The Minnesota Wild are, without a doubt, the NHL's most disappointing team at the season's midway point, and head coach Mike Yeo may end up paying the ultimate price for the franchise's continued failings.
Yeo's team, riding a five-game losing streak, has now lost 11 out of their last 13 games. General manager Chuck Fletcher and the front office, despite the continued defensive issues and lackluster overall play, have maintained that Yeo's job is safe.
But, as the losses mount and the natives get more and more restless, there seems to be almost no other recourse left to the Wild.
"It was indicated in late December and within the past couple days that Yeo's job was safe, but if the Wild does plan to ride this out and Fletcher's hands are cuffed by the ability to make meaningful trades because of the way this team is constructed between unmovable veterans and youngsters the Wild doesn't want to pull the plug on, it's hard to see how the heck this team's going to dig out of the muck without Yeo paying the ultimate price," Michael Russo of the Minnesota Star Tribune writes.
Minnesota made the playoffs two years in a row, winning their quarterfinal series with the Colorado Avalanche last season. With only 41 points, they seem like a better bet to miss out on the postseason than go on an unexpected run this year.
Yeo, though he hears the chatter and feels the heat, is doing his best to ignore the talk.
"I'm not going to get wrapped up in that," Yeo said, per Russo. "I know one thing, I'm going to keep doing my stuff. That's the way I am and I would expect the same from them. That's the one thing that we've talked about several times now is you control what you can control. If you're doing your job, then that's what matters."
He's right.
But with a locked-in roster and little wiggle room for trades or tinkering, sacking Yeo may be all that's left for Fletcher to fix - or at least wake up - the flagging Wild.
