It’s been over two months since the Minnesota Wild decided to fire their former head coach, Dean Evason, and hire their current coach, John Hynes. Since that day they’ve played 30 games and have a record of 16-13-1 over that time. They’ve also had possibly the most injuries (seven players) at one time the Wild have ever dealt with during a season.
Hynes has faced a lot of adversity in his first 30 games with the Wild, but he’s handled it all in stride. He’s even gotten them through a couple of losing streaks that looked like they may never end. They seem to be struggling again as they lost their past two games before the All-Star Break after giving up a lead, and we’ll take a look at how he has done so far this season.
Hynes Gets Through Injuries
Probably one of the hardest parts of Hynes’ job is working through injuries to his roster. Most coaches expect it to happen at some point, maybe one or two players at a time, but he had seven all at once. He was out his top scorer, one of his top goaltenders, his top two defensemen, and several other key components to his lineup.
Hynes put together whatever roster he could, and while many of the names weren’t familiar, he made it work. They did struggle quite a bit, but they had to keep their heads up and play through it. Once he started getting players back, he had to pick and choose which players would stay and go.
Regardless of who was in or out and a game’s result, Hynes never used it as an excuse. He would acknowledge that they had injuries, but so does every team, and you have to find ways to get through it. Luckily, they have most of their lineup back and are finding ways to win games and ways to lose as well.
Hynes Getting Results
At the beginning of the season, under Evason’s leadership, the whole team struggled, but several players in particular could not get their scoring mojo going. Those players were Matt Boldy, Kirill Kaprizov, and Frédérick Gaudreau; however, once Hynes took over, things started to change.
It’s hard to blame Evason for a lack of production in players that he gave playing time to, but some players play better under different leadership. Boldy started to produce almost immediately and appeared more confident under Hynes. It could’ve been a coincidence, but he’s been producing pretty consistently since the coaching change, and hopefully, he can keep it going.
As far as Kaprizov, he was producing assists, but he wasn’t scoring goals as expected. He started scoring when Hynes took over, but it took a little while for him to really get going, and then he was injured. Once he returned from injury, it took a little while for him to return to his normal playing self, but before the All-Star Break, he finally looked like himself.
That leaves Gaudreau, who was scoreless during his brief nine-game stint under Evason this season. However, he started producing right away when Hynes took over. He has hit some scoring droughts, but thankfully his overall game has been better and he helps defensively as well. Hopefully, coming out of this break, he’ll be able to get back to producing like he was when Hynes first took over.
Hynes’ Progress Report
The first few weeks of Hynes’ reign were great. The team started to turn things around, and they looked like they were on the way up the standings. Then the injuries started, and he had to adjust on the fly. While they struggled to win games, he did his best with what he had.
They’ve hit some pretty big bumps in the road, but again, he’s got them through most of it. However, they’ll have to answer for the last couple of games where they gave up a lead when they come back from the All-Star Break. Their playoff clock is ticking, and any more slip-ups will cost them a place in the postseason.
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Overall, Hynes has done a good job with what he’s had; of course, there’s room for improvement, there always is, but he’s constantly learning as well. He didn’t overhaul the roster when he first took over; he eased into it and let the team get to know him first. They seemed to respect him and accept him; they just had to get through this latest tough patch together.
Wild’s Return From Break
The Wild had a full 10 days off for the All-Star Break, more than most teams in the NHL, and it’ll be interesting to see how it affects their play. Hopefully, the break will give them the refresh they need, get some of their injured players back, and back on track with one win at a time.