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  • Daemon Hunt Showed Out In Minnesota's First Preseason Game


    Image courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
    Bekki Antonelli

    The Minnesota Wild had a great start to the preseason with a 5-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets last Saturday night. However, Minnesota and Winnipeg’s rosters are markedly different from what we will see in a few weeks. 

    NHL teams use preseason games to whittle down their large rosters, so the first few games are usually a team of players vying for a spot on the full season roster. Seasoned players, such as Marc-Andre Fleury, who was backup to Wallstedt for the game, occasionally play early in the preseason. Later on, we’ll see more veterans hit the ice in preparation for regulation games. 

    In the weekend lineup, the Wild had new draft picks like Ryder Ritchie, players from low-profile trades like Jakub Lauko and Graeme Clarke, and upcoming goalie Jesper Wallstedt – who became the youngest goaltender in Wild history last year

    However, Daemon Hunt stood out. The 22-year-old defenseman from Brandon, Canada, was Minnesota’s 65th overall draft pick in 2020. Starting in 2022-23, Hunt played two seasons and had 40 points with the Iowa Wild. However, Hunt played 12 games with the Minnesota Wild last year, where he had one assist. 

    Daemon Hunt is a versatile player who is effective on both ends of the ice. On Saturday, Hunt worked to get his name on the score sheet. He had multiple shots on goal while playing solid defense. His ability to pinch deep into the offensive zone sets him apart. He also occasionally goes as low as the hash marks to get a loose puck and get a shot off. However, Hunt also shows strong netfront presence and is not afraid to get physical and clear players in front of the defending net.

     

    Throughout the game, Hunt took the body when he needed to and was not afraid to get a little out of position to make a play. 

     

    This playing style paid off for Hunt when he scored the game's second goal on a power play, assisted by Ryder Ritchie and Luke Toporowski. Ritchie sent a pass down to Toporowski from the point, who slid it back up to Hunt despite pressure from Jets defenseman Tyrel Bauer. Hunt took a quick slapshot and snaked the puck by Winnipeg's defense. 

     

    Given his success in this game, I hope to see Hunt on special teams. While his usual play style is gritty, physical, and occasionally risky, Hunt was disciplined on the power play. The Manitoba native went deep in his own end to pick up iced pucks and quickly set up the power play, making clean passes to his teammates. 

    Besides capitalizing on the Wild power play with his goal, Hunt helped successfully kill several penalties, and the Jets didn’t score on the power play. Hunt put his body on the line and managed to block at least 4 shots during the game, including a particularly painful-looking one during Winnipeg’s power play with 2:02 left in the second period.

     

    On the scoresheet, Hunt finished the game as a -1. That might not look so good on a stat sheet, but it’s important to consider how the goals happened. Despite Hunt playing an offensive game, he was rarely caught on the wrong side of a Jets player. He was consistently back when his defense partner, Kalem Parker, was up making a play. 

    Unfortunately, he was still on the ice for both goals against. Colin Miller scored Winnipeg’s first goal with 1:03 left in the first period from the point. Hunt was playing his part by picking up bodies out front, but unfortunately, it was a heavily screened goal that would have been a tough save for Wallstedt. 

     On the second goal, Barlow scored seconds after the faceoff. Hunt was the far-side defenseman and hustled to get in front of the net but failed to get a stick on Barlow in time. 

    Ultimately, Hunt put his best foot forward Saturday and made himself a strong contender for Minnesota's final roster. He hustled to get loose pucks throughout the game and showed he could produce by scoring and blocking shots while playing a consistent end-to-end game. Minnesota still has a roster of 50 players to narrow down in the coming weeks.

    However, Daemon Hunt stood out as a promising defense for the Minnesota Wild. If he plays this like this consistently, he could make the cut. 

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    Early interpretations of the Dallas game (4-5 NHL regulars vs. Dallas's full lineup...so, grain of salt)

    - Rossi, Ohgren, Boyd, and Chisholm look pretty good.

    - Heidt got completely outclassed in open ice by a forward.

    - A lot of players are lacking speed or awareness.  Dallas is buzzing around them with ease.

    - Gus let in two early goals.  Hopefully he shuts it down, cause BLEH!

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    I have not been impressed by Rossi in this game at all.  Doesn’t look anything different from past years.  Going to get pushed around against big teams.  Dallas looks bigger stronger and faster than all our guys.  Sorry but the hype on our younger players might just be that as they don’t look all that good at all.  Merrill and Gus should be traded now.  Chisolm looks good as does Lauko.  Haight will be a good bottom 6 guy down the road.  Height not ready.  Not impressed at all with Ohgren, Kuzn, or Rossi.  To small and not fast enough.  Jones could be something there. Just a different perspective but it’s going to be a long year.  I am starting to wonder if it’s our development team that is complete garbage at getting these you guys ready and stronger. 

