Wilderness Walk: Rolling Wild

Just think back to what you thought about this Minnesota Wild team less than a month ago, when they suffered their eighth loss in their last 11 games back on Feb. 15, when they lost a tight game to the Colorado Avalanche. Do it right now — you thought they were done for, right? Despite clutching on to a Wild Card spot, the Wild seemed doomed to finish just outside of the postseason.

Well, they have now earned at least one point in every single game since then by earning a 8-0-1 record in their last nine, and are now battling with the Top Dogs in this division to be crowned the winner and have all the momentum behind them on both sides of the ice to do exactly that.

And when you are doing exactly what the history-chasing Boston Bruins are doing, you’re doing pretty well at this “winning hockey games” thing.

Not even to go without saying that this team is finally seeing some goals and at the same time that they added skill to this roster at the trade deadline. The stars are aligning to have an exciting rest of the season that could end with a banner raised at The X.

That’s Wild

• The NHL trade deadline has come and gone and the Wild were involved in five trades last week, bringing in four new players and sending out one. We decided to give each trade a letter grade to determine how well GM Bill Guerin did with what he had. [Hockey Wilderness]
• There is a reason why the Wild decided to acquire all Swedish players at the trade deadline. [10K Rinks]

Off the trail...

• Carolina Hurricanes goaltending prospect Pyotr Kochetkov might be the most entertaining netminder to ever exist. He plays extremely well but also is willing to get into a shouting match and drop the gloves with anyone. Over the weekend, he displayed some skill in both arenas. [Yahoo Sports]
• A little bit of bad news for us: Cale Makar is clear to return from his concussion for the Colorado Avalanche. [NBC Sports]
• How the powers on the East Coast look after the trade deadline. [ESPN]
• Jakub Chychrun was dealt to the Ottawa Senators and his family is overjoyed. His grandfather has already been seen crushing a donut in the stands and celebrating his first goal as a Senator. [Ottawa Citizen]