The start of the NHL season is always one of the best times of the season. Teams that are supposed to struggle somehow find themselves at the top of their conference, players that open on a hot streak are on pace to break records, and everybody overreacts to everything. Throughout the season, the highs will balance out the lows, and the end result is usually somewhat predictable, but right now, we can ignore all that and just let ourselves become tangled in the web of crazy that is the fresh 2023-24 season.
For Minnesota Wild fans, there have been some intense highs and extreme lows experienced in just four games. Obviously, the entire season can change overnight, but if we ignore any regression to the mean in either direction, what kind of crazy season would Wild fans be looking at? Here are four strong overreactions based on the stats from those first four games.
4) Goaltending Will be an Absolute Rollercoaster
Heading into the season, the Wild were known around the league as potentially having one of the best goaltending trios with veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, breakout star Filip Gustavsson, and prospect Jesper Wallstedt. The first four games tell us that there are going to be some extreme highs and some bottomless pits of despair from both Gustavsson and Fleury.
Gustavsson got the nod for the season opener after the 25-year-old Swede signed a new three-year contract late in the offseason. Potentially a goalie of the future for the Wild, Gustavsson had some high expectations coming into this season after statistically being one of the best goaltenders in the entire league for the entirety of the 2022-23 season. He surpassed all expectations in his first game of the season with a 41-save shutout, only to completely fall apart two nights later when the Toronto Maple Leafs lit him up with seven goals on only 33 shots.
It was theorized well beforehand that Fleury would get the Wild’s next game on Oct.17 no matter how Gustavsson played, as the Quecbec-native deserved the opportunity to start against his hometown Montreal Canadiens. Fleury was electric and pulled out all the stops in a 26-save acrobatic performance that gave the team a 5-2 win. Unfortunately for the Wild, Fleury followed Gustavsson’s pattern and allowed five goals against on just 25 shots in his next game. This up-and-down goaltending trend could get annoying really fast.
3) Joel Eriksson Ek is a Selke Finalist
Every hockey player develops at a different rate, excels in different categories, and is most useful in specific situations. Joel Eriksson Ek is a strange case for all of those because, as any Wild fan knows, he has developed this very strange habit of becoming better each and every year, and just when you think he has peaked, he proves you wrong. Not only is his development curve strangely linear but he continues to become more useful in all areas of the game. There is no bad time to send out Eriksson Ek, whether it is five-on-five, powerplay, penalty kill, overtime, or a shootout he is capable of excelling at all of them.
Even without Matt Boldy on his wing to drive the offence, Eriksson Ek is off to a very strong start offensively with four goals and five points, while still managing to be very strong defensively. He is primed to blow past his record point season from 2022-23 and land himself firmly in the point-per-game crowd, easily landing him in Selke contention. If any Wild fans still believe they need a number one center, I give you Joel Eriksson Ek. He just doesn’t play on the number one line.
2) Wild Are a Bubble Playoff Team
The Wild are returning this season with a roster that looks very similar to the one they have had for the last couple of seasons. It would make sense then, that after two seasons of breaking the 100-point mark and coasting into the playoffs with relative ease, there is no reason that they shouldn’t be able to do so again. Some teams in their Central Division are better than them, namely the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, but the competition takes a significant step down past those two, allowing the Wild to slide into projections at third place.
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The only issue with that is that a .500-point percentage does not get a team into the playoffs. The Wild are not able to rely on the teams around them being bad to get into the postseason, but they are not playing like a team that has what it takes to win the games necessary to earn that spot. Instead, they look like they may just be the benefactors of playing in the weakest division in the league.
1) Brock Faber is an Elite Top-Pairing Defenseman
There are a lot of players who make the jump into the NHL and take their time adjusting to the type of speed and physicality that can only be found in the best hockey league in the world, see Eriksson Ek from above. Then there is this rare grouping of players that seem to only get better once placed in that scenario and are stars from their very first NHL game onwards. Brock Faber looks like he is the latter of the two. The 21-year-old Maple Grove native has shown every indication that he could become the Wild’s best defenseman in no time at all.
When Faber was acquired in the Kevin Fiala trade it was obvious that the Los Angeles Kings had gotten the best player in the trade, but that could very well change if Faber continues along his current trajectory. Elite wingers are hard to find, but 6-foot-1, over 200 lbs, right-shot, top-pair defensemen are nearly impossible to find unless you have a top-ten draft pick. Faber has already shown that he is responsible defensively with a very high hockey IQ, but add in the offensive flair that has him with two points already, and the Wild are looking at an absolute stud on their currently deflated blue line.
All Things in Moderation
While it can be fun to overreact in the early stages of the season, it is important to remember that the regular season is 82 games for a reason. It allows for the highs and lows of individual games to balance out, and what is left at the end is a better representation of the truth. There is a scenario where one or more of these overreactions actually occur, but there is a very high percentage chance that they don’t. The key is to enjoy the good while it is happening and remember that the bad has to come to an end eventually.