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    1 hour ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

    I have not been impressed by Rossi in this game at all.  Doesn’t look anything different from past years.  Going to get pushed around against big teams.  Dallas looks bigger stronger and faster than all our guys.  Sorry but the hype on our younger players might just be that as they don’t look all that good at all.  Merrill and Gus should be traded now.  Chisolm looks good as does Lauko.  Haight will be a good bottom 6 guy down the road.  Height not ready.  Not impressed at all with Ohgren, Kuzn, or Rossi.  To small and not fast enough.  Jones could be something there. Just a different perspective but it’s going to be a long year.  I am starting to wonder if it’s our development team that is complete garbage at getting these you guys ready and stronger. 

    Merrill and Gus are so confusing. They'll make nice plays/saves then completely go flat. I also liked Chisolm and Lauko. Haight was involved. O'Rourke had a few good defensive plays. Clarke got a goal but was otherwise invisible. Nobody else stood out to me. 

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    I'm not going to throw Rossi under the bus for a game like this.  If it's anything, it says, "He's not as good as Ek, so stop trying to make him something he's not until he gets there."

    Rossi can carry a line to an extent, but taking lesser players and pulling off miracles is not what he's can do right now.  He's probably fine against 2nd or 3rd liners.  You have to remember that Dallas's 2nd line guys are probably as good as some other team's top lines.  So, this is a sign that Rossi should be commended for 20 some goals and 40 pts last year.  I don't see a reason he can't do that or more with actual NHL talent (Ohgren and Boyd aren't Foligno and Boldy after all).  

    You've got a guy who can handle 2nd or 3rd line duty, but will struggle if he's the only good player on the line. Khusnutdinov, Ohgren, and Heidt got to see what top NHL talent can do, and got served their asses on a platter.  They either get better as time goes on, or have to deal with "what could have been" labels.  For all the shit people get about Lauko, guess who showed up and made some good plays?  Lauko, Boyd: people who have done it day in and day out.  That is why they got signed.  I'm putting Lauko in over Ohgren 9 times out of 10 if last night is a sort of barometer of Ohgren's progress right now.

    It's whether or not Ohgren gets better from here that's the problem.

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    13 hours ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

     I am starting to wonder if it’s our development team that is complete garbage at getting these you guys ready and stronger. 

    Just to clarify, I did not write this, but he's right on this. For some reason, our development team, all grinders, have not driven home the point that you must create NHL bodies in the AHL. This detail needs to be fully addressed.

    I watched 2 years ago when Rossi was playing with resistance bands and doing conditioning workouts showing off his conditioning. We don't need conditioning, we need strength. If our strength/conditioning coaches are stressing conditioning over strength, they need to be fired and bring in actual strength coaches who can condition. 

    And, on top of this, mandatory strength appointments in a group setting need to be scheduled and attended. These guys have to get strength over everything else. This is why Beckman failed. This is why O'Rourke never makes the NHL. This is why Walker failed. This is what needs to happen with Lambos, Spacek, Peart, Masters. Parker needs it badly. Heidt and Haight will need it. Bankier needs it, especially upper body. 

    Practice #1 in the AHL should have Matt Hendricks on the ice plowing through each kid. After practice and before Hendricks heads to the training room, he must stress that they will be playing real men and they need to be able to take harder shots than he can now deliver. It's a lesson they need not forget. Then Hendricks can head to the icebath and recover for the next week.

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    Ohgren will be fine, but I'd like to remind everyone that according to the past 2 years, Ohgren has been a hard finisher and a lousy starter to the season. It might do him well to start in the A with the message of, you need to bring your A game in September, not January.

    I haven't viewed the 2nd game yet. I assume it will be on ESPN+.

    Bekki is right about Hunt's performance in game 1, however, her assignment was talking about Hunt. I thought Lambos actually played better. Hunt's partner for much of the night was Chisholm. Anyone who played with Parker was in trouble, as Parker was not ready for this advanced competition. He's got another year of jr. left before even thinking about the A. He was demonstratively weaker and it really showed. Hopefully the message he goes back to jr. with is "son, you've got to get much stronger in the next 2 years. You should consider the gym on all off days."

    I also thought Hunt, Chisholm, Lambos all looked larger than previously, Lambos especially. This is a good sign. 

    Oh, and a game note I didn't put in previously. While we got off to a nice lead against Winnipeg, we were severely outshot and The Wall held us in. Kahkonen had given up 4 goals on 14 shots and they were not really his fault. He didn't play well, but he also didn't play to a .750 sv% either. We cannot start games producing no shots on goal. I believe this happened vs. Dallas too. 

