Neal: Even if Wild falter, here are three good reasons to keep watching

The Wild enter Wednesday’s important game at Arizona having won six of their last eight games. They are showing fight after their awful start, climbing to within five points of a playoff position with 30 games to go.

Can they get there? I don’t think so. Injuries, streaky defense and goaltending breakdowns seem like too much to overcome. They would need to pass three teams to claim a wild-card spot. I don’t see them getting off the bubble bus.

If they pull off this comeback and make the playoffs, their weaknesses will keep them from making a Stanley Cup run.

I still find the Wild interesting, though. These final 30 games are worth watching because of three youngsters: Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Brock Faber.

Proof of their intrigue was there for all to see on Monday when they fell behind early on a fluke goal but emerged a 5-3 winner over the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights.

Boldy was focused, aggressive and in the middle of it all with two assists and a goal that was the eventual game-winner. Boldy has not always been focused, aggressive and in the middle of things, which the Wild has addressed with him. But he has five points in his last two games on 12 shots. Boldy, just 22, is in his third season with the Wild and is coming off a 31-goal campaign.

He’s still searching for consistency, a challenge for most young players. When he doesn’t fade in and out of games, he plays like he did on Monday. More of that, please.

It was a Boldy shot on which Rossi stabbed in the rebound to break a 2-2 tie. We all are trying to figure out what type of player Rossi is going to be. He certainly has had physical setbacks at the start of his professional career. And he realized he needed to put in more work during the offseason, which he spent working out in the Twin Cities. He has been rewarded with his first extended run of playing time with the Wild this season. He’s popping up on watch lists of candidates for the Calder Trophy but he’s not quite producing like a top-six forward should.

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It would be great for the Wild, and entertaining for the rest of us, if Rossi stacks more games like on Dec. 21 when he had the Gordie Howe hat trick against Montreal.

Keep this in mind: Rossi, also only 22, is an improved player from last season. How good can he be next year if he improves just as much? And that should be his next goal: Raise his game with another good offseason.

While Rossi continues to take shape, the Wild know exactly what they have in Faber. Smart. Composed. Precise. On Wednesday, there was a play where he calmly collected the puck and passed it out of the zone when some defensemen would have just whacked it around the boards for the opponent to keep in its offensive end.

Faber’s ice time has skyrocketed. Partially because of injuries. Partially because he’s a stud.

I covered Faber, 21, when he was with the Gophers, then Team USA at the Beijing Olympics and now with the Wild. I’ve hit the triple crown with the guy. At each level, he has outclassed other defensemen. With respect to Connor Bedard, the first overall pick in last year’s draft and future superstar, Faber should win the Calder. He’ll probably also get a few votes for the Norris Trophy, which goes to the league’s best defenseman.

General Manager Bill Guerin is in a tight spot in trying to manage a roster of a bubble team. I think they are too far back to have a real shot at the postseason, so I foresee Guerin trading Brandon Duhaime for sure and possibly Marc-Andre Fleury if he can land on a cup contender.

At the end of the 2024-25 season, the Wild will be unshackled from the financial penalties they took for buying out Zach Parise’s and Ryan Suter’s contracts. Kirill Kaprizov will still be in his prime. Prospects like Jesper Wallstedt, Danila Yurov and Marat Khusnutdinov should be breaking in. And Boldy, Rossi and Faber should have roughly 100 more games of experience.

Why watch this mediocre Wild team? For me, the answer is watching Boldy, Rossi and Faber grow.

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