SAINT PAUL, Minn – It’s not going to be an easy road for the Minnesota Wild. Being stuck in the Central Division, they will, most likely, have to figure out how to get past the Chicago Blackhawks in order to make any noise in the NHL playoffs. The last three years the Blackhawks have ended their season, and with the Wild in a challenging salary cap situation, the team needs productive drafts, and with those picks they need to add some firepower. 
Even with skill like Ryan Suter and Jonas Brodin quarterbacking their power play, they finished the regular season with the fourth-worst power play in the league, 14th in goals, and 17th in shot attempts.
While they are a middle-of-the-road offensive team, they have proven to be very good defensively. They had the top penalty kill in the regular season and finished 5th in goals against. The Wild organization is stocked full of promising young defensemen and centers, and the forwards they do have shown two-way promise.
But the one area where the prospect cupboard is notably deficient is on the wings. Arguably their best wing prospects are Alex Tuch, who finished his freshman year at Boston College with 28 points and was +13 in 37 games; and Mario Lucia, who has scored 49 goals in three seasons at Notre Dame. He has already announced he will be returning to South Bend for his senior season, after which the Wild will be on the clock to sign the Minnesota native to his first pro contract. The Wild will have to target a wing with this pick.
Robin Kovacs impressed over the second half of the last season, moving from a midterm rank of 17 to a final rank of 8 among European skaters per NHL Central Scouting. He’s a left-handed shot who plays on the right wing and is a finesse player and a high-volume shooter playing for AIK in the Sweden-2 league, scoring 17 goals with 11 assists in 52 games, more than any other junior-aged player in the division. He compares his style of play to a player that Wild fans are very familiar with: Marian Gaborik.
“With the 20th selection the Minnesota Wild select, from Stockholm, Sweden, Robin Kovacs.”
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