    Edited by mnfaninnc
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    17 hours ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

    I have not been impressed by Rossi in this game at all.  Doesn’t look anything different from past years.  Going to get pushed around against big teams.  Dallas looks bigger stronger and faster than all our guys.  Sorry but the hype on our younger players might just be that as they don’t look all that good at all.  Merrill and Gus should be traded now.  Chisolm looks good as does Lauko.  Haight will be a good bottom 6 guy down the road.  Height not ready.  Not impressed at all with Ohgren, Kuzn, or Rossi.  To small and not fast enough.  Jones could be something there. Just a different perspective but it’s going to be a long year.  I am starting to wonder if it’s our development team that is complete garbage at getting these you guys ready and stronger. 

    Rossi was 6th and Faber was 2nd in Calder trophy voting last year. “Doesn’t look anything different from past years” what on earth are you talking about? You came up with that conclusion after 2 preseason games? Don’t you think it’s a little early?

    How do you figure we are going to make due with a 40 year old goalie and a rookie goalie? That would be disastrous for the team. If you’re trying to start a rebuild then I agree to trade Gus but not if you want to be somewhat competitive.

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    2 hours ago, Mateo3xm said:

     

    Rossi was 6th and Faber was 2nd in Calder trophy voting last year. “Doesn’t look anything different from past years” what on earth are you talking about? You came up with that conclusion after 2 preseason games? Don’t you think it’s a little early?

    How do you figure we are going to make do with a 40 year old goalie and a rookie goalie? That would be disastrous for the team. If you’re trying to start a rebuild then I agree to trade Gus but not if you want to be somewhat competitive.

    Sorry just my opinion on Rossi.  I think he is a 3rd line wing at best in this league.  He didn’t impress me. I have seen enough hockey and played at a very high level to know what I am looking at and Rossi won’t help this team in the western conference.

     

    Yes roll with Fluery and Wallstedt in goal. Wallstedt is ready and Gus lets in soft goals that kills a teams momentum.  His salary and Merrill’s and Nojos will be close to 6mm we can get someone very solid to help us on the second line which we desperately need.  

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    On 9/25/2024 at 6:57 PM, Citizen Strife said:

    Gus let in two early goals.  Hopefully he shuts it down, cause BLEH

    On 9/25/2024 at 7:45 PM, mnhockeyfan03 said:

    Merrill and Gus should be traded now

    Did you watch the game? First goal was a complete fluke bounce. Second goal was a top corner laser, couldn't have been a better shot. Third goal he had 4 guys in front of him and zero sight past them. Forth goal I would have liked to see him get but Benn was left alone right in front but other than that one he played quite well. He shut down multiple odd man rushes and break aways playing against what is darn near Dallas' reg season roster while having O'Rourke, Merrill, Chisholm and Spacek as our top 4 D. Spacek and O'Rourke weren't even top 4 in Iowa last year. He got absolutely rained on first period for 16 shots, completely hemmed in our own end, lost 2 goals (one being a fluke the other being a top corner laser) and still ended up with a .897 save percentage.

    I'm not the only one saying he played well either as Hynes even defended him in the post game. Tone deaf on Gus Bus up and down this comment section.

     

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    16 minutes ago, TheGoosesAreLooses said:

    I'm not the only one saying he played well either as Hynes even defended him in the post game. Tone deaf on Gus Bus up and down this comment section.

     

    I didn't think he looked very good in the first period but once he locked in, I do think he played well. Our D was definitely outmatched.

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    19 hours ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

    Sorry just my opinion on Rossi.  I think he is a 3rd line wing at best in this league.  He didn’t impress me. I have seen enough hockey and played at a very high level to know what I am looking at and Rossi won’t help this team in the western conference.

     

    Yes roll with Fluery and Wallstedt in goal. Wallstedt is ready and Gus lets in soft goals that kills a teams momentum.  His salary and Merrill’s and Nojos will be close to 6mm we can get someone very solid to help us on the second line which we desperately need.  

    3rd line wingers don’t score 21 goals and 40pts their rookie season. I think he had 18 goals on 5on5 which was best or maybe 2nd on the team. I don’t believe you’ve seen much hockey especially last year if that’s your take on Rossi and his 2 preseason games. You’re kind of exposing yourself actually. There were a lot of doubters his first partial year but that all went away after last year. I’d say that the vast majority of people commenting in here know that Rossi is a great player and definitely has more potential than a “3rd line winger at best”.

     

    How is walstedt ready after 3 nhl games? He’s 21? That’s not how you develop your young players. Sure it’s happened before where a player that young has taken the reigns but it’s extremely rare. Gus lets in soft ones? Have you seen Flower play recently?? I think the biggest issue last year was injuries and getting rid of players which made our defense terrible. If you have solid D in front of Gus, there’s no question he’s the best option right now. Walstedt isn’t anywhere near ready right now. He needs to be eased into so you don’t crush his confidence. 

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