By Tony Abbott -
After spending most of the Bill Guerin Era being cautious with bringing up young players, the Minnesota Wild's roster decisions ahead of Game 1 are a surprising change in direction. The Wild have not one, but two green rookies on the Opening Night roster. Liam Öhgren and Jesper Wallstedt are entering the season with the big club despite having only seven games of NHL experience between them.
The Wild are doing this, even without a salary cap incentive to keep them down in the AHL. Ohgren and Wallstedt may not play on Opening Night, meaning they cost Minnesota precious wiggle room against the cap as they wear a suit. The Wild don't care, and that's a refreshing change. "They've earned it," declared coach John Hynes to NHL.com's Jessi Pierce. "They've earned the right to be here. They've challenged for some spots."
And that's not all. After opening training camp with veteran Ryan Hartman centering star winger Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, sophomore Marco Rossi is poised to open the season in that top-line center role. While that line spent 315 5-on-5 minutes together last season, it's still surprising that they didn't defer to the veteran Hartman.
No one's complaining. But you have to wonder, what's the reason for the change?
Part of it might be that John Hynes is more willing to coach younger players than Dean Evason or perhaps more ready to move away from relying on veterans. Michael Russo reported on his "Worst Seats In the House" podcast's October 3 episode that "the [Wild's] staff wants these guys to play this year, and Marcus Johansson is in the spot they'd like to have Öhgren in."
That tidbit makes it look like Hynes' desire to get Öhgren in the lineup is part of the equation, but it feels like there's another piece to this puzzle.
Here's where it feels like the dots connect. Listening to Elliotte Friedman's "32 Thoughts" podcast from October 7, one of the first stories they addressed was Kirill Kaprizov's situation in Minnesota and Mr. Craig Leipold's declaration that "Nobody will offer more money than us." In particular, Friedman spoke on what should happen for Kaprizov to stay.
"Nobody needs to tell [Minnesota] that with Kirill Kaprizov, they're gonna have to show him that they're worth staying with," explained Friedman. "They're on notice by their own words, and everyone else is on notice, too. ... The thing I noticed is, it looks some of their kids like Öhgren and Rossi, they had good camps. It's still early, but... they're gonna need those kids to convince Kaprizov that the Wild is where he wants to stay." (Emphasis mine.)
And suddenly, the puzzle falls into place. The timeline lines up almost perfectly. Kaprizov made his preseason debut on September 27 with Hartman centering him, as planned. Just two days prior, an ill-phrased rumor about Kaprizov took the internet by storm. The Wild's superstar next appeared on October 1 -- the same day Mr. Leipold spoke on his future. By the end of that game, Rossi was centering the top line and appears set to keep it for Game 1 of the season.
The top line struggled with Hartman in their 4:43 together on October 1. But that's a quick, quick hook to give Hartman after Kaprizov scored two goals in his debut, one of which came off Hartman's assist.
It makes a lot more sense if it comes from a long-term lens. Say Hartman centering Kaprizov got the former back to a 25 or even 30-goal form again. Those are solid numbers, but Hartman is a known quantity who will be 30 next season and 31 in the first year of any Kaprizov extension. Zero disrespect to Hartman, but is that an attractive sell when jumping to another team could get him centered by, say, Connor Bedard?
Or is it a better sell if Rossi, whom Guerin believes can be a 60-point player, takes that spot for the year and puts up a season in the 25-goal, 60-point neighborhood? If Rossi can show off his two-way game and put up points alongside Kaprizov -- the way Joel Eriksson Ek did last year -- it becomes very easy for Kaprizov to think he'll continue to grow into that role. Having just celebrated his 23rd birthday, Rossi is on the upward part of his career trajectory. He could make it easy for Kaprizov to envision taking passes from him well into an eight-year contract.
The same goes for Öhgren and Wallstedt, even if they don't have as direct an impact on Kaprizov as Rossi would as his center. Is it better for Kaprizov's buy-in for the future if Johansson is toiling in a top-six role or if Öhgren is flashing potential and growing his game alongside Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy? Even if Wallstedt gets 15-to-20 starts in the NHL this year, if he shows well, you can sell Kaprizov on having your Goalie of the Future in place for the long haul, and that's a huge part of the winning puzzle.
These decisions could just be "hockey decisions," which aren't influenced by the question of Kaprizov's future. If they are simply "hockey decisions," then credit Hynes and the front office for wanting to go with a more youth-oriented, upside-focused approach for the roster. And if these moves are being made with an eye on maximizing Kaprizov's happiness with the future outlook of the team, then again, credit to Hynes and the front office. Nothing is more important than keeping Kaprizov in Minnesota, and emphasizing and showcasing their youth movement is their best shot at doing that.
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