from Sportsnet,

A dozen reporters and analysts from Sportsnet’s hockey brain trust — Doug MacLean, John Shannon, Chris Johnston, Damien Cox, Mark Spector, et al. — submitted a list ranking all the teams in order of how they think the NHL season will shake out. We crunched the numbers and will be unveiling our consensus standings prediction from worst to first.

Minnesota is our 11th-ranked team.

Biggest story line to watch: Which of Minnesota’s three NHL-calibre goaltenders takes the reigns in net? Easily be the most intriguing storyline of the preseason, and one that will likely carry on into the winter months. Niklas Backstrom, Ilya Bryzgalov, Josh Harding (now injured and suspended) and Darcy Kuemper have all had stretches over their careers where they have looked like NHL starters, but they’ve all taken turns looking wholly unreliable as well. Wild head coach Mike Yeo has given no indication as to which way he’s leaning and has said he plans to disperse starts evenly between his netminders in the preseason. But a team can only go so long with such an uncertain situation between the pipes.

2014-15 prediction: If the Wild can stay healthy while placing the final piece of their roster puzzle—a steady, reliable hand in goal—they could take another step in 2014-15 and make some noise among the elite group at the top of the Western Conference.

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