Expectations were high after a career year in 2016-17 earned Nino Niederreiter a five-year, $26.5 million contract. Alongside Mikael Granlund (who was also handed a nice deal in the offseason) and Charlie Coyle, Niederreiter was anticipated to make another leap forward in his development and become a focal point of the Minnesota Wild organization.
And that might have come to fruition if it weren’t for an array of leg injuries sporadically kept him on the sideline for a total of 19 games. First came a high ankle sprain in just the third game of the season, which kept him off the ice for eight games.