By Aidan Cummings -
The Minnesota Wild kick off the 2024-25 season in a little less than two months against former head coach Dean Evason and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The offseason was rather mundane outside of the 2024 draft, where the Wild seemingly got a steal in Zeev Buium at pick 12 and a long-term Brock Faber extension. GM Bill Guerin also made a few minor moves, acquiring Yakov Trenin, Jakub Lauko, and Travis Boyd via trade and free agency.
Guerin didn’t stray far from his MO. He spent what little money he had left to sign a “gritty” bottom-six forward to a 4-year contract. He also extended Jake Middleton, a defenseman best suited on the bottom pairing, to a 4-year contract just one year removed from signing multiple aging forwards to long-term contracts with no-move clauses (NMCs). Therefore, Minnesota’s young talent is being blocked out by guys who don’t deserve to be ahead of them on the depth chart. However, that’s a different story for a different day.
Without further ado, let’s try to project what the Wild’s lineup will look like on opening night. I’d like to preface this by saying that this exercise is solely based on how well I believe specific player skill sets would mesh together. It’s not necessarily what I think John Hynes will roll out against Columbus on October 10.
1st Line: Kirill Kaprizov - Joel Eriksson Ek - Matt Boldy
No surprise; the 1st line isn’t changing at all. Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, and Boldy were one of hockey's best lines during the second half of the season after Hynes split up longtime BFFs Kaprizov and Zuccarello. Kaprizov and Zuccarello are far too passive when they are on the ice together, and it’s best for the team if they are on separate lines.
Eriksson Ek’s grinder style of play complements the raw skill of Kaprizov and Boldy, which makes for a dangerous trio that can open up the ice and easily take advantage of opposing teams' mistakes. A full season of these three will be fun to watch, and the hope is that they can take the next step together.
2nd Line: Liam Ohgren - Marco Rossi - Mats Zuccarello
Ohgren, Rossi, and Zuccarello would be a new look for Wild fans. Rossi is the best playmaking center on the team, and Zuccarello is too smart of a player for Minnesota to relegate to the bottom six.
Things get fun with Ohgren. He looked great in the small sample size of games he got at the end of last season, and Ohgren was dominant at every level before he reached the NHL. He will have to earn his spot on the team, but that shouldn’t be an issue. Ohgren has a motor that never stalls and an above-average NHL shot.
He won’t blow you away with crazy moves or playmaking, but he’s strong on his skates and isn’t afraid to do the dirty work like many top-six players often are. Lining up Ohgren, a power forward with a great shot, alongside two undersized playmakers makes too much sense not to give it a chance.
3rd Line: Marcus Foligno - Marat Khusnutdinov - Ryan Hartman
Foligno had a disappointing season following his big contract extension. Plagued by cold streaks and an abdominal injury that eventually required a season-ending injury, he only put up 22 points in 55 games. To get value on his four-year, $16 million extension, the Wild hopes that he can revert to how he played during the 2021-22 season when he had 42 points in 72 games. Still, that’ll be tough, considering he’s on the wrong side of 30.
Hartman arguably also regressed last year. However, if you look deeply into his body of work, he’s been pretty consistent. Many fans have high expectations for him due to the stellar numbers he put up playing with Kaprizov and Zuccarello, but that’s unrealistic and unfair to him now that he’s no longer playing with them.
Khusnutdinov will technically be a rookie this season. He struggled somewhat on the offensive side, only potting 4 points in 16 games last season, but the rest of his game was nearly perfect. He shines on the defensive side and’s lightning-fast in transition.
If he can become an average offensive player at the NHL level, he’ll be a huge asset to the Wild. Overall, I like the diversity of putting Foligno, a hard-hitting power forward, with the defensive speedster Khusnutdinov and the “jack of all trades, master of none” player in Hartman.
It’s nice to have a line of players who all play and think similarly, but sometimes, it can be even more valuable to have a trio of guys who complement each other by being proficient in different areas of the game.
4th Line: Jakob Lauko - Yakov Trenin - Marcus Johansson
A pretty typical bottom line. Lauko and Trenin are two rough and tumble guys who won’t hesitate to drop the gloves, and a marginally skilled player in Johansson. I don’t believe Johansson has earned the right to be on any of the other three lines due to his lackluster play last season, so I'm placing him here.
Even though they won’t get much playing time, this would be an exciting line to watch. Lauko and Trenin are new to the organization, and the fans have yet to see what they’ll look like under Hynes. Johansson needs to rebound, or he’ll be back playing in Sweden by this time next year.
1st Pair: Jonas Brodin - Brock Faber
I’m not changing the first pairing. Experts consider Brodin and Faber among the best defensive defensemen in the NHL, and Faber has 60 points per year potential. Their skating ability is generational, and the Wild will ask them to lock down opposing top lines while logging 20+ minutes nightly.
2nd Pair: Jake Middleton - Jared Spurgeon
Getting this pair back together will be huge for the Wild this season. Middleton had a great campaign last year, putting up a career-high 25 points in 80 games. He had to take on a bigger role due to injuries on the blue line, so I expect a drop-off in his offensive output. Still, it’s good to know he can produce offense if Minnesota needs him to.
Spurgeon missed most of last season due to hip and back injuries that required surgery. He looked like his usual self during the 16 games he was able to play in, and the hope is that he can pick up where he left off. They have good chemistry together, and all should end well as long as Spurgeon makes a healthy comeback.
3rd Pair: Declan Chisholm - Zach Bogosian
Chisholm and Bogosian are average defenders; their games are nothing extraordinary. The Wild won’t ask them to do too much. Bogosian is solid on the breakout and brings some much-needed size. Chisholm has an above-average offensive game, although he won’t see much power play time with Spurgeon returning to the lineup.
Goalies: Filip Gustavsson - Marc-André Fleury
There were rumblings this offseason about a Gustavsson trade. Calling around to see what teams would offer up made some sense, but selling low on him didn’t. Blue-chip prospect Jesper Wallstedt is on the brink of full-time duty in the NHL, Gustavsson had a down year, and Fleury is entering what will likely be the last season of his Hall of Fame career.
The prudent move is to bank on Gus returning to his 2022-23 self and Fleury being able to hold his own in 30 to 35 starts. In the worst-case scenario, the Wild have the best goalie prospect in the world to fill the void if one of the two falters. The best-case scenario is Gustavsson returning to his Vezina-caliber play and Fleury doing Fleury things as he rides into the sunset. That would allow Wallstedt to marinate in the AHL, so he’ll be more than ready to become a starting goalie when his name gets called.
Scratches: Jon Merrill, Frederick Gaudreau, and Travis Boyd
This Minnesota Wild team has some new faces and many uncertainties. As we inch closer to training camp and the regular season, it’ll be interesting to see who makes the cut and how the official lineup looks.
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