The process started back in July, when general manager Bill Guerin bought out the final four seasons of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise’s contracts.
Guerin then fished Brandon Duhaime out of the Wild’s farm team in Iowa, and the winger has been a great fourth-line addition with Nico Sturm or veteran Nick Bjugstad.
There were some struggles out of the gate, most notably for Kirill Kaprizov, Cam Talbot and Kevin Fiala, but the Wild overcame each one.
In last season’s breakout performance , Eriksson Ek proved he could be a strong, 200-foot center.
Evason started by moving Eriksson Ek away from his former linemates Jordan Greenway and Marcus Foligno and trying him with Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello.
Evason took to calling them a “security blanket” for Minnesota’s offense, and so they have been.
Going up against the Toronto Maple Leafs last week, Eriksson Ek’s line held Toronto’s top scorers off the board at even strength.
Through Minnesota’s last 10 games, Eriksson Ek has three goals and eight points, Foligno has six goals and seven points and Greenway is finally clicking offensively, with four goals and six points.
While Evason spent the first month of this season tinkering, Hartman shuffled from a top-six role with Kaprizov and Zuccarello to a fourth-line spot with Sturm and Duhaime.
Kaprizov has been off and running since mid-November, registering five goals and 14 points in 10 games.
This is trending towards being Hartman’s most productive season ever, on pace for a 40-plus goal campaign while already just eight points shy of his career high from 2016-17.
One thing that’s elevated Hartman is how much he’s shooting the puck.
Talbot was feeling good, at 5-0-0 to open the season, and sharing the net with backup Kaapo Kahkonen.
Talbot’s run coincided with the Wild losing Spurgeon to injury, underscoring how vital the improved goaltending has been to Minnesota’s accomplishments.
Their combined numbers tell the tale: 62% expected goals for percentage, 57% scoring chances percentage and 54% Corsi for percentage.
The 29-year-old has already suited up in 28 games for the Wild and registered 10 points.
That speed allows Brodin to keep his edges and force bodies to the outside, taking away chances and helping the Wild to be such a dominant 5-on-5 club.
In a nod to the team’s overall defensive capabilities, the Wild were 28th overall in goals-against average during Spurgeon’s eight-game absence.
That’s how animated the winger was in last Thursday’s win over San Jose, after he scored for just the second time in 14 games.
Minnesota has gotten solid contributions from its bottom six, particularly Gaudreau and Pitlick.
Despite appearing in only 18 games, Rask has four goals and nine points, making him a nice available option to slot in as injuries will likely dictate at some point.