The free agency period in the NHL isn’t even a week old, but the Minnesota Wild are one of the most improved teams inside the Western Conference this summer, according to Dan Rosen of NHL.com.
Who's trending upwards? Top 5 most improved teams in the Western Conference. https://t.co/Bl1AdoEy7l pic.twitter.com/ThBNVoy0uM
— NHL (@NHL) July 6, 2016
The report credits the signing of center Eric Staal should finally give the Wild depth at the center position and if Staal can score at least 20 goals; hover around 60 points, he’ll be a success.
Signing Chris Stewart also gives the Wild some much needed scoring depth. Both players were also signed to relatively cap-friendly deals after Minnesota bought out Thomas Vanek, giving the Wild an additional $5 million in cap space.
But there is still room to improve, the report says the next step for the Wild is to resign young defenseman Matt Dumba who’s a restricted free agent. Dumba’s named was discussed as trade bait at draft day, but nothing ever materialized.
The Coyotes, Flames, Oilers and Predators were among the other teams in the Western Conference that Rosen credited as having solid summers.
