Minnesota Wild
By Jon A. Dolezar, CNNSI.com

At season's end: Finished fifth in the Northwest Division, 14th in the Western Conference.

The Wild played Jacques Lemaire’s effective, but ugly trap system to perfection last season, surprising most by tallying 68 points to finish ahead of the Islanders, Lightning, Thrashers, Panthers and Ducks.

Minnesota played especially well at home at the Xcel Energy Center with 42 points in 41 home games. But their 26 road points were tied for second-fewest. The team also needs a little work on lighting the lamp as their 168 goals were the fewest in the league.

The Wild’s two biggest offseason moves were the acquisition of Andrew Brunette from Atlanta and Sergei Zholtok from Edmonton. Neither will be mistaken for Pavel Bure, but they are an upgrade over departures like Christian Matte and Kai Nurminen.

For more on the Wild, please check back to our NHL Preview section on Wednesday, Oct. 3 for a Sports Illustrated Scouting Report.

Minnesota uncovered a jewel in 19-year-old left wing Marian Gaborik, who finished with a team-leading 36 points in his rookie season.
Manny Fernandez made himself a lot of money with his surprising 19-win season with a 2.24 GAA. In fact, he got a new two-year, $3.05 million deal, quite an upgrade from the $475,000 he made last season.
The Wild are deep and steady at center, but Wes Walz, Darby Hendrickson, Jim Dowd and Zholtok aren't even 40-point centers, though none are defensive liabilities like many teams' men in the middle.

By having such a successful first season, the Wild set the bar pretty high and anything less than a 70-point season would now be considered a disappointment.
Marian Gaborik had hernia surgery on July 21 and his availability for the season opener is in jeopardy.
The defensemen are downright offensive on offense. Only Lubomir Sekeras and Filip Kuba had more than 30 points from the blue line.

Mikko Koivu, C, 6' 2", 185
Born: March 12, 1983 in Turku, Finland
Acquired: No. 6 overall pick in 2001 Entry Draft

Mikko Koivu is a big little brother. Dwarfing his older brother Saku, Mikko Koivu could still put on another two inches and 35 pounds before he is done growing. He was dominant last season against competition in the Finnish junior league with 49 points in 31 games, but then struggled and got only one point in 21 games after promotion to the senior league. Koivu will likely play in Finland for a few more seasons, but he has the potential to be a No. 1 center if he can improve his skating ability. The Wild’s dream sequence would be to have Koivu centering Gaborik by the 2003-04 season. In another organization Koivu may be nursed along more slowly, but with Minnesota starving for scoring punch, it may have to rush him to the big club ahead of schedule.