Is Marco Scandella Becoming a Superstar Defenseman?

The signing of Marco Scandella to a 5 year, 20 million dollar contract in late November could be some of Chuck Fletcher’s best work. While depth on the blue line is a problem, the Minnesota Wild’s top-4 defensemen are among the best in the league, when healthy. Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon and Scandella provide a mix of both smart play and scoring ability that fans will be happy with for years to come.

However, something has been missing in the last few years — a big shot from the point. The kind of blast that has eyes for the net or simply catches the other team out of position. Marco Scandella is starting to provide that for his team at a rate amongst the best in the NHL.

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At .3, he currently leads all NHL defensemen in goals per game. Not only that, he’s second to

in game winners for blue-liners with 4. Most recently, Scandella ripped a perfect pass from

that bounced off a skate and into the net before goaltender

had a chance to even think about moving his glove. It turned out to be the game-winner in a contest the Wild couldn’t afford to lose. Here’s the video of the game winning howitzer.

In a post-game interview with Tom Reid, Scandy was asked how he feels about his game.

“Yeah I mean, it feels pretty good. I just want to keep shooting the puck hard. Zach laid it in there for me and you know, this summer I worked hard on my shot and it’s showing right now.”

Who would have thought Mike Yeo would have some thinking to do about moving Scandella into the top defensive pairing and breaking up Suter and Brodin? He was asked about it Monday night.

“No we’ve never thought of (moving Marco up). But with a shot like that?” Yeo Said. “At the same time there’s other parts of it too. His offense has come off playing so well on the defensive side and just playing the game the right way. That’s how his offense is coming. Sometimes when you get players a little more on top of that it takes away from things. But certainly that’s something we’re going to look at.”

Scoring ability, physicality, defensive awareness and locker room presence are a few reasons to be excited about this 24 year old. Better yet, he’ll be growing up in a green sweater. Keep shooting, Marco.

Next: Diagnosing the Wild's Problems

Nov 16, 2014; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild defenseman Marco Scandella (6) celebrates his goal in overtime against the Winnipeg Jets at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Jets 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports