5 questions for Wild in Stanley Cup Qualifiers

NHL.com is looking ahead to the Stanley Cup Qualifiers by examining five of the biggest questions facing each of the 24 remaining teams. Today, we look at the Minnesota Wild.

The Minnesota Wild were 35-27-7 (.558 points percentage) and will enter the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference. They will play the No. 7 seed, the Vancouver Canucks (36-27-6, .565 points percentage), in one of eight best-of-5 series. The West qualifiers will start Aug. 1 at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Here are 5 key questions facing the Wild:

1. Which goalie will be the starter?

The seemingly obvious choice would be veteran Devan Dubnyk, who has started every Stanley Cup Playoff game for the Wild since being acquired in a trade from the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 14, 2015 (26 games). But the 34-year-old was 12-15-2 with a 3.35 goals-against average this season, and his .890 save percentage was the lowest in the NHL among goalies who played at least 30 games. Dubnyk missed time in November and December while his wife dealt with a medical situation, and backup Alex Stalock proved capable of handling the No. 1 role in his absence. Stalock played an NHL career-high 38 games (36 starts), going 20-11-4 with a 2.67 GAA, a .910 save percentage and four shutouts, and he started seven of the Wild's final eight games before the season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

2. Will Kevin Fiala pick up where he left off?

The forward was on a tear before the season was paused, scoring 26 points (14 goals, 12 assists) in his final 18 games from Feb. 4-March 8, a stretch that included 10 multipoint games. During that span, Fiala ranked third in the NHL in points and was first with seven power-play goals. He led the Wild with an NHL career-high 54 points, and his 23 goals were second behind Zach Parise's 25, but will he be able to produce at a similar rate in the playoffs? He had six points (five goals, one assist) in 18 career postseason games with the Nashville Predators before being traded to Minnesota for Mikael Granlund on Feb. 25, 2019.

3. How will Dean Evason fare?

He was named Wild coach after Bruce Boudreau was fired Feb. 14, having been an assistant on Boudreau's staff since June 6, 2018. He also was an assistant with the Washington Capitals from 2005-12, but this will be his first taste of post-regular season hockey as an NHL coach. In 12 games under Evason, Minnesota went 8-4-0 and ranked third in the NHL in goals per game (3.58), 17th in goals-against per game (2.92) and fourth on the penalty kill (91.2 percent), each a significant improvement from the 57 games under Boudreau this season, when they were 16th in goals per game (3.07), 24th in goals-against per game (3.19) and 30th on the penalty kill (74.4).

4. Do they have enough offense?

Parise and Fiala were the only players to score more than 19 goals, so the Wild may have to get scoring by committee against the Canucks. Seven other players -- including forward Jason Zucker, who was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 10 -- scored at least 11 goals, but only Eric Staal (19) scored more than 15. Fiala, defenseman Ryan Suter (48), Staal (47) and Parise (46) were the only players to top 40 points. Forward Mats Zuccarello had 37 points (15 goals, 22 assists) in 65 games, but he is a proven playoff performer, including getting 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 13 games with the Dallas Stars last season. Forward Alex Galchenyuk, who was acquired as part of the Zucker trade, had seven points (three goals, four assists) in 14 games with the Wild and should be motivated because a solid performance could boost his stock as a pending unrestricted free agent.

5. Will their inexperienced players step up?

Forwards Ryan Donato (three) and Jordan Greenway (five) have played in a combined eight NHL playoff games, but they, along with forward Luke Kunin, who has never played in an NHL postseason game, will likely be counted on to produce in this qualifier series. Donato, 24, had 23 points (14 goals, nine assists) in 62 games this season; Greenway, 23, had 28 points (eight goals, 20 assists) in 67 games; and Kunin, 22, had 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) in 63 games. Rookie defenseman Carson Soucy had 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 55 games, and although the 25-year-old missed the final nine games prior to the pause because of an upper-body injury, he is expected to be healthy for the series against the Canucks.