Will the Wild Top 2003?

The fourth time was definitely the charm.

The Minnesota Wild had attempted to lock in a spot in this year's playoffs three previous times before this chance. They had a "win and in" opportunity, but that fell through. They did some scoreboard watching on March 30, but things didn't go their way. On April 1, all that needed to happen was either a Kings loss or a Sharks regulation loss. Both teams won. Finally, on the following day, April 2, the Wild had the chance to do it themselves. All they needed was one point, but the Wild decided to get two. A 5-2 win over the lowly Vancouver Canucks (who were still high on scoring eight goals against the Avalanche), and that put the Wild back into the NHL's Sweet 16.

We all know the Wild's history. Debuted in 2000, made their first playoff appearance in their third season (2002-03), and went all the way to the Western Conference Final. They couldn't even make a dent on the Great Wall of Giguere, but still, a great run. Unfortunately, the Wild, despite their many playoff appearances since then, have not even come close to matching that wild (no pun intended) third season of play. In fact, it's been eleven years since they won a playoff series! The Wild entered this season with expectations of making it, but that was all.

And then, a huge gift just happened to fall in their laps.

Oh, I'll never forgive Vancouver for this. Quinn Hughes, literally the closest thing to Cale Makar in the NHL defenseman pecking order, and they literally handed him to one of our division rivals for some magic beans. So yeah, Hughes is smack dab right in the Central Division, and he's been tearing it up since the trade. 50 points (4G/46A) in 43 games with Minnesota; overall, 73 points (6G/67A) combined with Vancouver and Minnesota. And this guy and Cale Makar are now division rivals. Good God Almighty!

He's not the only attraction, though.

Are we looking at the latest dynamic duo in the NHL right now? Pittsburgh has Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Colorado has Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Edmonton has Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Can we definitely add Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy on that list of dynamic duos? We pretty much have to. After all, they do have 40 goals. Each. Kaprizov and Boldy each reached the 40-goal mark on the night they clinched their spot, marking the first time in the team's 26 year history that they have a pair of 40-goal scorers in the same season. Yikes! This is nothing new for Kaprizov, but Boldy is having one hell of a year. Part of that year includes not only being part of this year's Gold Medal team for the US, but also scoring one of the team's two goals in the Gold Medal game. In fact, Quinn Hughes assisted on that goal, and it was Quinn's brother who had the Golden Goal in OT.

And it's not just those three. There's also Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan Hartman getting 20 goals each. Mats Zuccarello is doing his thing, and so is Joel Eriksson Ek. This may be the most loaded Wild team in franchise history. I'm serious. As an Avs fan, I take a look at each of our rivals, and Minnesota looks dangerous this year. If we get Avalanche/Wild in Round 2, and I'll be serious, I think we will get that, we need to strike first against this Wild team, because if we don't, that Wild group could do things. This team is loaded, even more so than the 2002-03 team. This group is going to be a fun one to watch.