theScore is previewing each team leading up to the 2016-17 season.

A midseason slump in 2015-16 spelled the end of head coach Mike Yeo's tenure with the Minnesota Wild. This year, the Wild turn to Bruce Boudreau, who will be tasked with unlocking the team's offensive potential. With that in mind, here are three players to watch in 2016-17:

Zach Parise

Since joining the Wild in 2012, Zach Parise hasn't seen the offensive output he had with the New Jersey Devils. He scored just 53 points last season, and his best performance with the Wild is 62.

That's a far cry from the 94 and 82 point seasons he posted with the Devils in 2008 and 2009, respectively. However, playing under a head coach in Boudreau that plays an offensive, run-and-gun style, it's safe to expect more from Parise this season.

Boudreau envisions him playing wing to Eric Staal, who signed with Minnesota in the offseason, as well as Charlie Coyle. As a key offensive cog, he'll be relied upon to lead the Wild to its fifth straight postseason appearance.

Eric Staal

Boudreau believes Staal, like Parise, is capable of providing far greater offense.

After spending his entire career with the Carolina Hurricanes, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 2006, the veteran center was dealt to the New York Rangers at last year's trade deadline.

Staal finished last season with just 39 points, including just six points in 20 games with the Rangers. He was then held pointless in five postseason matches, marking his worst showing offensively since his rookie campaign, in which he scored 31 points.

While the 31-year-old's production has dipped over the last three seasons, Boudreau is optimistic he'll have a great year with the Wild, particularly under new circumstances, after facing months of trade speculation in Carolina. After signing a three-year deal with Minnesota, he'll use his time with the Wild as an opportunity to reboot his offensive game.

Production aside, the 6-foot-4, 200-plus-pound Staal also provides the Wild with some size up the middle behind captain Mikko Koivu.

Ryan Suter

The Wild boast impressive defensive depth, and a critical piece to that is standout blue-liner Ryan Suter. The 31-year-old finished second league-wide in ice time last season, averaging 28:35 a game. That marks nearly six minutes more than any other Minnesota defenseman.

With a blue line shared by Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella, Matt Dumba, and Jonas Brodin, there are more than enough capable defensemen to share in the workload. At the same time, having Suter take on a lesser workload will allow him to be more effective in the minutes he plays.

Boudreau believes Suter will be better off playing 23-25 minutes per night, allowing him to go "all out" during his shifts. Managing his ice time will be a key assignment for new defensive coach Scott Stevens.

Suter led all Wild defensemen in points last season, notching 51 points in 81 games, and finished third in team scoring behind Koivu and Parise. He'll have a good opportunity to improve on those numbers this season.

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Mike Babcock had reason to gripe.

Displeased with Canada's start in a 6-0 thrashing of the Czech Republic in the tournament opener, a point of emphasis entering Tuesday's contest versus the United States was shoring up those first five minutes.

So when Carey Price conceded for the first time in almost four consecutive hours of best-on-best competition a little under five minutes into the game, it wasn't a surprise to hear Canada's detail-oriented head coach harp on those first few shifts once again.

“I just thought we were tentative early," Babcock said in his post-game press conference. "Tight and tentative, and (we) didn't execute very good.”

Except Tuesday, in a game where the Canadians proved they were clearly the superior side and eliminated the U.S. from the World Cup of Hockey with a 4-2 win, a disjointed start, and the subsequent glimmer of hope it offered the opponent, seemed to play right into their hand.

Ninety seconds after Ryan McDonagh bulldozed his way to the front of the net and banged in the Americans' first goal of the tournament, Matt Duchene and Corey Perry scored goals 14 seconds apart for Canada.

The lead, up in smoke. The Americans, experiencing a full-on adrenaline dump.

Of course, Canada used an equal and opposite boost to surge forward, and though reluctant to admit it, perhaps felt the opponent's will diminish.

"I thought our response was great, and that’s obviously what you want to see," Patrice Bergeron told theScore. "The way we got back into the game and took the lead right away after two shifts was tremendous. It definitely gave us the energy and momentum that we needed."

But did he feel as though the Americans were demoralized?

"Yeah, I mean," stopping himself. "They compete. They kept competing."

Bergeron's right.

The Americans didn't just fold - they were the better team in the final frame, scoring once, hitting three posts, and despite that misfortune, Patrick Kane had a glorious opportunity to pull the Americans to within one in the final moments.

However, it was a classic case of too-little, too-late for John Tortorella's crew, as it appeared to take them until midway through the third period, and when the game was well out of reach, to recover from those fateful 14 seconds in the first.

From the moment Perry's goal was confirmed by the war room, and the partisan crowd could cheer it for a second time, Canada never once appeared vulnerable.

"Momentum constantly shifts," Ryan O'Reilly told theScore. "(But) once we can get it, we kind of roll with that, and it's tough to get (us) back off it."

Without experiencing that same feeling at the World Cup, the U.S. will disband after one last meaningless game versus the Czech Republic Thursday, and its members will head to separate NHL training camps.

All while Babcock and Team Canada continue working to shore up those first five minutes.

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Phil Kessel damn near broke the internet.

Much was made of his omission from Team USA's World Cup roster - not once, but twice - however the Stanley Cup champion got the last laugh Tuesday as he watched his country get eliminated from the tournament after only two games.

Ladies and gentlemen, Kessel's third tweet of 2016:

Check. Mate.

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Canada and Europe are moving on.

Thanks to a dominant 4-2 win over the United States on Tuesday, Canada punched a ticket to the World Cup semifinal round, also ensuring at least a second-place finish for Europe in Group A.

The U.S. and the Czech Republic, therefore, have been eliminated from semifinal contention.

Playing for its tournament life, the USA drew first blood as defenseman Ryan McDonagh chipped a loose puck past Carey Price, ending the Canadian goalie’s international shutout streak.

The lead did not last long, however, as Matt Duchene and Corey Perry scored 14 seconds apart to give Canada the lead. American head coach John Tortorella challenged the second goal on an assertion of goalie interference, and while the call on the ice stood, the review time was essentially used as the timeout burned by the request.

The rallying cry didn’t work in USA’s favor, though, as Duchene extended Canada’s lead with his second of the game six minutes later.

Patrice Bergeron gave the opposition a chance to cut into the lead by taking a puck-over-glass penalty early in the second, but after recording only a single shot, the Americans allowed a goal by Bergeron 30 seconds following his exit from the box.

After a lull in scoring, and after rattling the puck off the post three separate times in the latter stages of the third period, the Americans scored a second goal - credited to T.J. Oshie - as a result of the puck bouncing off Canadian Joe Thornton and into his own net.

The U.S. was unable to add more with Jonathan Quick pulled for the extra attacker, however, giving Canada the regulation victory.

Price made 25 saves for the win, while Quick allowed four goals on 34 shots.

The shot count finished 34-27 in Canada's favor, with the shot attempts painting a fuller picture of which team won the possession battle.

Canada and Europe both have two wins apiece, and will settle first place in Group A in a game to be played Wednesday night.

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Artemi Panarin is happy to let his agent do his job while the Chicago Blackhawks winger sticks to hockey.

Agent Tom Lynn confirmed Tuesday he's in talks with general manager Stan Bowman about a contract extension for his client, whose entry-level deal will expire at the end of 2016-17. Panarin, who's currently in Toronto representing Russia at the World Cup, said he's taking a hands-off approach to the negotiation process.

"I came to play on the NHL level not because of money and contracts," Panarin said through an interpreter, according to Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune. "My agent will deal with the rest."

Panarin added, "As of right now, I like everything and … I'm very content."

The Calder Trophy winner is set to earn a base salary of $812,500, but his stellar rookie season brought him around $2.6 million in bonuses.

Panarin scored 30 goals and added 47 assists in 80 games for the Blackhawks last season, and can become a restricted free agent next summer.

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The King reclaimed his throne in grand fashion Tuesday afternoon.

After missing Sweden's first game because of an illness, Henrik Lundqvist pitched a 36-save shutout in his return to the crease, calmly thwarting a desperate effort from Finland.

Lundqvist's masterful performance certainly didn't go unnoticed, as his Swedish peers were quick to credit the veteran netminder for their second win in as many round robin games.

"He's one of the top goalies in the world and I think he proved that tonight," Swedish head coach Rickard Gronborg told Stephen Whyno of The Associated Press following the game.

"Hank had a flawless game," Swedish blue-liner Erik Karlsson added.

Up next, Sweden faces a quick turnaround, slated to take on North America on Wednesday afternoon, but fortunately for the Swedes, Lundqvist said he'll be ready to go.

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David Booth is giving it another shot in the NHL.

After one season in the KHL, the veteran winger will join the Anaheim Ducks on a PTO, according to multiple reports.

Booth most recently suited up for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2014-15 season. He's also played with the Florida Panthers and Vancouver Canucks.

Over his 502-game NHL career, Booth has recorded 120 goals and 111 assists.

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Sweden dealt Finland a near-fatal blow Tuesday afternoon, surviving a late push and clinging to a 2-0 victory to defeat its northern European archrivals.

Defenseman Anton Stralman scored what stood to be the winning goal in the second period, created from a vintage cycle between Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

Loui Eriksson added an empty-netter with only two seconds remaining.

After a shaky pre-tournament and a poorly-timed illness, Henrik Lundqvist was rock solid in his World Cup debut, turning away all 36 Finnish shots for the shutout.

It wasn't a particularly dominant win for Sweden, having been outshot 36-29, but the Swedes stayed composed through the entire game, keeping Finland's attack to the perimeter with a stout defensive performance.

Finland is still alive in the tournament, but barely. In order for the Finn's to survive, Sweden must beat North America on Wednesday, while Finland has to defeat Russia on Thursday, in their final round robin contest.

This scenario would create a three-way tie in Group B.

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