How worried should the Wild be after recent performance?

It’s been a difficult month of December for the Minnesota Wild. After starting the year 18-4-4, at one point being first in the entire National Hockey League, the Wild have fallen back to Earth, going 3-6-0 since Dec. 7 and losing some of those games quite handedly, including a 7-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, a 6-1 defeat by the Florida Panthers and last Saturday, a 5-0 drubbing by the Winnipeg Jets.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the Wild’s struggles and if they’re going to stay in the playoff hunt through the 2024-25 season.

Tyler Yaremchuk: In the Central Division, I would be a little bit concerned if I was a fan of the Wild. First off, when I just go on paper, I think this is a Minnesota team that’s 19th in goals per game, and I don’t think that’s a fluke or bad luck.

They’re lacking a bit of offensive depth. If it’s not Kirill Kaprizov or Marco Rossi or Matt Boldy, I’m not sure how much scoring they’re getting done. If the goaltending starts to come back down to Earth a bit, I’m worried about Minnesota.

Frank Seravalli: I’m worried because I thought they overachieved a bit to start and I just think this is a team that, last year, got lost because they don’t have the proper depth. This year, it’s shaping up to be similar.

Yes, they got Jonas Brodin back, but Jacob Middleton being out, that really hurts. You’re playing a game where you’ve got your top left-shot defenseman being John Merrill, and that’s probably not a recipe for success. If you look up front, someone’s banged up. Add on an injury to Filip Gustavsson and the run that he was on this season, one of the very best goalies in the league, and probably tracking towards being a Vezina Trophy finalist.

They’re struggling, and with the injuries, I don’t know if this team can withstand that.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…