The offseason continues to move day by day for the Minnesota Wild, and while they’ve been relatively quiet other than the firing of Darby Hendrickson, it’s time for another report card. We’re still moving through the defensemen; this time, the grade is for Zach Bogosian. He joined the Wild last November in a trade, and while he wasn’t a star for them, he made an impact.
Bogosian had a very up-and-down season, just like the Wild. We’ll examine a rough part of his game, a good part of his game, and then his overall grade. We’ll start with the bad part of his game, which dealt with turnovers.
Bogosian’s Turnover Problems
Like some of his teammates, Bogosian struggled with turning the puck over more often than he should. He trusted some of his passes too much, especially in front of the net, where his opponents picked off several. He turned the puck over 23 times in 61 games, and while that’s not a huge number compared to others, it should’ve been better for a defenseman and a veteran like himself.
Another issue with his game was that he wasn’t the fastest skater anymore, which cost him several times. He did have little outbursts of speed, but sometimes he couldn’t catch up, and either his partner had to defend in his spot, or the goaltender was on his own. This didn’t happen all the time, but enough that it caused issues.
The final issue that will likely show even more this coming season is his age. He’s not almost 40 like Marc-André Fleury, but he is 33 and going to be 34 by the time the season starts. He’s had some minor injury problems, and as he gets older, those could become more of an issue. Hopefully, he can find a way to stay healthy.
Bogosian has an Offensive Side
While Bogosian had several issues in his game, there were some good things, the main one being his scoring. He scored three goals and 11 assists for 14 points, the most he’s had in a season since the 2018-19 season when he scored 19 points. In the last decade, he’s only scored more than 20 points once and more than 13 points three times.
Outside of his offensive side this season, he had one area in his defensive game that he was great at: blocked shots. In his 61 games, he blocked 81 shots, meaning he averaged more than a block per game. He kept 81 shots from getting to the goaltender and that meant 81 goals weren’t scored against his team.
After reviewing his stats, a surprisingly good side of his game stood out: his shots on goal. He also averaged more than a shot per game, with 77 shots over the course of the season. Hopefully, he can amplify these good things for his game next season.
Bogosian’s Overall Grade
It’ll be said in every report card this offseason, but since the Wild did not have a postseason, the grade will be based on the regular season only. His grade is a little hard to determine because he struggled quite a bit, but he also did decently in terms of offensive contributions. Overall, he earned a C- for his up-and-down season.
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It may seem high considering his struggles, but his offense and blocked shots made up for that. While it may seem low, he could’ve done better with his turnovers. Nearly every player on the Wild will receive a lower grade due to their missing the postseason and while that may seem unfair, they had the talent to make it but couldn’t stay consistent or get past injuries. Hopefully Bogosian and the team have learned from this and will return better for next season.
