A painfully punchless offense led to a long off-season in Minnesota. With more depth down the middle this season, the Wild will try to turn things around under second-year head coach Todd Richards.

• Key losses: LW Derek Boogaard, C Andrew Ebbett, RW Owen Nolan, D John Scott

• Overview:

The Wild have made some offensive changes that The Team of 18,000 hopes will result in a playoff appearance for the first time in three years. The team's most pressing offseason need is quality depth at center, and the Wild signed the 33-year-old Cullen, who grew up in Moorhead, Minn., to a three-year deal before adding the veteran presence of the 37-year-old Madden, a three-time Stanley Cup winner. They should be in the middle of the second and third lines. Captain Mikko Koivu will be on the top trio, likely again between Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen. "I think if you don't have depth at center, you're really in trouble because that impacts your ability to score and your ability to defend. It was the weakest link of our team last year. I believe if you're strong at center, or at least deep at center, you can win and you can compete. I mean, that's our theory, and we'll see," said GM Chuck Fletcher. Nystrom had 11 goals with Calgary last season. Boogaard was a crowd favorite, but Staubitz isn’t afraid to drop the gloves and he can provide a handful of points, unlike Boogaard, who hasn’t scored in 200-plus games. The Minnesota blue line remains solid with Cam Barker, Brent Burns, Nick Schultz, Greg Zanon and Marek Zidlicky. Niklas Backstrom is expected to be in goal, with Josh Harding again his backup. 

RW Martin Havlat, who signed a six-year, $30 million deal before last season, responded with just 18 goals in 73 games and was a minus-19. He'll likely be paired with Cullen and Latendresse. A concussion limited RW Pierre-Marc Bouchard to just the season opener last year; however, he's been skating and hopes to return. This could be the final go-round for C James Sheppard. The ninth overall pick in the 2006 Draft is 11-38-49 in 224 career games, including just 64 last season. He has to be more than a press box spectator.

HPT is counting down one team each day before NHL training camps open on Sept. 17. Tomorrow: Montreal Canadiens.

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