Wild will ride Staal, experience to Stanley Cup

The Minnesota Wild will win the Stanley Cup because they have the experience and depth required to win a championship.

There is no disputing the season-ending ankle injury to defenseman Ryan Suter is an enormous blow to the Wild's Cup hopes; the 33-year-old had 51 points (six goals, 45 assists) in 78 games and averaged 26:46 of ice time. His responsibilities won't fall solely on one player; coach Bruce Boudreau will have to divide them amongst the rest of the group.
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But the Wild have the depth, particularly at forward. Eric Staal's resurgence as a top center in the NHL has been one of the best storylines of the season; he scored 40 goals for the third time in his NHL career and is showing the kind of durability we saw during his time with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Staal's ability to lead, along with the likes of Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise and Matt Cullen, will pay huge dividends for the Wild in the playoffs. Staal won the Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006; Parise helped the New Jersey Devils reach the Cup Final in 2012. Cullen is coming off back-to-back Cup wins with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Minnesota possesses other weapons at forward; Jason Zucker reached 30 goals and 60 points for the first time in his NHL career, Mikael Granlund became a two-time 20-goal scorer and Nino Niederreiter fell just shy of 20 goals for the fourth time.
With Suter unavailable, expect Matt Dumba's workload to increase. Jared Spurgeon missed nearly a month because of a hamstring injury but should ready just in time to contribute.
Devan Dubnyk continues to provide stability in goal, winning more than 30 games and posting five shutouts for a third straight season with the Wild. The 31-year-old is ready to take Minnesota to the top of the mountain.