The 2024 NHL Entry Draft is just days away, and everyone is wondering who their team will pick. The Minnesota Wild can always get better in every area of the game, and while a number of different positional players have been suggested for the 13th overall pick, one position stands out as needing improvement.
The Wild have gone after centers before, and their most recent pick last season, Charlie Stramel, hasn’t worked out the way they hoped. Including Stramel, they have seven centers in their system playing in different leagues, so maybe it’s time to try a different route. They still have yet to find that perfect wing for Kirill Kaprizov. While Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello have filled the void well, they haven’t found a wing who can be Kaprizov’s partner night in and night out.
The draft may be the place to find that wing. Although they may have to wait a season to see them in the NHL, that will be the time to prove to Kaprizov that they have a plan to make winning happen in Minnesota. He may have two years left, but the Wild have to step up to prove they mean business, and finding a young wing partner for Kaprizov would be a good start. In this article, we’ll look at what player could be drafted to fill that void.
Wild Look at Eiserman
Cole Eiserman has been mentioned in multiple reports regarding the Wild and the draft, including my colleagues’ reports here at The Hockey Writers. I haven’t been able to watch any of his games, but the highlights I’ve seen show that he’s a fast-moving, quick-witted wing who can make things happen. He moves the puck well and has an eye out for where his teammates are.
According to a report by one of our draft experts at The Hockey Writers’ Logan Horn, Eiserman is “the 2024 Draft’s premier goal scoring prospect, and he’s by far the most polarizing player in this year’s group…. The reason people are so high on Eiserman is that he scored 72 goals in 69 games this season for the NTDP.”
Horn also commented that Eiserman’s defense may be his slight downfall, but he makes up for it with his offensive abilities. The other downside with Eiserman is they’d likely have to wait a couple of seasons for him to join the NHL as he’s one of the youngest at the draft, and he’ll be headed to Boston University next season. While Eiserman is a left-wing, the same as Kaprizov, they could still put them together and see what happens.
Wild Could Also Take Brandsegg-Nygård
The other wing the Wild could be looking at filling that spot is Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, and according to another one of our draft experts at The Hockey Writers, Dayton Reimer Brandsegg-Nygård “might be one of the most NHL-ready players in the 2024 Draft.” He’s even played with a Wild player already, as he got some time in with Mats Zuccarello at the World Championship.
After watching some of Brandsegg-Nygård’s highlight reels, I can see that he has a very quick and lethal shot and is great at setting up his teammates. He’s also proven he can pick the puck off his opponents at the blue line and break away successfully, finishing with a goal. While Zuccarello is the only Norwegian on the Wild roster, that could change if they draft Brandsegg-Nygård.
Reimer’s only issue with Brandsegg-Nygård is that he doesn’t believe he is made to be on the top line but could do well on a second line. That could be a problem if the Wild did eventually want to match him with Kaprizov, but things could change, and he could reach another level to change that outcome.
Wild’s Final Choice
Either player would likely be a great fit for the Wild, but I would lean towards Eiserman. To be on a line with Kaprizov, the player has to be fast and able to score goals. Since Kaprizov takes a lot of attention, he likes to pass the puck frequently, and having a player like Eiserman who is more than capable of scoring, he would likely be a good fit.
Related: 3 Minnesota Wild First-Round Targets in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft
They may have to wait a couple of seasons for Eiserman as he is young and heading to college, but general manager Bill Guerin is a fan of the college players, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Guerin snatched him up. It’ll be interesting to see who the Wild go with this Friday, June 28, with the 13th overall pick, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see either of these names come up.
