With minimal roster turnover, the same cast of characters is poised to star on the Wild's power play this season, but the units could still take on a different look with a new voice running the operation.
Assistant coach Dean Evason, hired in the offseason to replace John Anderson, is overseeing that side of special teams and has already previewed a unique setup for the Wild: winger Mikael Granlund stationed on the point.
"Any place Granlund's at is a good place because you don't have to be an expert to know his vision is great," Evason said before Thursday's game, won by Dallas 3-1. "He's going to find people. If he's on the point, if he's on the half wall, if he's down low, he's going to find people because he just has that ability to make plays. He has the vision to see plays before they're there."
Granlund has typically hovered near the net, finishing off passes and rebounds en route to 14 power-play goals over the previous two seasons, but placing the playmaker in a quarterback-style role would undoubtedly give the Wild a fresh dynamic.
Regardless if this idea sticks, Evason does forecast a few tweaks for a unit that ranked in the middle of the pack last season at 20.4 percent. And the overriding theme will be to simplify the attack.
"We want to try to get as many pucks at the net as we can," Evason said, "and have as many bodies around as we can."
Back to business
The Wild signed goaltender Andrew Hammond during the summer to challenge Alex Stalock for the backup job, but it sounds like the incumbent is the front-runner for the gig.
"Alex is here. He played great for us last year," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "He'd have to be pretty bad and someone would have to be pretty good to replace him, I think. But those things are still to be seen. Alex is going to play more than one game, and there's a good chance the Hamburglar will play more than one game. So we'll see how it works out."
![Dallas' center Justin Dowling scored the game winner between the legs of Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk in the third period. ] JEFF WHEELER ï jeff.wheeler@startribune.com The Minnesota Wild lost to the Dallas Stars 3-1 in an NHL hockey preseason game Thursday night, September 20, 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/N3ETLRE2MCDIWDB7ELUGGWU7VI.jpg?&w=1080)
djoles@startribune.com As boaters flock to Minnesota lakes and rivers this holiday weekend for the unofficial kick-off to the boating season, they'll face more inspections in and out of the water as local cities and counties ramp up their work to stop the spread of invasive species. Across the metro, more boat accesses will be staffed by watercraft inspectors thanks to $10 million funneled to county government programs this year, up from $4.5 million the state allocated last year. ORG XMIT: MIN1505222156290209 ORG XMIT: MIN1506021218440580](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/34QSKO44B2XKVNUZCO5SLJQSLY.jpg?&w=80&ar=1:1&fit=crop)
