While the Stanley Cup is just one win away from being awarded, the Minnesota Wild are still working through their offseason report cards. Over half of the defensemen have received their grades, and now it’s time for Jake “Middsy” Middleton. He has one of the best personalities on the team, but that doesn’t factor into the grading unless it concerns leadership.
The Wild struggled this season, but Middleton put up his best career numbers both offensively and defensively. He’s among the few players whose grades will likely be higher due to these numbers. When Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin went down, he had to find a way to step up. We’ll look at a rough part of his game, a good part, and then get down to his grade. We’ll start with something most Wild players struggled with: turnovers.
Middleton Follows Teammates in Struggles
Some Wild players have a variety of problem areas to work on, but the majority of them shared the same issue this season: turnovers. He played in 80 games and had 22 giveaways. Again, like his teammates, that number isn’t super high, but it should’ve been lower. The Wild struggled greatly this season because they were careless with the puck in both zones.
Defensemen should have lower turnovers than their offensive counterparts because they should be careful in their own zone and just as careful handling the puck along the opposing blue line. The Wild fumbled the puck quite a bit along the opposing blue line, but it wasn’t just one player; it was multiple. Middleton did have some issues around the net, and his speed could’ve also been improved.
The final area he needs to improve for next season is his ability to commit in the offensive zone. He has a great shot and quite a bit of speed when he uses it, and he needs to be more confident when he carries the puck into the offensive zone. Hopefully, he can improve in these areas before next season and continue to improve his numbers.
Middleton Steps Up
Outside of his turnovers, Middleton’s season was actually quite good. He scored seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points, each a career-high for him, plus he secured 10th place on the Wild roster. He had 85 shots on goal and averaged nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game, mainly because Spurgeon and Brodin were injured, which forced him on the top unit for some time.
Defensively, he also set new highs in hits and blocked shots. He’s always been a physical player, but he tossed his body around 148 times this season. However, he also threw his body in front of the puck to block a team-leading 161 shots from reaching the net. While Middleton had his fair share of struggles during the season, his good outweighed the bad on the stat sheet.
Middleton’s Grade
He shares the blame since the Wild missed out on the postseason, and Middleton was on the roster for the whole season. The team didn’t step up when needed, and while some players like Middleton had decent stats this season, there needed to be more. Every player on the roster throughout the entire season carries that on their shoulders.
Related: Wild Have a Lot of Free Agent Decisions to Make
Middleton improved in areas while his teammates struggled, which will show in his grade, which is a C+. It may seem low after all the areas he did well in, but again, there was no postseason, and everyone shared the blame, which affected his grade. For those who think this grade is too generous, he did improve in nearly every major stat, including goals, assists, and points. He also covered when Spurgeon and Brodin were out, so he earned points for that.
Middleton is an entertaining player to watch, and hopefully, next season, he can continue to take steps forward. He was able to step up when needed, and they’ll need him to do that more with everyone in the lineup if they want to make the postseason.
