Team Outlook: Minnesota Wild

Heading into the 2022-23 NHL season, I’m going to look at every team to see how they are looking going into the season.

(MHM Photo / Rick Olson) From: minnesotahockeymag.com

2021-22:

The Wild went 43-22-7 with 113 points to finish in 2nd in the Central Division. However they lost in the 1st round to the St Louis Blues in 6 games.

Draft:

The Wild had 8 picks in the draft this offseason, including 2 picks in the 1st round. With their 1st pick (19th overall) they selected Swedish forward Liam Öhgren. Öhgren had 58 points in 30 games in the Swedish J20 league. He also participated in the SHL for 25 games and ended up getting 3 points. As of right now he is competing in the other professional league in Sweden, HockeyAllsvenskan and had 1 assist in 3 games so far. With their other 1st round pick (24th overall) they selected Russian Danila Yurov. Yurov mainly played in the MHL last season, the main junior league in Russia and got 36 points in 23 games. He also played 21 games in the KHL but did not register any points. Right now he has 3 points in 12 games for the current KHL season. In the second round they drafted Canadian Rieger Lorenz from the AJHL. He got 85 points in 60 games and is committed to play for the University of Denver this season.

Additions:

A day before the Free Agency window opened, the Wild ended up trading with the Senators and ended up getting Filip Gustavsson. I spoke highly of Gustavsson last season saying that he could be a very good goalie for the Senators. However, his SV% decreased and got a .892 after he got a .933 the season prior. However Gustavsson also had a .915 SV% in the AHL last season, which is an increase from the season before (.910). The Wild were also able to pick up Sam Steel in Free Agency. Steel spent all of his 4 year career so far and got 20 points in 68 games last season.

Losses:

With gains come losses. In the trade for Filip Gustavsson they gave up Cam Talbot. Talbot was a consistent goalie for the Wild in the 2 seasons he played in the State of Hockey, getting a .911 SV% last season and a .915 SV% the season prior. They also traded away Kevin Fiala. Fiala had a tremendous season last season getting 85 points in 82 games, a career high.

Who to look for:

Matt Boldy was injured for half of the season last season. If he played the whole season, he probably would’ve been a Calder finalist. Boldly had 39 points in 49 games with the Wild last season and 10 points in 10 games in the AHL. Brock Faber was the prospect that the Wild traded for Fiala. Faber is playing for the University of Minnesota right now, but he could sign with the Wild at the end of the season and play a couple of games. Also, forward Marco Rossi was drafted 9th overall in 2020. He played in the AHL and got 53 points in 63 games. He played 2 games with the Wild last season but didn’t get a point.

Prediction:

The Wild didn’t change much of their roster from last season. They have the same kind of skill set and lines as last season. I can really see them making the playoffs with this roster again.

Stats from: eliteprospects.com, capfriendly.com