Since their inception in 2000, the Minnesota Wild have struggled to establish exactly who they are as a team, a franchise and an organization. It seems with every new general manager, players, and now the new head coach, the blueprint of the team changes. The results have been mixed, yet the same: no sustained futility, no sustained success. After finishing in last place in the Northwest Division during their first two seasons, they jumped to 95 points and sixth in the Western Conference in year three. After two spirited upsets against division rivals Colorado and Vancouver, the Wild were swept by Anaheim in the Conference Finals. And just when it seemed the franchise had established itself as an up-and-coming threat, they followed up their run with two straight last place finishes (sandwiching the lockout season of 2004-05). In 2006-07 they jumped to second place in the division, established a franchise record with 235 goals for, and led the league with only 191 against. But in the strong Western Conference, second in the Northwest was only good for seventh in the conference, and the Wild were trounced by the eventual champs in Anaheim. They rebounded by winning the franchise?s first division title the following year, but again were bounced in the first round. After that milestone season, Minnesota dropped to third and then fifth in their division, missing the playoffs for two consecutive seasons; the third time in nine seasons they had done so. Is this the beginning of some sustained futility, causing the Wild to miss the playoffs for a third straight year for the first time in franchise history? The new regime hopes not. Last season was seen as a transition year, as it was the first year for new GM Chuck Fletcher, former Assistant GM in Pittsburgh and son of front-office legend Cliff Fletcher. It was also the first year for Fletcher?s hand-picked coach Todd Richards, who previously served as a San Jose Sharks? assistant coach and AHL head coach for Pittsburgh?s affiliate. (Richards is only the second head coach in Wild history; previous coach Jacques Lemaire held the position since the club?s first season in 2000-01, and loved to employ the ?defensive trap? style of the 90?s Devils.) Along with new faces in suits, it was the first season Minnesota didn?t have Marian Gaborik on its roster; Gaborik was the club?s first ever draft pick (3rd overall in 2000) and holds virtually every franchise scoring record, including goals (42) and points (83) in a season. As a response, the Wild named Mikko Koivu the first ever permanent captain in franchise history, and he responded by putting up his best overall season: 22-49-71 with great defensive play. After nine years in a trap-game, the Wild now had a coach who had an offensive approach to the game. But it won?t be easy to change the culture: since their establishment they have only averaged 2.542 goals for, compared to 2.546 against; the team that made the 2003 playoff run only averaged 2.415 goals per game in the regular season; in their division-winning year they averaged 2.72 goals for; the most they?ve ever averaged is 2.865. This team has simply struggled to score goals, and any success they have had is largely due to their responsible defensive play. But from the outside looking in, there almost appears to be a disconnect between the GM and head coach. Even though Gaborik no longer donned the green and maroon, coach Richards was seeking to play an up-tempo offensive game, with an emphasis on speed and puck movement. However, he has failed to receive the players best suited for this style of play from his GM. They do have two very good puck moving defensemen in Brent Burns and Marek Zidlicky, and Koivu is a bonafide first-line forward, but beyond that there a lot of players playing roles larger than they should on a contending club. The addition of Cam Barker from Chicago could help long-term, but the back-end right now is more tailored to defensive-zone play, and not quick puck movement. At forward, Andrew Brunette scored 25 goals last year, but at 37-years-old is best suited as a second-line winger. In his first offseason as GM, Fletcher signed Martin Havlat to a big contract, and the oft-injured winger responded with an 11-goal drop off from his time in Chicago. Antti Miettinen is a solid 15-goal/third-line contributor, but with lack of better options the former 7th round pick was forced into a top-six role. The one saving grace may be the in-season trade for Guillaume Latendresse; after under-producing and falling out of favour in Montreal, he scored 25 times in 55 games for Minnesota. In order to play an up-tempo offensive game, a team needs youth, fresh legs, speed, and multiple players with dynamic puck-handling abilities. Despite his voiced wishes, Fletcher has yet to make a splash for that type of forward. This past offseason he signed centres Matt Cullen and John Madden. On contending clubs, they are third- and fourth-line centres respectively. In Minnesota, Cullen is playing first-line minutes, and while he looks like a steal right now with nine points in his first eight games, the fact remains he is 33-years-old and has yet to tally 50 points in a season. If you were wondering whether Minnesota can afford to spend money on the high-end offensive talent necessary for the coach to play the way he wants and succeed, yes they can. Last season, Minnesota was fourth in the NHL with 101.9% of their seats filled at home, and were 10th in average home attendance. They also had an NHL-record streak of 409 consecutive sellouts, which dated back to their first season right up until preseason this year. And they are putting the money back into the roster, as they are only $2M away from the cap and just handed $49M to Koivu. The key will be making the right financial decisions and player signings, something Fletcher has yet to prove capable of. When the GM hires his own coach, and the coach wants to play a specific style, wouldn?t the GM try to quickly appease the guy he hired? There hasn?t been evidence of that yet. Admittedly, there is a short sample size for this tandem, but the papers are already planning Richards? firing if the Wild don?t excel out of the gates this season, so the criticism here doesn?t seem all that premature. There aren?t any experts, pundits or wannabes who have the Wild making the playoffs this year, and if that holds true than Richards may take the blame, as the coach always does. Then it will be a new coach, with a new strategy and a new philosophy. Following that would likely be more inconsistencies from a franchise that has never had consistency, and has never truly established what kind of identity it has on the ice. You need an identity to win in professional sports; an identity leads to a solidified gameplan, and allows players to clearly understand their roles and how they are to help the team succeed. Minnesota lacks a clear identity, and always has, and they won?t turn themselves around until they have one. Nick is RealGM?s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan