The Minnesota Wild head into the offseason following their fourth consecutive playoff berth which ended with some of their best hockey of the season, a 20-minute slugfest that saw them erase a 4-0 Dallas Stars lead, only to fall just short in the game's closing moments.
But while their 4-2 series loss to the Stars was a slugfest, a new sort of work starts now, as the Wild head to the offseason with both significant questions and positive takeaways heading into 2016-17.
Will interim head coach John Torchetti shed his interim tag and stick around?
Are moves on the way that could alleviate the Wild's salary-cap situation?
FOX Sports North takes a look at the season that was, and what's likely to come in the offseason.
Torchetti's future
Well-liked in the locker room following his hiring out of the AHL, Torchetti (15-11-1, 2-4 playoffs) led the Wild to a playoff berth after a significant slump during Mike Yeo's final weeks behind the bench nearly cost them one.
Torchetti's arrival jump-started the Wild, who immediately rattled off four straight wins, but would eventually lose their final five regular-season games.
With an aging core and the salary cap looming it's not hard to imagine that general manager Chuck Fletcher could look towards an NHL veteran like Randy Carlyle, Adam Oates or Ron Wilson, even if such a move would be a significant break with tradition.
Fletcher's first two coaching hires -- Todd Richards and Yeo -- were former NHL assistants with AHL head coaching experience, a template that should give Torchetti reason for optimism.
Defense holds steady
For all of the Wild's offensive struggles in 2015-16 their defense was a significant bright spot, with goaltender Devan Dubnyk and a defensive corps led by Ryan Suter combining to allow just 2.49 goals against on the season.
Jared Spurgeon progressed this year, and has evolved into one of the Wild's top defenders, leading the team in blocked shots (157) and chewing up ice time at just under 23 minutes per game as a 26-year-old.
Kick-starting the offense
The Wild ranked 18th in the league in scoring at just 2.60 goals per game, a clip that just isn't going to cut it in the ultra-competitive Central Division.
Young guns like Nino Niederreiter (20 goals) and Charlie Coyle (21 goals) took a step forward this year, while Erik Haula more than doubled his output from last season, chipping in 14 goals.
However, the play of Jason Zucker and Mikael Granlund was notable for the wrong reasons, as they struggled to generate offense, while Granlund finished with a minus-12 rating on the season.
Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek
It was a down year for Pominville as well, who finished with career lows across the board, scoring just 11 goals and adding 25 assists, figures that make his $5.6 million cap hit an alarming one.
Pominville turned things around in the playoffs, leading the Wild in postseason scoring with seven points, but his unreliability during the regular season makes him a significant question mark heading into next season.
For all of Pominville's struggles Thomas Vanek is currently the player generating the most buyout talk after registering a career-low 18 goals on the season against a $6.5 million cap hit.
Salary-cap concerns
The number of moves at Fletcher's disposal this offseason are limited, with around $33 million tied up in just five players (all with full or partial no-movement clauses), none of whom will be off the books until 2018, and minimal cap space to facilitate a move.
David Jones' UFA status gives the Wild another $4 million to play with, but the outlook remains less than ideal.
Buyouts are always a possibility, with Vanek and Pominville looking like natural candidates, but with former Wild forward Matt Cooke still commanding a cool $1 million next season, their interest in going that route could be limited.
Signing NCAA star Sam Anas was a good (and cheap) start, and one that could pay off as early as next season, but Minnesota's financial situation is still tight.
