REMINGTON: Minnesota Wild Three Stars for January

Happy 2018 Wild fans! Well, not quite, but we’re so close now we can taste it, and so close that I feel like I can predict another month of Wild stars. The first month I did this turned out pretty great, last month was slightly less successful, depending on how you feel about Charlie Coyle’s month, and thanks to Devan Dubnyk’s injury. But the Matt Dumba pick was great, I thought. 8 points in 12 December games so far, with 5 goals, 2 of them overtime winners.

Onto the New Year!

Third Star- Ryan Suter

I know picking Ryan Suter for anything fun is about exciting as dry toast for breakfast, but here’s the thing- Suter tied Eric Staal for points last month with 9. And that was to lead the team. It seems that the pairing of Suter and Dumba isn’t just a great partnership for the Wild Blogosphere’s favorite son Matt Dumba, but also Ryan Suter, who led the team in assists in December with 7.

Suter might be better off playing with Jared Spurgeon, and Suter will probably be the first to tell you that. However, he’s also benefiting from playing alongside Dumba, whose penchant for heavy shots toward the net may have opened Suter’s eyes on the idea as well, although the merits of that may be debatable, just ask Nino Niederreiter.

Second Star- Zach Parise

This one is a hail mary. Do I fully expect Zach Parise to come back, full healthy, and go on a tear, leading the charge for a winning January for the Wild? No, not really.

But you could imagine, right?

If sports has taught us anything it’s that the best stories just find a way of happening. Take this Wild team, at times listless, definitely inconsistent. Wouldn’t it be something if they were energized by the return of their captain best player highest paid player most talented player hardest working player and he had a phenomenal month to lead the way? It’s practically a  script from a Hollywood movie, which is fitting, because I’m sure we’ve seen that story at least once before.

First Star- Nino Niederreiter

If picking Suter is boring and picking Parise is foolish, then picking Nino is probably cliché. Then again, Nino still has not quite returned from injury, despite being not far away, according to reports for the Wild.

Nino had a fairly quiet December before being struck by a Suter slapshot in the leg, and after a solid November, may be looking to come back in a big way, much as his November campaign followed some brief time on the shelf in October.

Currently, Nino is third on the team in goals, but just seventh on the team in points, and was seeing his minutes being reduced in December before his injury. It’s possible his lack of production was the culprit of that, although that might be a little nonsensical, given Nino’s ability to score in season’s past, and the added responsibility to score and play big minutes after his lucrative contract extension this summer.

 

 

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