It seems to be a recurring theme, but the Minnesota Wild simply do not score enough goals to be a playoff team (they averaged a league-low 2.02 goals per game). That was supposed to be fixed entering this season with the additions of Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi. But it is clear that the talent level up front is not up to par. Someone forgot to tell GM Chuck Fletcher that Heatley is a shadow of his former self, and the Sharks knew it. Heatley managed just 24 goals in 82 games, a far cry from 30-40 they were expecting, and his lowest total for any season in which he played at least half of his team’s games. Setoguchi struggled enormously all season long, registering a mere 19-17-36 and minus-17 in 69 games. It is hard to remember that he scored 31 goals in 2008-09, albeit that may have more to do with his Sharks teammates than his own level of play. It didn’t help matters that perennial leading scorer and captain Mikko Koivu was injured for a large chunk of the season; he still managed 44 points in 55 games to finish second on the team behind Heatley’s 53. Only three players in total registered 40 points on the team, the other was Kyle Brodziak, whose 44 points were far and away a career high. True, they have some promising offensive players in the pipeline, and if Charlie Coyle and Mikael Granlund make the team next year it could definitely add some offensive punch to a relatively punch-less roster. They will also have more than $17M to play with in free agency. While the free agent class is weak overall, the Wild are expected to make a huge push for superstar talent Zach Parise if he reaches the open market. The current Devils’ captain happens to hail from Minneapolis, MN which could help the recruiting process. He would no doubt give the offense a huge boost, but he is expected to sign with a team much closer to Stanley Cup contention. The other stat that jumps out and slaps you in the face is the shot differential; Minnesota averaged a league-worst 26.5 shots on net per game, while being tied for 26th allowing 31.4 shots against. We can see that the shots-for total is low because the offensive firepower is lacking, The shots against are troubling though, because they do have a half-decent group of defensemen. Yes, they could stand to add another top-4 guy to the mix, but this appears to be more of a system-oriented problem than a personnel-oriented problem. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) there aren’t many Wild games on TV, so I can’t pinpoint if this is a matter of forwards needing to be in the shooting lanes or more committed on the back-check, or if the team allows too much space for the opposition, or gives up too much strength; whatever the case it seems as though the coaching staff needs to tweak the defensive system. Between adding some offensive personnel from inside and outside the organization, and tweaking the defensive system so that they do not allow so many shots against, the Wild have their work cut out for them this offseason. With money to spend in free agency, a top-10 draft pick and an entire summer to regroup, they may be able to turn things around next season. Nick is RealGM’s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan