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  • John Hynes Encouraged By Liam Ohgren's Push To Make Wild Roster

    Image courtesy of © Nick Wosika-Imagn Images
    Thomas Williams

    By Thomas Williams -

    The Minnesota Wild need their young players to step up if they want to take the next step as a team. One of those players who spent the majority of last season down in the AHL and is projected to at least make a medium impact in the NHL this season is winger Liam Ohgren.

    And so far, Wild head coach John Hynes is impressed with the 21-year-old.

    “His speed is a factor, he’s tenacious on pucks and he’s got a great shot,” Hynes said via The Athletic. “He’s a little bit more mature — a little bit more comfortable. He’s in fantastic shape. He has a better idea of how we want to do things. And he’s playing with that tenacity and the mindset that he wants to come in and earn a job.
     
    “And in saying that, he’s using his greatest assets. Like, he’s shooting to score. He’s bearing down. He’s got second effort on pucks. His speed is a factor. And that’s what you need. You need guys to come in and push for spots. And he’s a guy that’s worked hard over the last couple years, and it seems like right now he’s making a strong push. It’s really encouraging what he’s brought to the table.”
     
    Ohgren is the perfect candidate to lift this Wild roster higher than previously imagined. Sure, a healthy Kirill Kaprizov and the continuation of Matt Boldy developing into a two-way star should get them there but in the middle of that forward lineup, Minnesota was counting on the likes of Marcus Johansson and Ryan Hartman to provide most of the offense. Now, it can be Ohgren and maybe newcomer Danila Yurov to do exactly that.
     
    That's Wild
    • More from The Athletic on who is standing out at Wild camp and more roster decisions looming. [The Athletic]
    • Once upon a time, Wild fans dreamed of Patrik Laine coming to Minnesota. Could, now, Vladimir Tarasenko provide just a little bit of what the Finnish winger would? [Hockey Wilderness]
    • In his second stint with the Wild, Nico Sturm knows exactly what to do. [StarTribune]
    Off the trail...
    • Six Olympic storylines to follow as the NHL season approaches. [TheScore]
    • Connor McDavid is without a contract still, but he is reportedly going to be starting the season on the same line as Leon Draisaitl. [NHL.com]
     
    By Thomas Williams  

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    Citizen Strife

    I'm very curious how Ohgren does.  I didn't see anything last night that stood out positively nor negatively.  There are two caveats to this:

    1. Hynes sees and knows every facet of the game in ways we won't.  Maybe Ohgren has some intangibles in him that was hard to see last night.

    2.  He's not going to be playing with AHLers.  He's with the best defensive center on the team plus a guy who used to be an offensive all-star.  Can't really ask for better teachers to start.

    Edited by Citizen Strife
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    Citizen Strife
    10 minutes ago, FredJohnson said:

    How can he POSSIBLY be worse than NoJo?

    By not being fast, defensively sound, and score 30-points a season?

    After watching most of the preseason players the other night, players like Johansson and Hartman are levels above them.

    Tell me what points Ohgren scored in the NHL last year.  Probably wasn't a lot.  For his faults, Johansson is better than a LOT of players the Wild iced in the preseason so far.

    Trenin and Hinostroza being the first liners over guys like Heidt, Ohgren, and Yurov is no accident.  "They have the built in talent and skill we need you to beat someday, so go and do it."

    I want Ohgren to succeed.  But he hasn't done that yet.  He gets his chance to.

    It's if Tarasenko is worse than Johansson that would be a bigger problem.

    Edited by Citizen Strife
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    Citizen Strife

    Case in point, I went to look up Mojo's point totals just to be sure.  He had 34.  Guess which player was behind him at 33...

    Found Ohgren's total too.  5 in 24, so around 15-17 point for 82 games.  I hope he cracks 20-25.

    Mojo isn't as bad as people says he is.  He's made a career out of being a useful player.  He's a safety net.  The Wild need to FA or draft people better, but let's stop the scapegoating that he, Gaudreau, etc we're not NHL level players or something 

     

     

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    Pewterschmidt
    13 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

    Case in point, I went to look up Mojo's point totals just to be sure.  He had 34.  Guess which player was behind him at 33...

    Found Ohgren's total too.  5 in 24, so around 15-17 point for 82 games.  I hope he cracks 20-25.

    Mojo isn't as bad as people says he is.  He's made a career out of being a useful player.  He's a safety net.  The Wild need to FA or draft people better, but let's stop the scapegoating that he, Gaudreau, etc we're not NHL level players or something 

     

     

    Training wheels are off for Ogzy.  Time to deliver my guy.  12 G, 17 A is as high as the bar is for you.  Can you clear that?

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    Pewterschmidt
    16 minutes ago, Citizen Strife said:

    Mojo isn't as bad as people says he is.  He's made a career out of being a useful player.

    Do not disagree.  Nojo is so frustrating because it's so obvious he's mailing it in for 70 games, and get's a heart transplant for the final 12 games in the contract year.  Dude is gutless.  But he's our gutless and back for the 25-26 season.  Thanks bill.

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    Citizen Strife
    6 minutes ago, Pewterschmidt said:

    Foligno?

    Vlad.

    Roles being reversed, Mojo probably doesn't get 30 on the 4th line, and Tarasenko SHOULD get more, but I have to see it first.

    The Wild need higher floor from their offense.  50-60 range or maybe even more 70s would be nice and more in line with the playoff teams they are chasing.

     

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    FredJohnson
    3 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

    By not being fast, defensively sound, and score 30-points a season?

    34! Get it right. 72 games mostly in the top-6 last season...pathetic. -7 on top of it. Oggy has to be better than that.

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    FredJohnson
    3 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

    Case in point, I went to look up Mojo's point totals just to be sure.  He had 34.

    34 points in 72 games playing on the 2nd line is putrid. 3rd line? Noice.  4th line? Sweet! He ain't sniffin' anything above the teens playing 3rd or 4th line.

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    FredJohnson
    3 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

    Tell me what points Ohgren scored in the NHL last year.

    24 games, 2 goals, 3 assists, -6 

    Playing on the 4th line. NOT playing on the 2nd line.

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    FredJohnson
    3 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

    Mojo isn't as bad as people says he is.  He's made a career out of being a useful player.  He's a safety net.

    Maybe he can be a safety net. He's not physical enough for the bottom 6. He doesn't register enough points for the top-6. 

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    Imyourhuckleberry

    Scoring around 1 point per game in the AHL by age 21 often points to a solid future NHL career, assuming the player has the requisite drive to succeed.

    Rossi was just under 1 point per game(51/53) in the AHL at age 21.

    Ohgren was just under 1 point per game(37/41) in the AHL at age 21.

    Rossi followed that with 40 points(6 on the PP) in 82 games.

    Ogre could tally 40+ points if he's healthy all season and getting 2nd line minutes, particularly if he's on PP2 as well. Given that Ohgren seems to already have the strength for the NHL, hopefully he will get off to a great start in the upcoming season.

    Boldy had 28 points in his 24 AHL games, so I'm not thinking Ohgren will be that level of player, but just being a sound 2-way player with other skilled 2nd line players, he could have a shot at 40+ points in the near future.

    Ohgren may never reach 70 points in a season, but perhaps he can exceed 50 several seasons. That's a quality NHLer.

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    FredJohnson
    On 9/25/2025 at 3:59 PM, Imyourhuckleberry said:

    Scoring around 1 point per game in the AHL by age 21 often points to a solid future NHL career, assuming the player has the requisite drive to succeed.

    Rossi was just under 1 point per game(51/53) in the AHL at age 21.

    Ohgren was just under 1 point per game(37/41) in the AHL at age 21.

    Rossi followed that with 40 points(6 on the PP) in 82 games.

    Ogre could tally 40+ points if he's healthy all season and getting 2nd line minutes, particularly if he's on PP2 as well. Given that Ohgren seems to already have the strength for the NHL, hopefully he will get off to a great start in the upcoming season.

    Boldy had 28 points in his 24 AHL games, so I'm not thinking Ohgren will be that level of player, but just being a sound 2-way player with other skilled 2nd line players, he could have a shot at 40+ points in the near future.

    Ohgren may never reach 70 points in a season, but perhaps he can exceed 50 several seasons. That's a quality NHLer.

    So...better than NoJo?

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