
Four months of hiatus, three weeks of training camp and a week of playoff games boiled down to a fateful 11 seconds for the Wild on Friday night. When Chris Tanev's shot from the point found its way past a screened goalie Alex Stalock, the Vancouver Canucks had a qualifying series-clinching 5-4 victory in the Edmonton bubble.
Quick as a hiccup, the Wild's postseason stay was over, a four-game ouster that started so promisingly with a Game 1 shutout but finished like every other, beginning with the second round in 2015. Since beating the St. Louis Blues in six games that year, the Wild has posted a 5-19 postseason mark with one non-playoff season.
This postseason outcome shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone following this team. The Wild was the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference, and that status was earned by an inconsistent regular season. Any playoff success would have been a bonus.
The positive to take away is that General Manager Bill Guerin had the chance to see this team in a tournament situation in which he can judge what's working and what must be improved. Since Guerin took over last summer, his biggest moves have been trading Jason Zucker and replacing coach Bruce Boudreau with Dean Evason. Expect the GM to be active in trying to improve the Wild into a team with staying power in the playoffs. Here are some areas that need his attention:
The goalie situation
A changing of the guard during the regular season saw Alex Stalock take over as starter in place of Devan Dubnyk, who missed time to deal with his wife Jenn's serious medical issue. Stalock, 33, finished 20-11-4 with a 2.67 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. Against the Canucks, he opened the series with a 28-save shutout before allowing 12 goals over the final three games. Dubnyk, 34, didn't play in the postseason and was 12-15-2 with a 3.35 GAA and .890 save percentage in the regular season.
The Wild wants to improve in goal, and an in-house option could be Kaapo Kahkonen, who had a league-best 25 wins and seven shutouts for Iowa of the AHL this season. Might Guerin buy out Dubnyk and his $4.3 million salary cap hit to make room for Kahkonen? That's an option, as is free agency. Washington's Braden Holtby and Vancouver's Jacob Markstrom are among the top starters who have the chance to hit the market, though they would drive a high price.
Seeking a center