How far can the Wild go in the playoffs?

The Minnesota Wild got off to a strong start this season, and general manager Bill Guerin solidified them as contenders when he landed superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes in a blockbuster trade.

At 37-16-11, they rank fourth in the league-wide standings but third in the Central Division, meaning a likely first-round showdown with the Dallas Stars is on tap for the first round.

If the Wild survive that, it would most likely bring a second-round showdown with the presumptive Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.

It’s difficult to imagine a tougher path just to make it to a conference final, but on the surface, Minnesota looks like a worthy challenger to the two year-in, year-out contenders above them in the standings.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed the Wild’s recent play and what the team’s ceiling is in the spring given the tough path they’re certain to have in front of them.

Tyler Yaremchuk: There are a couple of questions that I want to throw your way… one of them comes in from someone on the YouTube who says “the Wild have accumulated 37 points via 3-on-3 gimmick or a skills competition. They are 24-16 in games decided in regulation. How good are they?” I think, one, that’s a fair point, and you can look at a lot of teams in this conference, look at that big 14 next to the Vegas Golden Knights in the OT losses column. Vegas only has 21 wins in regulation through 64 games… and Minny’s not all that much different. They only have 24 regulation wins in 64 games. I think it’s a totally fair point to look at the Minnesota Wild and say, “Why aren’t you winning more games more handily?” and it’s part of the reason why I wanted them to make that big sexy forward add at the deadline.

Carter Hutton: I think you can go both ways, right? The other side of the fact is that you’re going to be comfortable in these tight games. You’re used to playing tight hockey, and I think there is a benefit to that so it’s not like you’re trying to turn a switch on to get there. It is going to come down to, you look at the Minnesota Wild and you look at the Dallas Stars… Dallas with Robertson and Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston and the offense that they’re going to be able to create, versus Minnesota there’s going to be a lot of pressure on Kaprizov and Boldy to generate that, even Quinn Hughes from the back end. Will they be able to go stars vs. stars in this lineup when you’ve got to go through Dallas, and then you’ve got to through Colorado… It will be a challenge to Minnesota, but I think they’re comfy in those tight games.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…