Five steps the Wild will have to take to make the playoffs

As miserable as last season was for the Wild, what would be worse is doing it all over again.

That’s the rerun they’ll try to avoid beginning Thursday night against Columbus at Xcel Energy Center. They’re getting a fresh start nearly a year in the making that comes with a ready-made plan of what didn’t work for the team.

Here’s how it goes.

The Wild weren’t officially eliminated from playoff contention until four games remained, but they can point to their early struggles as to why they were in an uphill climb that never crested.

They dropped three out of their first five games before a four-game losing streak and seven-game slide that culminated in coach Dean Evason getting fired and John Hynes taking over. They were slow starters the previous season, too, and the intensity at training camp was indicative of how important it will be to show up ready to play from the get-go.

If they don’t, they could be in trouble.

After two home games to open the season, the Wild have seven in a row on the road. Included on that itinerary are Stanley Cup champion Florida and Pittsburgh, which has had the Wild’s number in recent matchups.

A patchwork lineup didn’t suit the Wild last season and although they focused on bolstering their depth over the summer, they won’t find out just how competitive they are unless they have everyone available.

Injuries happen — a few even popped up in training camp — but it’s hard to envision the Wild making serious strides if they’re not close to or at full strength.

What makes their health even more critical is it could determine how much the Wild rely on rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt, who looks like he could be an X-factor after a strong preseason and subsequent contract extension.

Should the Wild need to make injury replacement call-ups from the minors at forward or defense, they might not have enough salary-cap space to also have Wallstedt on the roster alongside Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson.

Fix the penalty kill, fix the Wild?

Maybe.

When the opposing power play scored more than once last season, the Wild rarely won. But when the penalty kill was perfect or surrendered only one goal, the Wild were victorious or at least banked a point nearly 70% of the time.

So, simply eliminating the meltdowns would clean up a PK that finished third-to-last in the NHL (74.5%), and the Wild have made this restoration project a priority.

Their biggest offseason pickup was Yakov Trenin, a PK specialist, and new associate coach Jack Capuano is overseeing their scheme with assistant Patrick Dwyer.

The emphasis is on being aggressive, denying entries, recovering loose pucks and getting clears off faceoffs. Sharper goaltending would also be a plus, as the Wild were near the bottom of the league in shorthanded save percentage.

For what it’s worth, the Wild PK went 21-for-25 (84%) in the preseason.

By bringing back the majority of their lineup — the team didn’t have the cap space for an offseason makeover — the Wild put the onus on their returnees to produce more offense.

And there are plenty of candidates to make a comeback, such as Frederick Gaudreau, Marcus Johansson and Marcus Foligno, who is good to go after hernia surgery in April.

Mats Zuccarello has been reunited with longtime linemate Kirill Kaprizov, who formed one of the most prolific lines in the NHL with Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy while he was separated from Zuccarello. But even their success couldn’t lift the Wild into the playoffs.

As such, getting goals from all four lines would be a step in the right direction.

Even if the Wild do play better, that doesn’t mean they’ll be good enough to pick up a playoff spot.

What would make their bid easier is if their competition faltered. But not many teams are vulnerable in the Central Division.

Dallas is a contender. Colorado is always dangerous. Winnipeg still has its core intact. Then there’s Nashville, which had two of the splashiest offseason additions in Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault.

These are the teams the Central sent to the playoffs last spring and if the Wild are going to take someone’s spot — either as a top-three finisher or wild-card seed — having a rival stumble would only help their cause.