Wild's depth, and GM Fletcher, are being tested

A critical stretch for the Wild also will be a crucial time for General Manager Chuck Fletcher to evaluate the team.

With long-term injuries to left wingers Jason Zucker, Matt Cooke and Ryan Carter testing the Wild's depth, coach Mike Yeo will have to juggle his lineup to put the right pieces in place.

And, Fletcher said, players such as Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle, Erik Haula and Justin Fontaine will have to "step up" and assume more important roles.

An 8-1-2 streak put the Wild back into playoff contention, but if Fletcher discovers the team doesn't have all the necessary components, he might look to the outside by the March 2 trade deadline.

The Wild revealed Tuesday that Zucker will have season-ending surgery Thursday to repair a broken collarbone and that Carter will join Cooke on the shelf until at least mid-March. About an hour after that announcement, Fletcher tried to answer whether the onslaught of injuries will force him into making a trade.

"I don't know how many proven goal scorers are on the market right now," Fletcher said. "You're always looking. I'm always on the phone talking to other managers, and I have a pretty good sense of what's available in the marketplace. If there's a deal that can help us, we'll always look to make that deal.

"By the same token, every time you have an injury, you can't just rush to the market and fill it via trade."

The Winnipeg Jets, who beat the Wild 2-1 in overtime Tuesday night to move seven points ahead of Minnesota in the playoff race, are in a rush. Winnipeg swung a blockbuster trade Wednesday, getting giant defenseman Tyler Myers and skilled winger Drew Stafford in a deal that sent injured rising star Evander Kane to Buffalo as the Sabres continue their quest to get the top choice in the NHL draft.

In the past couple of years, the Wild has traded prospects and draft picks to acquire Jason Pominville and Matt Moulson at the deadline. That affected the Wild's prospect pool, one that looks lean at the pro level in part because former high draft choices Zack Phillips and Brett Bulmer have been disappointments at Iowa of the American Hockey League.

The Wild has some college and junior prospects in Alex Tuch, Louis Belpedio, Adam Gilmour, Mario Lucia, Carson Soucy, Avery Peterson, Chase Lang and Reid Duke coming down the pike. But before the Wild considers dealing such assets for NHL players, Fletcher wants to see his young players make bigger contributions. He said this is a great opportunity for Niederreiter and Coyle to prove they're capable, for Fontaine to get back into the lineup, and for Haula, in the middle of his toughest stretch of a tough sophomore campaign, to improve his play.

"[Jordan] Schroeder has been patiently awaiting an opportunity all season," Fletcher said. "We still have a young player like Tyler Graovac. We have some candidates who can play a top-nine [forward] role and who can contribute offensively, and a number of players, like Brett Sutter and Stephane Veilleux [called up from Iowa on Wednesday], who can play fourth-line, penalty-killing roles.

"We're confident in the players we have. Any time you can improve your team, you look to do it. But our first thought right now is just to provide this opportunity to the players that are here and we'll go from there."

The Wild plays every other day the rest of the month. Goalie Devan Dubnyk, 8-1-1 as a Wild starter with a 1.53 goals-against average and .941 save percentage, likely will make his 12th consecutive start against Florida on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. He has carried the load at the junior and minor league level before, so the 28-year-old said, "the way this group works and limits the chances and shots, I am perfectly fine to keep playing."

"I found a pretty good place mentally as to how to prepare for games, and to be honest, I don't ever want to not play a game," he said. "It's been so much fun to get to start, and I just found a nice routine with just looking at every game on the schedule and preparing to play. It's my job to keep putting in the efforts that make [Yeo] want to start me."

With so many games in a condensed period, so many injuries and a lot of travel on the horizon, Yeo said "practice time is going to be pretty scarce" the rest of the season, let alone this month.

Wild players look forward to getting into a rhythm.

"I like this a lot better than so many days between games," leading scorer Zach Parise said. "This is going to be a huge stretch. We've been saying that for the last month and we'll keep saying that 'til April. We don't have a lot of breathing room. They're all important.

"We'll be saying three weeks from now how important this game is. That's the situation we're in, but fortunately we've played well as of late and hopefully we continue to play well and get points."