On Thursday night, the Minnesota Wild will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets in the much-anticipated home opener of the 2024-25 season. Missing the playoffs again is unacceptable, and the organization – from the coaches to the players to management – will do everything in their power to ensure that doesn’t happen.
Wild Make Few Additions Up Front
Management made only two additions up front. Yakov Trenin is a gritty defensive-minded forward. The club added the 27-year-old Russian as a free agent on July 1, signing him to a four-year contract worth $3.5 million per season. He will start the campaign on the third line with Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman.
The other addition was forward Jakub Lauko in a trade from the Boston Bruins for Vinni Lettieri. Lauko is an in-your-face fourth-liner. He secured his spot on the opening-night roster after a strong preseason, scoring three goals in four games.
Two rookies have made the club as well. Goaltender Jesper Wallstedt forced the Wild to keep him after two solid preseason starts; Minnesota is one of few teams starting the season with three goalies. Liam Ohgren will be the team’s 13th forward. He played four games last season, scoring one goal and one assist. He beat out Ben Jones, Reese Johnson, Sammy Walker, and Travis Boyd in the preseason for the 23rd roster spot.
Wild’s Opening Night Lineup
Kirill Kaprizov – Marco Rossi – Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson – Joel Eriksson Ek – Matthew Boldy
Marcus Foligno – Ryan Hartman – Yakov Trenin
Jakub Lauko – Marat Khusnutdinov – Frédérick Gaudreau
Jonas Brodin – Brock Faber
Jacob Middleton – Jared Spurgeon
Declan Chisholm – Zach Bogosian
Marc-Andre Fleury
The opening-night lineup appears to be set for Thursday, with Ohgren, Jesper Wallstedt, and veteran defenseman Jon Merrill as healthy scratches.
Related: Wild’s Goaltending Future is in Wallstedt’s Hands
Head coach John Hynes has loaded up his top two lines, while also having a solid-looking third and fourth line. This forward group has speed and skill on every line. Expect Hynes to roll four lines as the game dictates. A healthy Brodin has been skating with number-one defenseman Faber on the team’s top pairing.
Rossi will start the season with Kaprizov and Zuccarello, in what should be an explosive top line.
Boldy didn’t play during the preseason but has been practicing with the team for the past week. The only question mark might be Middleton who has been hobbled lately after blocking a shot late in September.
Columbus Blue Jackets Lineup
James van Riemsdyk – Adam Fantilli – Kevin Labanc
Mikael Pyyhtia – Cole Sillinger – Kent Johnson
Yegor Chinakhov – Sean Monahan – Kirill Marchenko
James Malatesta – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Zach Werenski – Ivan Provorov
Jake Christiansen – Damon Severson
Jack Johnson – Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins
Most analysts have the Blue Jackets in the draft lottery by the end of the campaign. The club suffered a major tragedy when star forward Johnny Gaudreau was killed in an accident in late August. In the last week, the team also lost Dmitri Voronkov and Boone Jenner to long-term injuries.
They will be major underdogs on Thursday night. That being said, the team that works the hardest often walks away with two points. The Wild cannot underestimate the Blue Jackets. Despite being thin up front, they have some young game-breakers who can bury the puck when given the chance.
The Wild have two home games before embarking on a season-high seven-game road trip.
Very Few Question Marks
The team’s two biggest weaknesses last season were the penalty kill and not getting the big save when they needed it. A healthy team will make for a better PK. In 2023-24, it took a real hit when Brodin and Spurgeon missed a good chunk of time. Trenin is also a big addition to special teams, along with Khusnutdinov and Lauko.
No Wild player will face more pressure than Gustavsson. Which goalie will we see? The one who dominated the 2022-23 season or the average netminder of 2023-24? He will be on a short leash. As the season moves along, look for Wallstedt to be given the chance to take over the net, especially with his newly inked two-year extension.
Must-Have Two Points
The home opener is not a must-win, but the Wild should walk away with two points. They cannot play catch up like they did for the first two months of last season. If Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek and Faber are on their game, it should mean a W for the Wild on Thursday.
