Minnesota Wild line combinations, power play units taking shape
The Minnesota Wild will open the season Oct. 13 but it appears their lines will be set much sooner.
According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, the Wild's opening night lineup is "starting to crystalize" and could be set "barring an 11th-hour acquisition."
The projected lines at this point of camp:
- Kirill Kaprizov, Ryan Hartman, Mats Zuccarello
- Jordan Greenway, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Foligno
- Brandon Duhaime, Freddy Gaudreau, Matt Boldy
- Connor Dewar, Marco Rossi, Tyson Jost
The project defensive pairings:
- Jacob Middleton, Jared Spurgeon
- Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba
- Alex Goligoski, Calen Addison
The goalies are set with Marc-Andre Fleury and backup Filip Gustavsson.
On Friday, the Wild held practice and separated players into minor league and NHL-ready groups, which included Rossi and Addison.
Rossi was the ninth overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft but missed his first professional season after battling a heart issue related to COVID-19. After spending most of last season with the AHL's Iowa Wild, Rossi entered camp battling for a roster spot and appears to have won that battle.
The same goes for Addison, who was acquired in the 2020 trade that sent Jason Zucker to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Addison has been up-and-down between St. Paul and Des Moines his first two seasons in the Wild organization but after Dmitry Kulikov was traded to the Anaheim Ducks, it appears that he will have a roster spot.
Together, both figure to be an important part of the Wild's power play. Minnesota ranked 18th during the regular season with a 20.5% conversion rate with the man advantage and went 4-for-24 (16.7%) in their first-round playoff series with the St. Louis Blues.
Rossi and Addison combined for eight power-play goals with Iowa last season.
Per Russo, the two power play units could feature:
- Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, Zuccarello, Boldy, Addison
- Foligno, Rossi, Hartman, Gaudreau, Spurgeon
Roster cuts expected this week will help further clarify what the roster will look like on opening night against the New York Rangers at the Xcel Energy Center.
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