While most of the focus has been on the Minnesota Wild lately, it’s also important to talk about the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League (AHL) and the budding prospects improving their talents. Last season a number of NHL hopefuls worked hard and pushed themselves to be better than in previous seasons. Names like Marco Rossi, Sammy Walker, and Adam Beckman have made appearances with the Minnesota Wild but spent most of their time in Iowa, and it turned out to be the best option for them at the time.
Those were just some of the more known players that have worked to improve their game, but players like Jesper Wallstedt, Steven Fogarty, and Damien Giroux are the other names that made the cut, and are moving closer to that prized spot on the NHL roster.
Wild’s Rossi Top Spot
Most have been following the career of the highly touted Rossi since the Wild drafted him back in 2020, ninth overall in the first round. He was expected to jump right in to be their number one center and rescue their team. However, his path took a different course. After a bout with COVID-19 late in 2020, he returned only to suffer from complications from the virus and was pulled from hockey for nearly six months.
Obviously, with that much time missed, it took a little time for him to shake off the rust, but Rossi showed quickly that he can produce. In 2021-22 he played in 63 games and had 53 points with 18 goals and 35 assists. His numbers dropped slightly this past season to 51 points in 53 games, but that’s only because he spent more time in the NHL. He played 19 games with Minnesota this past season but only produced one assist before being sent back to Iowa.
Rossi may have produced fewer points, but his overall game improved. He has a few items to work on over the summer, but it sounds like he’ll make the opening night roster for Minnesota as long as he has a strong training camp.
Wild’s Fogarty Strong In Iowa
Steven Fogarty was new to Iowa last season, but over his eight-year junior career, he’s improved his numbers every year. Even after changing teams, he kept his numbers moving forward from 42 points in 62 games in 2021-22 to 49 points in 65 games in 2022-23. He’s quite the shooter, as well, with over 120 shots the past two seasons, and his shooting percentage jumped from 9.3 percent to 14.3 percent this past season. However, with that increase in numbers, he also landed himself 63 minutes in the penalty box, which is the most he’s ever had in his career.
While Fogarty’s offense has improved, he needs to play disciplined hockey. The Wild spent way too much time in the penalty box last season, and that can’t happen again if they intend to succeed. He’s an older prospect with experience and has also done well on the power play with seven goals last season; that is something Minnesota will keep an eye on since their man advantage needs help.
Wild’s Walker Quick Study
Similar to Brock Faber, fellow University of Minnesota Golden Gopher alum Walker started out the past season in Iowa but was bumped to the NHL by December. He fit in quite well with the little time he had to adjust and even had two points in the nine games he played. He scored a goal and an assist to make up those points and showed he’s willing to take shots with eight of them.
While Walker won’t make the opening night roster, he’ll likely be on the short list of players the Wild intend to call up to the NHL this season. He didn’t have much to improve on as he’s only had one season in the AHL, but he recorded 48 points in that season, which was more than any of his time spent in the NCAA with the Golden Gophers. It’s pretty impressive he accumulated that many points in his first season, plus his two points in the NHL. He even got his first NHL goal, so he will be ready to score when he’s called up this coming season.
Wild’s Beckman Continues to Grind
Beckman is a very interesting player, in his very first season in the AHL, he had five points in nine games which is pretty good. The following season he was brought up to the NHL at the very beginning and managed one point in three games which again is pretty good, but the Wild could tell he needed some more seasoning and sent him back down. He took that time to improve his game and had 34 points in 68 games.
This past season, Beckman was brought up a little later but played triple the games throughout the year. However, in those nine games, he couldn’t find the success from the season prior and had zero points. On the other hand, his points in the AHL continued on the upward path and in fewer games, with 36 points in 53 games. His game continues to improve, and he’ll continue to get more games in the NHL because of that, but he will have to find a way to produce again like he did early on.
Wild’s Giroux Slow But Steady
Giroux is an interesting player, he’s not a big producer, but he had quite the bounceback season this past year. He started out in 2020-21 with 34 games and 19 points, but in 2021-22, he played more games with 48 but took a hit in points with just seven. Somehow he found a way to dig deeper this past season and got back to higher numbers with 22 points in 67 games. Again, not the biggest numbers, but if every player on the team contributed at least 20 points, things would look different.
As a young center, the Wild already have eyes on him since they’ve had center issues nearly every single season, but if he can make a big push this season, he’ll have even more eyes on him. Right now, he’s kind of behind the scenes, but general manager Bill Guerin knows what kind of player he is and what to watch for.
Wild’s Wallstedt Stepping Up
Wallstedt has quickly become one of the new faces of the Wild, and he hasn’t played a single regular season game for them yet. Hailed as the future of the Wild’s goaltending, he finished up his first season playing in North America, and he did pretty well. It’s hard to compare what he did overseas to now, but what he’s done in the AHL has been good, and it’s expected to only get better.
Related: Minnesota Wild Shouldn’t Rush Wallstedt Onto the Roster
This past season, he played in 38 games for Iowa and had 18 wins plus 15 losses and five overtime losses. In that time, he also had one shutout, one goal, and zero penalty minutes in 2,262 minutes played. He faced 1,100 shots and let in 101 of them, meaning he made 999 saves for a 2.68 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. This was the first time he’s played that many games in a season and in the AHL. Obviously, the Wild will want him to have a bit more time to adjust, but overall, he’s done well.
Wild’s Prospect Future
It’s no secret that the Wild have one of the best prospect pools in terms of depth, and they continue to stock it every season. These players are some of the strongest in the pool, and they work to improve themselves every year. Wild fans have a lot to be excited about when it comes to their future, and these players will be fun to watch when they make it to the NHL.
