I don’t think anyone is too surprised at the current Central Divison standings as the Minnesota Wild climbed into third place on Oct. 24 with their defeat of the Connor McDavid-less Edmonton Oilers. They are behind two teams that have yet to be defeated in regulation, the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, the latter of which will face off against a team that the Wild know is dangerous, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Wild will be up against a team tonight that was not expected to be strong this season, but surprised everyone by stringing together some quality games to start their season, the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Flyers currently hold second place in the Metropolitan Division above the impressive New Jersey Devils and the Cup-favored Carolina Hurricanes. They got to that position by winning three of their first four games before taking the Stars all the way to overtime on Oct. 21 and then dropping a heart-breaker to the league-leading Vegas Golden Knights in the last minute of play. The Flyers have been getting excellent goaltending from Carter Hart, along with much-improved play from their leaders under the tutelage of head coach John Tortorella.
Setting the Stage
Where to Watch
Tonight’s contest marks the first of the Wild’s 13 nationally televised games for the 2023-24 season with it being shown on ESPN+ and Hulu. As difficult as it can be to try and keep track of where to watch NHL games, there is one constant for the Wild and that is KFAN 100.3 FM. The online radio feed is free and can be a great alternative to having to listen to the national broadcasters.
Minnesota Wild Lineup
The Wild’s lines for tonight’s game are a complete guess with the trio of announcements yesterday that sent the injured Jared Spurgeon onto long-term injured reserve (LTIR) to create some more salary cap space so the team could call up Jujar Khaira to bring with them on their three-game road trip. All of that was required because Freddy Gaudreau had been added to the pile of injured Wild players and did not accompany the team on the trip.
From past experience, Wild fans should know that head coach Dean Evason does not like to move players around the lineup too much and instead has a tendency to just drop players that have been called up from the Iowa Wild into the holes created by the missing piece. The Wild now have two holes in their roster and two holes to fill so I can easily see them dropping Vinni Lettieri onto the line with Marco Rossi and Marcus Foligno to add some speed while sliding Khaira onto the fourth line with Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime to give them an extra boost of size and grit.
Kirill Kaprizov – Ryan Hartman – Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Foligno – Marco Rossi – Vinni Lettieri
Marcus Johansson – Joel Eriksson Ek – Pat Maroon
Brandon Duhaime – Connor Dewar – Jujar Khaira
Jonas Brodin – Calen Addison
Jake Middleton – Brock Faber
Jon Merrill – Calen Addison
Marc-Andre Fleury – Filip Gustavsson
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These lines are my best guess at this juncture and could be completely altered if the Wild coaches feel they need to address the injuries. A likely alternative is that Duhaime slides up to join Foligno and Rossi, leaving Khaira to join Dewar and Lettieri on the fourth line. As for the defense, it seems to completely change on a game-to-game basis depending on who is rolling at the time and who is struggling. Daemon Hunt remains with the team for the road trip and could be inserted at any point.
Next on the Dockett
The Wild will continue their road trip tomorrow night as they face the currently struggling Washington Capitals in the second half of this back-to-back. They will have just one day off before lining up against Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils who are now looking like they could emerge as one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference. The Devils will follow the Wild back to St. Paul, but won’t play again until Nov. 2.
