Five reasons fading Wild are out of a playoff position

John Torchetti, named Minnesota Wild interim coach after Mike Yeo was fired Saturday, is taking over a team that has been dysfunctional since before Christmas. The Wild are 0-6-2 in their last eight games, and have lost 13 of their last 14.

Here are reasons why this team (23-22-10) is five points out of a playoff spot:

1. Offense isn’t dangerous enough

Offense was considered a weakness entering the season. The Wild rank 21st with an average of 2.45 goals per game, and their power play is 23rd at 17.4%. According to war-on-ice.com, Minnesota’s Corsi rating ranks 20th at 48.5%. They have averaged less than two goals per game during the past 14 contests.

2. Key players are underachieving

You have to scroll down to 71st among scoring leaders to find a Wild player. Mikko Koivu leads the team with 37 points. The Wild were expecting more from Zach Parise (32 points), Thomas Vanek (33 points), Jason Pominville (21 points) and Nino Niederreiter (24 points), among others. Mikael Granlund hasn't developed into a top-six center. Vanek was a healthy scratch earlier this month. Parise has one goal in his past 13 games, and he’s minus-11 on the year.

3. Management too patient?

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators endured rough spells, and they have been more aggressive than the Wild. The Penguins fired their coach earlier, and general manager Jim Rutherford has made two significant trades. Nashville GM David Poile pulled off a blockbuster deal to acquire Ryan Johansen to bolster his offense. Minnesota GM Chuck Fletcher was proactive last season in acquiring Devan Dubnyk, and that changed the Wild’s fortunes. This season, Fletcher tried to let the team work through its problems. It needed a shake up earlier.

4. Players lost confidence

The downward spiral became self-fulfilling. They looked like a group that was waiting for something to happen. The Wild's tradition of being sound defensively dates back to Jacques Lemaire, who coached them from 2000-09. But they have looked bewildered, giving up 25 goals in their last six games. They have surrendered four or more goals seven times during their eight-game losing streak.

5. Wild not as good as we thought

Dubnyk was so dominant upon being acquired that it gave us a false sense of how strong this team is. He posted a .936 save percentage and five shutouts last season. He was the team’s most important player. Now, Dubnyk's .917 SV% is 19th, and he hasn’t been able to hide the Wild's warts.