Last season:37-36-9, 83 points, seven points out of second wild card
How it ended:The Wild held the second wild card after a 3-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 7, but they went 1-4-1 in their next six games to slip out of playoff contention.
Biggest offseason change: Bill Guerin was hired as general manager Aug. 21 to replace Paul Fenton, who was fired July 30. Guerin had been assistant GM with the Pittsburgh Penguins the previous five seasons and has won the Stanley Cup four times, with the New Jersey Devils (1995) and Penguins (2009) as a player, and twice as a member of Pittsburgh's front office (2016, 2017). Guerin admittedly won't have much of a chance to change the look of the team after being hired so close to the start of training camp, but he said he likes the players and the situation he's walking into.
"You look at the names and there are good players," Guerin said Aug. 22. "We have a lot of good hockey players. ... There are a lot of really good players up on that board. We've got a coach (Bruce Boudreau) that's won a ton of games, we've got Stanley Cup winners, we've got guys that have been around a long time. I have confidence this group is going to bounce back."
Why they could get in:The Wild got better up front by signing of forward Mats Zuccarello to a five-year contract July 1. Zuccarello had 40 points (12 goals, 28 assists) in 48 games with the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars last season. After breaking his arm in his debut with the Stars on Feb. 24, he returned late in the season and had 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 13 playoff games, which tied Tyler Seguin for most on Dallas. His scoring should help boost the Wild, who were shut out in four of their final six games, as he joins an impressive group of forwards that includes Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Jason Zucker, Jordan Greenway and Mikko Koivu, who expects to be healthy for the start of the season after tearing his ACL in February. Minnesota will also have a healthy Matt Dumba, who missed the final four months of the season after having surgery to repair a ruptured right pectoralis muscle. With Dumba joining Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter as the top-four defensemen in front of goalie Devan Dubnyk, the Wild could be good enough to compete for a wild card.