The Wild’s Depth is their Biggest Asset

On a personal level, the Wild’s depth is a bad thing for someone like Jordan Schroeder. The guy is working his tail off and playing well, but has been spending a lot of time on the fifth line lately.

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On a team level, the Wild’s depth is what makes them contenders.

Ryan Carter was the most recent Wild to return to the line up after missing 24 games. He bumped Sean Bergenheim, who hasn’t produced much in his time with Minnesota. Granted, Bergenheim was brought in for forward-depth and has only gotten about 10 minutes of ice time per game.

There’s depth on the back-end now, too. A few months back, who would have thought the Wild would have a surplus of defensive talent? The emergence of Matt Dumba and the acquisition of Jordan Leopold have completely flipped the script.

By the way, I couldn’t be more impressed with what Leopold has brought to the table. He plays positionally sound, you feel safe when he has the puck and while he doesn’t score a lot of goals, his shots are almost always on net.

I say depth is what makes the Wild true contenders for two reasons. Obviously, it’s crucial when injuries occur. And they do. And they will.

Instead of having to bring up an AHL’er during the most competitive time of the year, the Wild have proven players waiting for opportunity.

But maybe even more important is the lack of comfort for players who are in the line up. Every shift is important for playing time, especially for 3rd and 4th liners. I think that has a lot to do with why the bottom two lines have been playing so well lately.

If I was a player in the NHL, I imagine I wouldn’t play quite as hard if in the back of my mind I knew no one was gunning for my spot. Although, there is a better chance the Sabres make the playoffs than I make the NHL.

According to head coach Mike Yeo, every shift is an audition for playoff ice-time.

“I don’t want to paint the picture that we have a short leash for everybody, but certainly we have a lot of guys that we’re going to get some games and an opportunity,” Yeo said. “Our goal is to make the playoffs and we’ve got a lot of work to do, but if we do make the playoffs, this is almost a showcase for guys as far as what our lineup is going to be going forward.”

The Wild’s depth is the epitome of a good problem to have. If they make it to the second round of the playoffs, it would become an even better problem. That’s the time we’d likely see the return of Jason Zucker, who was on pace for 30 goals prior to his broken clavicle in February.

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Mar 27, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Jordan Schroeder (10) skates with the puck in the second period against the Calgary Flames defenseman David Schlemko (3) at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports