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Boudreau hoping for bounce back season from Ennis

Buffalo Sabres v Philadelphia Flyers

PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 25: Tyler Ennis #63 of the Buffalo Sabres in action against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on October 25, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

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One of the Minnesota Wild’s big moves this offseason was to try and strengthen their forward depth by acquiring Marcus Foligno and Tyler Ennis from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for defenseman Marco Scandella and forward Jason Pominville.

Foligno has already set some pretty high expectations for himself by aiming for 20 goals this season.

Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau seems to have some pretty high expectatinos for Ennis, telling Chad Graff of the Pioneer Press this week that he thinks if Ennis can stay healthy he could see a resurgence in Minnesota similar to the one Eric Staal experienced this past season.

Via the Pioneer Press:

Tyler Ennis, I’ve seen and talked to and met. I don’t want to put pressure on him, but three years ago, he was a great player in this league. He’s missed 90 games in the last two years due to injury. If we can keep him healthy, I think he’s going to have a rebound year like Eric Staal had. I’m very excited about having him. In our top-9 forwards, I think we’re as strong as anybody in the league.

When the Wild signed Staal as a free agent a year ago he was coming off of his worst season as a pro and there was an expectation that he was washed up as an elite player. He rebounded in his first year with the Wild by scoring 28 goals and being one of their absolute best forwards.

Ennis, of course, was never the type of player that Staal was at his peak but he was still better than the player we saw in Buffalo the past two seasons. Injuries were obviously a major factor for Ennis (as Boudrea noted, he was limited to just 74 games the past years ... total) but even when he was on the ice his production plummeted.

Having better luck when it comes to health will certainly help, but so to will playing on a better team. The Wild were one of the best teams in the league for the first three quarters of the 2016-17 season and have a pretty solid collection of forwards. He is going to have more talent around him and should at least be in a better position to succeed.