From Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

When traded to Anaheim in February after being in and out of the Islanders lineup, Bergeron had eight power-play goals in 46 games, a total that was tied for the NHL lead with Anaheim’s Chris Pronger, Calgary’s Dion Phaneuf and Detroit’s Brian Rafalski.

“When we look at the shot totals from our defense last year, we’re not high enough,” Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough said. “But we’re not looking at him as just a power-play specialist. He can still do other things. [Coach] Jacques [Lemaire] wants to play everybody a lot of minutes, so we think he can play minutes. I liked his competitiveness when he was in Edmonton.”

Read the entire article here.

As I pointed out yesterday, the Wild is getting a tremendously capable offensive defenseman, however, the positives offensively have generally been offset by terrible defensive play. There is no question that Bergeron has a lot of talent, and the Wild lacks offensive output from the back-end, so this arrangement may just work. That being said, I always have my concerns about a defensively irresponsible defenseman playing for Jacques Lemaire.

Richard Pollock

Share
Published by
Richard Pollock

Recent Posts

Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers

Keeping you up-to-date with all the latest pro hockey news in Manitoba.

2 hours ago

Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel media availability on day 1 of training camp

He kicks off his first year as bench boss in Winnipeg on day 1 of…

17 hours ago

Day 1 of Winnipeg Jets training camp: Vladislav Namestnikov

We heard from the versatile forward after the afternoon session on day 1 of training…

17 hours ago

Observations of Team Lesuk on day 1 of Winnipeg Jets training camp

Second group hits the ice at hockey for all centre.

19 hours ago

Day 1 of Winnipeg Jets training camp: Nikita Chibrikov

Coming into his second training camp the Jets 2021 2nd rounder is feeling confident.

20 hours ago