Two days into training camp, the Wild tweaked one facet of their system that could make for some excitement … on both of halves of the ice.



Trying to take advantage of the Wild’s mobile defensemen while also nullifying their lack of size, coach Bruce Boudreau made a distinctive modification in the neutral zone. He wants the Wild to stop the puck carrier in the neutral zone rather than the defensive zone, so he essentially has his defensemen aggressively skating up to the red-line against the puck-carrying team.



It’s an altered version of a 1-3-1, similar to the aggressive nature of Nashville’s defense used by Predators coach Peter Laviolette and former assistant Phil Housley last season.



It’s a similar system to what Boudreau deployed during his days coaching ECHL Mississippi, AHL Hershey and the Washington Capitals. He stopped using it early in his Anaheim tenure when he felt the Ducks’ defensemen weren’t quick...