from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

The Wild appear to be for real.

"They’re a good team, not in the top five in the league, but in that next group," said a Western Conference scout from another club. "Good goaltending, the defense has improved with Suter and [Jonas] Brodin. And they have the capability to score on the power play."

Suter has been insanely good. He could win the Norris Trophy. The rookie Brodin is going to be a stud in this league and at 19 is already looking comfortable on the top pairing with Suter.

Still, Fletcher isn’t breathing easy. Only six points separate third from 10th in the Western Conference as of Thursday morning, and while Minny has a two-point lead over the Canucks for the Northwest Division lead, the Wild GM sees nothing but a dog fight ahead over the stretch run.

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