Had the Wild been healthier this season, giving management more time to assess the roster's potential as is, the team's outlook as it nears the NHL trade deadline may have been different.
But with a lineup that's been at full strength in only five games approaching mid-February, team brass is still making evaluations.
And that has the Wild in wait-and-see mode before the window to incite change closes Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. Twin Cities time.
"Our thought is let's see what we have here," General Manager Chuck Fletcher said. "We believe we have the answers here, and we are playing better. We need to continue to work on our consistency on the road, but I believe we are trending in the right direction and there's another level we can and need to get to. I think we've shown that when we're on our game, we're a pretty good hockey team."
Even though the Wild is still down a player — defenseman Jonas Brodin is out for up to a month to recover from surgery that fixed the fractured left hand he suffered Tuesday against the Blues — it can get a comprehensive read on its current look.
The forward group is intact, giving coach Bruce Boudreau the flexibility to experiment up front. Captain Mikko Koivu and wingers Jason Zucker and Mikael Granlund continue to emerge as a top-line trio, while Eric Staal-Nino Niederreiter and Zach Parise-Charlie Coyle look like workable duos. But how the remaining holes are filled intrigues Fletcher.
"We'd like to sort of see what we have in terms of line combinations and which players would have chemistry and kind of go through that process," Fletcher said. "We're kind of in that right now."
Brodin's absence doesn't alter the Wild's patient plan. Instead, it's allowing the team to watch youngsters Gustav Olofsson and Mike Reilly — bubble players who have been in and out of the lineup this season as the sixth defender. The team can also explore its options in the minors.