| Nick Obergan. 18th October, 2011 - 9:21 pm
 The fifteenth in a series of 30 articles, we will go through the history of every NHL franchise alphabetically and select an All-Time Roster for each. All stats as of October 6, 2011.
Minnesota Wild (2000-Present)
In their ten seasons as the Wild, Minnesota has made the playoffs only three times, including making it to the Western Conference Finals in 2003. Newly acquired Dany Heatley and Devon Setoguchi may crack this list in two or three years. Fun fact: Minnesota had rotating team captains on a monthly basis until the 2009-10 season when they named Mikko Koivu the team's first ever full-time captain.
First Team
C: Mikko Koivu (2005-Present): Most assists (221), 3rd most points (317), +14 in 433 games; three straight 60-point seasons; Team Captain 2008-Present.
W: Marian Gaborik (2000-09): Franchise goals (219), points (437), and plus/minus leader (+54) and most games played by a forward (502); 2-time All-Star; five 30-goal seasons; Team Captain 2008.
W: Andrew Brunette (2001-04, 08-11): 2nd most goals (119) and points (321) in 489 games; missed three games in six seasons; Team Captain 2002, 2003-04, 2009.
D: Brent Burns (2003-11): Leader among defensemen in goals, assists, points (55-128-183), -21 in 453 games; 2011 All-Star; two seasons with 15+ goals.
D: Nick Schultz (2001-Present): Franchise leader in games played (681), 125 points, +18; Team Captain 2008.
G: Niklas Backstrom (2006-Present): 141-91-35, 22 shutouts, 2.42 GAA, .918 SV%; 2009 All-Star; 2007 Jennings Trophy winner.
Second Team
C: Pierre-Marc Bouchard (2002-Present): 4th most points (305 in 485 games), +13; three seasons with 57+ points.
W: Brian Rolston (2005-08): 202 points in 241 games, +19, 2nd most game-winning goals (21); 2007 All-Star; three 30-goal seasons; Team Captain 2006-07.
W: Pascal Dupuis (2000-07): 141 points, -5 in 334 games; best season of his career was 2002-03 with 20-28-48, +17.
D: Filip Kuba (2000-06): 2nd most points among defensemen (132 in 357 games), -19; 2004 All-Star; Team Captain 2001, 2005.
D: Marek Zidlicky (2008-Present): 109 points, -34 in 200 games; two 40-point seasons.
G: Manny Fernandez (2000-07): 113-102-36, 12 shutouts, 2.47 GAA, .914 SV%; two-time Jennings Trophy winner.
Third Team
C: Wes Walz (2000-08): 182 points, +13 in 438 games, most short-handed goals (14); Team Captain 2000, 2006.
W: Pavol Demitra (2006-08): 118 points, +9 in 139 games; Team Captain 2007.
W: Martin Havlat (2009-11): 116 points, -29 in 151 games; 2011 All-Star; his two seasons each rank among the top-20 statistical seasons in franchise history.
D: Kim Johnsson (2006-10): 87 points, -9 in 289 games; Team Captain 2008.
D: Willie Mitchell (2000-06): 57 points, +28 in 288 games; Team Captain 2005-06.
G: Dwayne Roloson (2001-06): 62-71-34, 15 shutouts, 2.28 GAA, .919 SV%; 2004 All-Star.
Coaches
Jacques Lemaire (2000-09): 656 games, 293-255-108, 11-18 in the playoffs; 2003 Jack Adams winner.
Todd Richards (2009-11): 77-71-16, no playoff appearances.
Nick is RealGM's NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan |
