Wild coach Mike Yeo: 'We're going to be more aggressive'

The Wild snapped a four-year playoff drought last spring when it pulled out a must-win game at Colorado to grab the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Minnesota looks to build on that this season, albeit with a very different looking team. Following an offseason that was a far cry from 2012 when the Wild signed Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to 13-year deals, general manager Chuck Fletcher had to work to get cap compliant.

That led to the subtraction of four key forwards — Matt Cullen, Devin Setoguchi, Cal Clutterbuck and Pierre-Marc Bouchard — and defenseman Tom Gilbert. The Wild signed veteran forward Matt Cooke and former Gophers defenseman Keith Ballard.

The Wild will be relying on the continued growth of youngsters Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker and Jonas Brodin and a solid base of veterans — Parise, Suter, captain Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, Jason Pominville and goaltender Niklas Backstrom.

On Wednesday, the Wild begins a three-week training camp, which includes six exhibition games and a two-day getaway to Duluth, before opening the season Oct. 3 against the Los Angeles Kings.

As Mike Yeo heads into his third season, the Wild coach sat down with the Star Tribune for a Q and A:

Q: Will there be any system tweaks this season?

Q: That sounds like you're saying you'll be less "dump and chase?"

Yeo: I hate that people think that we're a dump-and-chase team. It's completely false. I count it as a turnover. If we dump the puck in and the goalie touches the puck, that's a turnover for me. If it's a pass into space where we can get the puck, then that's a good play. It's a bad play if we put the puck into a place where the other team gets it and we're backchecking. But there's going to be a focus for us to try to create more offensively off the rush. So our entries, we have to find ways to attack the zone with more speed, make more plays with support on our entries so we're carrying the puck inside the blue line with the puck still on our stick. It'll give us a chance to score more goals, but we're going to have to be patient early in the year. It's going to lead to mistakes and mistakes lead to scoring chances and goals.

Q: What's your biggest question mark going into camp?

Yeo: Who's on our team? (laughs) Who plays with who? Honestly, I've got about 1,000 different combinations right now. Every day I go in the office, my board changes about three times. Last year, with one week of camp, the purpose of our camp was to get guys together, to keep them together, to build chemistry. This time, it's going to be very different. You're going to see a lot of different guys playing with different people, guys playing in different positions, as well. Day 1 of camp is going to be one thing and Day 2 of camp is going to be something different — with some exceptions. Say, if Mikko, Zach and Pominville are a line Day 1 and have a really good day, then I'm probably not going to switch them up. But we have to figure out where we want guys and who's clicking with who.

Q: Fair to say Coyle and Mikael Granlund are going head-to-head for the second-line center spot?

Q: What do you expect from Granlund after a disappointing rookie year?

A: He's flying right under the radar this year, which is perfect. That's fine. With young kids, with that kind of skill, you have to have some patience. Some of them find it right away, some of them, it takes them a little bit longer. And he's got bigger adjustments to make than most because he's been playing on the bigger ice surface, the type of game that he plays, the way that he's been able to use the extra space, and with that extra time, it's different here. We saw last year that it was an adjustment for him, it wasn't exactly the easiest of situation for him to step into, but he's a very talented kid. I'm hoping he comes in and is at his best right away, but if it's not, I'm also at the point we have to give this kid a real good chance to see what he can get to.

Q: Fair to say Coyle and Zucker are on the team?

Yeo: I want to see improvement. I thought Charlie really established himself as a player. He came in and for a long period of time played a consistent game. Zuck, he has the flashes that draw everybody's attention and I know he's a fan favorite, but the bottom line for me, I want to see the consistency in him now. We can't have a flash here and there every game; we can't have a good game, bad game. There's got to be stretches of good game, good game, good game. As a young kid, obviously, there's going to be times where you make mistakes or you're not at your best, but how quickly can you get back to your game, how quickly can you get back to being effective? And that's what I want to see from him.

Q: Are you most concerned with Zucker's defense?

Q: Which other kids have shots for jobs?

Yeo: Some kids, you pencil in right from the start and others have to earn it. Nino [Niederreiter] is going to get a real good look. [Justin] Fontaine is a guy I'm very interested in seeing. Last year, the way things worked out, he hasn't gotten a chance yet. He's going to have to earn it, but I'm very curious and anxious to see how he does at this level. I want to see how [Zack] Phillips and [Brett] Bulmer's doing, and we've got to make sure Bulmer's healthy. [Erik] Haula had a great development camp. And Matt [Dumba] will get a great shot.

Q: You mentioned pencil, is Suter and Brodin being a tandem the only thing in pen?

Yeo: I'd say, yes, but I think it would also be valuable in camp for those guys to get an opportunity to play with different guys, as well. I think Brodin's minutes can go up and we may drop Suter's minutes a little, although they'll both get lots of minutes, meaning there's going to be times where they'll play with different guys.

Q: Speaking of which, Parise told me this summer that he likes getting accustomed to playing with two centers. He played with Koivu virtually every shift last year. Do you think you need to be more flexible with him this season.

Q: Will Heatley get top-line action again?

Yeo: Some of the best hockey that that line [with Parise and Koivu] played, Heater was on the line. Those guys were putting up points. A big reason why we switched it is we needed to balance things out. We were getting scoring from that line and nobody else. I would be awfully surprised if you didn't see them together at some point this year. For Dany, it's a big year for him (contract year), and I know that he's really motivated and I want to put him in a spot where he can be successful because I think he's going to have a good year. I really do. He's been working hard this summer and we missed him big time last year. When he got hurt, his size and scoring ability and his hands — those are all things we were lacking. We have to make sure he's playing with guys that can help get him the puck and put him in position where he can score goals.

Q: Is it now or never for Marco Scandella?

Yeo: This typically is a year where defensemen make a big jump and we need that from him. The most common thing with young players is inconsistency. That's impressive to me about a Brodin and Coyle. They know what their game is and play it night after night for the most part. We'll make sure those guys are coming in with the same attitude that they have to prove themselves and can't take a step backward. But Marco must take a step forward. We need Marco to be able to deliver night in and night out. He's going to have a huge role on the team.

Q: How much do you need a bounceback year from Kyle Brodziak?

Q: Where does Nate Prosser fit in with Scandella in the mix, Dumba getting a shot, Ballard signed and Jared Spurgeon and Clayton Stoner in the fold?

Yeo: I want to give Pross a good chance in camp and I think he can step up and be more than a seventh defenseman. I know when we put him in the lineup, we won a lot of games last year. So I want all our defensemen to make sure they're ready and know this guy is ready to push for more than a seventh defensemen spot. [Jonathon] Blum, too, has great experience in Nashville, so I think that was a really good organization signing.

Q: You're entering the final year of your contract. Have you talked to Chuck about an extension?

Yeo: No. Believe it or not, it doesn't worry me. You know me; that's not the way my brain operates. This is where I want to stay. This is where I want to be, this is who I want to coach. But the one thing I've promised myself this year, everyday I'm just going to coach my butt off. And one thing I will say for sure, there will never be a day where I coach to save my job. I'm coaching to win.

Q: How critical was it to win that final game in Colorado and make the playoffs?