In meeting with reporters two weeks ago, Wild GM Bill Guerin was blunt about how he would evaluate the team going forward:
"We don't want to talk ourselves into something that we don't really want to do or think we're something that we're not," he said. "We have to be very honest with ourselves and then move accordingly."
Here's the question: How long should the evaluation last before Guerin makes tough decisions?
First take: Michael Rand
It would have been tempting for Guerin to make snap decisions after the team's tough start, but the biggest obstacle, honestly, is the schedule.
It's hard to get a perfect handle on a roster when 20 of a team's first 30 games are on the road. By Dec. 7, the Wild will have played almost half of its road games. And as the schedule has balanced out a little lately, the team has performed at a higher level.
But overly optimistic teams might point to St. Louis as a reason to keep a roster together. The Blues, as has been oft-repeated, won the Stanley Cup last season after entering Jan. 3 with the fewest points in the league. On that date, however, 13 of the eventual 16 postseason teams were already in playoff position.
Sarah McLellan: That tends to be the norm, with the potential playoff picture taking shape as early as Thanksgiving. Most teams in a berth at that point in the calendar tend to hold on to one. This reality isn't encouraging for the Wild, which has remained near the bottom of the standings despite recent improvements, but the best read on the group might not come until after the holiday break.
