Welcome to the NHL team previews: a series that will breakdown every NHL team this offseason. You can expect to see new posts all summer, starting from the 30^th place team, and finishing with the Stanley Cup champions. With so many changes coming in the offseason, some teams will be improving dramatically, while others will be forced to make some tough decisions for the future. It’s going to be a fun summer of hockey talk, so sit down, hold on tight and enjoy the ride.

 Year in Review

 2014-2015 Stats

• Record: 46-28-8 (100 points)
• Goals per game: 2.77 (12^th)
• Goals against per game: 2.41 (6^th)
• Power play: 15.8% (27^th)
• Penalty kill: 86.3% (1^st)
• Shots per game: 30.8 (13^th)
• Shots against per game: 27.6 (4^th)

The Minnesota Wild cracked the 100-point mark for the second time since rejoining the NHL back in 2000-01, but they couldn’t get past the Chicago Blackhawks for the third postseason in a row. To many people, Minnesota making the playoffs came as a shock, but they’ve shown over the last few seasons that they’re a consistent hockey team that can compete with the best in the league.

They started the first half of the season slowly—going 18-19-5 after 42 games— leading to head coach Mike Yeo using some choice words during a team practice. He had reason to not be happy—his team was out of a playoff spot and just wasn’t competing hard enough every night—so General Manager Chuck Fletcher decided it was time to make a change.

Rather than make a coaching change, Fletcher decided to add a player to the mix in hopes of saving his team’s season.

The Wild proceeded to acquire goaltender Devan Dubnyk from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a third-round pick. At the time, the trade seemed to be just a minor move, maybe just a shake up for a struggling team that was ranked 29^th out of 30^th in team save percentage (.889). The move would prove to save their season, as Dubnyk would take over the starting job and never look back.

The former first round pick in 2004 would go on to start 39 games in a row, the most since Evgeni Nabokov started 43 games in a row in 2007-08 for San Jose. In those 39 starts, Minnesota would go 27-8-2, with Dubnyk posting a .938 SV%. Minnesota would finish 4^th in the Central Division thanks to an amazing second-half, with Dubnyk being named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy.

Offseason Game Plan

The Wild were an above-average team in 2014-15 and that should be the case again in 2015-16. Zach Parise, Jason Pominville, Mikko Koivu and Tomas Vanek will all be counted on to lead the team offensively, while youngsters Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter and Jason Zucker look to build on last season’s success. Their top-nine is arguably one of the best in hockey and should have no problem filling the net this season.

Defensively, Minnesota will need to find a way to play better defense in their own zone. According to Stats.hockeyanalysis, only two Wild defensemen finished in the top-50 in CF% with at least 750 minutes played (Jared Spurgeon 30^th, Marco Scandella 50^th).

Ryan Suter once again finished in the top-five in minutes played by a defenseman (2233:36 minutes in 77 games), but his CF% 5-on-5 ranked him 69^th in the league. He’s clearly better than what his stats showed last season, and he should be able to rebound and finish amongst the league’s best in that category. The Wild did finish in the top-ten in goals against per game and shots against per game and Suter finished the year with 38 points (2G, 36A) in 77 games. His CF% will need to be better, but he still remains one of the best shutdown defenseman in the NHL and should log a ton of minutes for the Wild next season.

As for goaltending, fans are hoping Dubnyk can repeat his success from last season again this year. It’s foolish to believe he’ll be able to put up crazy numbers like he did in the second half, but I think he can finish among the top five in the league, barring injury.

The only real battle in the crease may be who gets to back up Dubnyk. Both Niklas Backstrom and Darcy Kuemper are under contract until the end of next season and both are looking to rebound after poor seasons. Backstrom, who will be 38-years-old this season, is showing signs of wear and tear and hasn’t been able to stay healthy in a long time. With his cap hit being just under $3.5M, he’s probably most likely to start the season in the AHL while Kuemper serves as the teams back up goalie. Its unlikely that Yeo will let Dubnyk start 39 games in a row again, so expect Kuemper to get anywhere from 20-25 starts this season.

Despite their strong season, many experts are unsure if Minnesota will be able to make the playoffs for a fourth season in a row. Personally, I think the Wild have what it takes to make it to the post season and go far, assuming they don’t face Chicago at any point. Minnesota won’t be able to afford starting the season slowly and look to make up ground later in the year, especially playing in the ultra tough Central Division. They’ll need to be strong right from the start and let other teams chase after them. If they can rely less on their goalie and find a way to get their power play going, we could see the Wild become a complete hockey team.