It’s that time of year again. The regular season has officially started for some NHL teams. The Minnesota Wild will begin on Thursday, Oct. 10, when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets. With the season about to begin, the team has plenty of questions facing them.
The Hockey Writers Wild team of Brandt Corbin and Mariah Stark worked together to develop and answer those questions facing this season. We’ll start with which player will be a surprise and have a big year this season.
Which Player on the Team Will Surprise and Have a Big Year?
Brandt: I think Marco Rossi could explode offensively for the Minnesota Wild. I think Rossi will score between 25-30 goals, with 60-70 points. If he continues to play with Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello those numbers are 100% obtainable. If he was to get time on the top powerplay unit the numbers offensively would only increase. His confidence is apparent compared to this time last year. This shouldn’t be but will be one of the more underrated top lines in all of hockey. I’d be stunned if Bill Guerin’s next move isn’t to extend Rossi to a three-to-four-year contract.
Mariah: I’m going to say Marat Khusnutdinov. He’s an outstanding player already, and we know he works well with his teammates, so I think he will find that extra step this season. He’s physical, fast, and has good puck skills that make him an asset, but I feel like he gets overlooked by everyone else on the team, and that’s why I think he’ll be a surprise this season.
Which Goaltender Takes the Starting Spot, or Will it be a Rotation All Season (2 or 3 depending on cap space)?
Brandt: The best-case scenario is that Filip Gustavsson is the starting goalie. If he is the starting goalie come year’s end that would indicate to me that he’s found his confidence and form from 2022-23. They don’t need him to post a 2.10 goals against or 931% save percentage, but somewhere in the 2.50-2.70 goals against .915% save percentage. The Wild will make the playoffs and likely a spot in the top three of the Central Division if those are his numbers.
If Gustavsson struggles early, I can see the net eventually becoming Jesper Wallstedt’s to lose. With all due respect to legendary goalie Marc-André Fleury, his days of playing 40 games a season are over. If the games get split three ways, that means Minnesota will be in danger of missing the playoffs.
Mariah: Based on what we saw this preseason, I think they’ll keep the three-goaltender rotation as long as possible, which means until they essentially run out of cap space. After that ends, I believe Fleury will emerge to take the starting spot, and hopefully, Gustavsson will step up to equal Fleury’s performance. However, it may take him some time to settle in after last season’s struggles, especially where his confidence is concerned. He took a pretty hard hit to his self-esteem last season and that’s not something that just bounces back. It’ll take him a few wins to get himself back to where he feels comfortable again.
What Player Regresses?
Brandt: The player that seems to have regressed already compared to last season is Jon Merrill. I thought he struggled in the preseason to the point where Daemon Hunt almost took his job. The top six on the backend is set, I think they want Hunt playing every night in Iowa, have no problems sitting Merrill out as a healthy scratch. With Merrill’s $1.2 million cap hit, I think the team will eventually waive him and risk losing him to free up the money. The only thing restricting them from doing that now is they have no NHL experience in the minors.
Mariah: I really hope I’m wrong, and he has a fantastic season. However, with Matt Boldy starting out the preseason injured, I’m nervous about the rest of the season. I don’t think he’ll have a huge dropoff, but I do feel like he will struggle to get going, and that will affect him throughout the season. He was injured last season and was able to bounce back but that’s not always the case and it makes me nervous.
What Player Has to Have a Good Season to Stick Around?
Brandt: Two players jump out for me on this question. Marcus Johansson and Frederick Gaudreau; both were below average last year and for the team to be successful have to be much better, Johansson has been gift-wrapped a spot on the second line with Joel Erikkson Ek and Matt Boldy. If he fails to perform with them, I see him coming out in favor of Liam Ohgren. Guerin seems to think Johansson can score 20 goals again; the 11 goals that he got last year are unacceptable.
Gaudreau must fight to get his spot back on the top nine. He had five goals last year compared to 33 goals in his previous two years. He’s got term left on his contract, which makes it harder to move. It’s in everyone’s best interest to see him succeed again.
Mariah: Marco Rossi. He was on the top of the list for a trade alongside Gustavsson this offseason, as well as the one before that, but the Wild kept him. He did have a great year, but he hasn’t completely stepped up in the way they expect from him, and if he doesn’t do that this season, I don’t see the Wild keeping him around. Since they have yet to extend his contract, they may want to see what he does this season or they may be working on an extension as we speak. Being they just extended Wallstedt, they may be waiting it out to see what Rossi does before they give him a number. After last season, he earned a look, but the Wild may want to ensure he can back those numbers up before giving him an extension.
What Do You Expect to See From the Team This Season?
Brandt: For myself, I see the Minnesota Wild having a bounce-back season and making the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The team looks much more explosive offensively this year. That’s not even counting on Khusnutdinov or Ohgren to have breakout years. Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon must remain healthy as well. If so, the team has three top-end defensemen, in which the penalty kill and goals against will improve. Head coach John Hynes needs stable goaltending. He’s got three goalies who can do it, find the right guy or two, and ride them.
Mariah: After watching training camp, I expect a much tighter, crisper, cleaner-playing team. During practice, they do their reps and laps and make sure they are both fine-tuned on plays and well-conditioned. They’ve worked to improve their special teams, and their offense has bounced back, but that’s also preseason; we’ll see if it translates to the regular season. I believe it will as the team looks different, and they have a confidence they didn’t have before. I think it’ll be a fight to the finish, and they have to win the must-win games, but they’ll make it to the postseason even if it’s down to the final point, and that’s what I expect to see.
What Are You Most Looking Forward to This Season?
Brandt: One thing the Wild is good for is to play a good brand of hockey, and they can play it any way you want to. They’ve got high-end talent who can go end to end, and score highlight reel goals. They can play it rough and tumble if you want to. Not as tough as in years past, but have enough soldiers to go to battle.
I look forward to the progression of Brock Faber and Marco Rossi. I think we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg with these two. Faber can only get better now that he’s got better support. Rossi could become a top-line center by playing with Kaprizov and Zuccarello. I also look forward to Khusnutdinov, Ohgren, Wallstedt and Hunt becoming full-time NHLers. We won’t know how good they can become until they’re given a chance.
Related: Wild’s Brock Faber Continues to Shine as His Second Season Starts
Mariah: I love it and hate it simultaneously, but seeing Fleury go through his final year in the league. We rarely see a player on their farewell tour, especially a player of Fleury’s caliber, who wants to stay out of the spotlight. Typically we don’t have a farewell tour because the player announces their retirement and is done, they typically don’t say one more year. This way, we’ll get to see what teams do to honor the player Fleury is, especially when the Wild roll into Pittsburgh at the end of this month. Seeing fans give him a proper send-off and see him get the respect he deserves is a great honor to witness.
Wild’s Season Starts
It’s been a long offseason and Wild fans are eager to watch their team get back on the ice. They’ve had a strong training camp and hopefully that translates to the regular season and they can win their way back into the postseason.
