louis, but Jordan Binnington was the difference in that game. In the latest game, San Jose had us all sweating, but the top line finally produced after having a three-game drought with Kaprizov tallying his third hat trick of the season.
The Wild are 5-11 in the Central division this season with wins against Arizona, Nashville, St. Louis and Chicago twice. They are 0-7 against the top three teams in their division – Dallas, Winnipeg and Colorado. If the Wild could have managed to win just half of these games, the playoff picture would seem a lot more feasible currently.
After the win against Seattle on Feb. 24, the Wild managed to go from two points within a playoff spot to ten points in just seven days. As bad as that sounds, who says it cannot change that quickly the other way. Nashville’s eight-game winning streak finally came to an end after an overtime loss against Montreal last night and LA has lost three of their last five games. I am not saying it is likely, but with how fast things can change in this league, anything can happen.
Gus Bus Leaking Oil
Last season, Gustavsson had the second highest save percentage in the league at .931. This season, he has the 10th lowest save percentage at .892. The once consistent and reliable Gus Bus is no longer.
In his last five starts, he has a .828 save percentage and has let in a total of 19 goals. In his latest start against the second worst team in the league, the Sharks, he gave up three goals on only 18 shots. I am starting to wonder if Gus Bus was just a one-year wonder.
Granted, it is not unusual for goaltenders to have tough seasons. Igor Shesterkin, Jakob Markstrom, Jordan Binnington, Sergei Bobrovsky and Andrei Vasilevskiy have all experienced inconsistency similar to Gus but are still considered some of the top goaltenders in the league. The difference is that these goaltenders have multiple great seasons under their belts, whereas Gus only has one.
If it were a perfect world, I would love to see Fleury and Wallstedt as the Wild’s goalies next year, but that all depends on if Fleury wants to play another season and if Wallstedt is ready. If the Wild fall out of the playoff contention, I am sure they will bring up Wallstedt to play the rest of the season to see how he does. Gus is more than likely not going to be traded at the deadline this Friday, but based on both of these factors they could move him during the offseason. Gustavsson is in the first year of his three-year, $11.25 million contract, which other teams in need of goaltending would likely still take on despite his performance this year.
But if the Wild decide to continue with Gus, he better start stopping pucks with his high blocker which has seemingly been his weakness this season.
Recent Moves
The Wild signed defenseman Zach Bogosian to a two-year extension worth $2.5 million on Tuesday, Mar. 5. Guerin decided he has liked what he has seen so far from the former Stanely Cup Champion and feels he fits into the Wild’s future plans. Securing Bogosian for a relatively cheap contract is a solid move by Guerin as both Jon Merrill and Dakota Mermis are set to be unrestricted free agents this summer. Bogosian is an aggressive and solid defenseman that has one goal, eight assists and a +3 rating through 43 games with the Wild this season.
Vinni Lettieri and Jake Lucchini were placed on waivers on Tuesday, Mar. 5 and they both cleared. Both Lettieri and Lucchini will remain on the roster for now, but this gives the Wild’s roster flexibility for trades and the arrival of Marat Khusnutdinov as they are two-way players. Khusnutdinov is expected to arrive in Minnesota later this week and the returns of Pat Maroon and Marcus Foligno are also right around the corner.
Foligno practiced with the team for the first time today and could potentially play in tomorrow’s game against Arizona depending on how he feels during the morning skate. Maroon skated for the first time today since his back surgery on Feb. 7. He is four weeks into a 4-6 week expected recovery and is on the trade watch. Maroon should draw interest from playoff contending teams as he is progressing quickly in his healing process.
The Wild’s next two matchups are on the road against Arizona tomorrow and Colorado on Friday. The Wild return home on Sunday to face the Nashville Predators.
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