For those that know the basics about the Minnesota Wild roster, high grades for our top defensemen are run-of-the-mill. For the better part of a decade, Minnesota has been an environment in which goaltenders’ shooting percentages skyrocket and forwards pad their plus/minus rating.
The reason for this is a group of three or more elite defensemen who smother the rush on defense, clear the net, are great in the corners, make good breakout passes, support the offense in transition, and handle the puck on offense. This year, those guys were Spurgeon, Dumba, and Brodin.
Overall, we saw elite seasons for two of these guys and a bit of a drop-off from the other.