RandBall: Wild are among NHL’s best, and numbers suggest they have staying power

Quinn Hughes still hasn’t agreed to a contract extension. Dylan Larkin is still in Detroit. And the Wild still haven’t come close to relinquishing their grip on first place in the NHL’s rugged Central Division. If much of this season has been focused on less-than-ideal circumstances for the Wild, including a scary preseason injury to defenseman Brock Faber that has kept him out of the lineup even as he nears a return, let’s refocus on three of the best things going for the team right now. Advertisement Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek: A dominant top line When the Wild’s decision makers let Mats Zuccarello depart in free agency, there were concerns about how it would impact longtime linemate Kirill Kaprizov. My hope was that the Wild would finally decide to put Kaprizov on a line with Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek full-time , and that has come to fruition. It’s worked even better than I could have imagined. Kaprizov has 16 goals and 31 points in just 19 games. Better yet: As a line, the Boldy-Eriksson Ek-Kaprizov trio has outscored opponents 16-0 when they’ve been on the ice together in just over 200 minutes of 5-on-5 play so far this season.