At the end of a hard fought overtime loss to the Dallas Stars, the 
Minnesota Wild currently find themselves losers of six straight games. With that being said, it doesn’t come as a surprise to see them near the bottom of the Central Division, ahead of only bottom-feeders Winnipeg by five points.
You don’t have to dig too deep to figure out their issues as of late. Let’s just turn to their stars: Zack Parise may have 30 points on the season, but he has only one goal in his last 11 games and a plus-minus of -9. This shows how his offense is slowing down after a good start. But he’s not the only one, as we look at his old line mate Jason Pominville. Pominville is struggling this year, with only a 21 point season. Most people would think that’s not bad for this point, but this is Pominville, who has had 50 plus points over the past two seasons. Pominville is also struggling to find the net of late, as he has only one goal in his last 20 games.
Continuing to look at the stats, another name that sticks out is Mikael Granlund. After having strong seasons the past few years, his goal drought has hit an all-time high with only one goal in his last 34 games. Granlund is still working however, as he has 22 assists on the season. The goal scoring is an area that he may need to improve, as he has a measly four goals in 53 games.
Another note, I feel the need to point out Devan Dubnyk. Although you cannot blame his record of 18-18-5 completely on him, Dubnyk’s numbers are mirroring his numbers with Arizona early last season. Dubnyk has a save percentage of .918, ranking him 32nd in the league with at least one game played. Dubnyk’s goal-against average of 2.37 is good enough for 30th in the league. I said at the end of last year in a Colby’s Corner post that Dubnyk would not put up the same numbers as his season last year. This is still reigning true on my part, as his numbers aren’t that of a number one goalie. (Cue the Ego)
As for the Wild this year, it’s a stretch to see them in the playoffs with the division they play in. They could be big sellers at the deadline, getting rid of some of these big contract that aren’t working out for them, like Thomas Vanek or Jason Pominville. Yes, I am aware they have long-term contracts, but as Ottawa showed us, sometimes it may be worth it, as Ottawa took on Dion Phaneuf’s long, expensive contract.