What I see from the Wild: The opening night lineup becomes clearer

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Ten days before training camp and the Oct. 10 opener are upon us, and mass cuts are looming for the Minnesota Wild.

Judging by Saturday's practice squads at the Xcel Energy Center, the opening night lineup is becoming increasingly clear.

Coach John Hynes and his staff held two practices in front of hundreds of season ticket holders, dividing the groups into what could be called a minor league/prospect group and the actual NHL group with a handful of extras.

There were several forwards and defensemen on two-way contracts who impressed in camp, including Ben Jones, Travis Boyd, Reese Johnson, Devin Shore, Brendan Gaunce and Adam Raska up front and Joseph Cecconi and Cameron Crotty at the back.

But in Saturday's second practice, only Jones was promoted to skate, along with the Kirill Kaprizovs, Joel Eriksson Eks and Brock Fabers.

Of the entry-level players, only winger Liam Ohgren, defenseman Daemon Hunt and goalkeeper Jesper Wallstedt took part in NHL training.

That said, barring any injuries, it's likely that players like Boyd, Johnson and Shore will soon find themselves on waivers. And it's increasingly looking like Riley Heidt, the 19-year-old who scored 117 points for Prince George last season, will soon return to his Western Hockey League club rather than start the season with the big club.

Due to his age and status in the Canadian Hockey League, Heidt is ineligible to play in Iowa this season. The Wild could play up to nine games with him without burning through the first year of his contract, essentially delaying the final decision to send him back to the major junior level, but so far Heidt is looking good in practices and two exhibition games not NHL ready.

Matt Boldy is listed week-to-week with a lower-body injury he suffered a week ago, but he skated alone for the first time on Saturday. Hynes called it a “great sign” and said Boldy should do “several exercises” before the premiere. If all goes well, Boldy could be ready for the opener against Columbus. That's exactly what the Wild hinted at on Monday when they announced his injury.

The Wild appeared to lose a handful of players on Saturday. They are waiting until Sunday to announce those cuts to join the other players expected to be hit by waivers on Sunday afternoon. The Iowa Wild begin training camp in Des Moines on Monday, so Sunday could be a day with major limitations.

The Wild host the Dallas Stars in a friendly on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. CT. This means that some players taking part in the game who are eligible for exemptions are likely to face a cut after Sunday's game or in the next few days.

Here is the lineup for tomorrow #mnwild Game against Dallas at 5 p.m. on @kfan plus: pic.twitter.com/RosMY2Ulgk

— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) September 28, 2024

Injuries aside, here are the questions for the final 10 days of camp.

If Boldy is ready on opening night, will Ohgren make the team?

Ohgren had a mediocre start to his first NHL training camp. Hynes met him before Friday's 8-5 win over Winnipeg because he felt what he saw was paralysis by analysis. In other words, Ohgren thought way too much about playing the system so perfectly that he didn't “just” play the game and look slow in everything he did.

Ohgren said he simplified against the Jets and was rewarded with a goal while playing on a line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Yakov Trenin.

However, with Jakub Lauko all but solidified in the starting lineup on the fourth line, it would probably make more sense for him to start the season in Iowa if Ohgren were to be the 13th forward. Unless the Wild do something unforeseen, like place Marcus Johansson on waivers or find a taker and convince him to waive his no-trade clause, there is simply no room in the top 12. And if Wallstedt lets the team and the Wild decide to keep a depth player like Jones, the Wild won't even have the space to keep Ohgren, at least early in the season.

So if Boldy is healthy to start the year, our current expectation is that Ohgren will start at Iowa.

Could Ben Jones be the 13th striker?

Yes.

If the Wild decide to keep an additional forward from camp or want to bring back a 13th forward for the seven-game road trip after their first two home games, Jones appears to be the leading contender.

He is the only Wild player to skate in all three exhibition games and is scheduled to play his fourth game against Dallas. He scored a shorthanded breakaway goal against the Jets on Friday night, his second goal of the preseason.

Ben Jones missed the goal when he was shorthanded. Marat Khusnutdinov with the assist #mnwild pic.twitter.com/UnheDwdSFh

– Spoke Z (@SpokedZ) September 28, 2024

The 25-year-old, who was taken 189th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017, has two NHL games under his belt for the Golden Knights. In 283 AHL games with Calgary, Henderson and Chicago, he scored 72 goals and 161 points.

Jones revealed Friday night that he almost signed with the Wild as a free agent ahead of the Flames a few years ago.

“I just tried it every day, step by step and see what each day brings – see if I'll be able to play another game and just bring what I bring and try it out .” and be a Swiss army knife for this team and help where I can,” Jones said.

So what did he do to differentiate himself?

“I think a lot of the guys played those deep roles well,” Hynes said. “Jonesy played well. He is also a versatile player. That's why we tried him out a bit in the center during the games. He shows that he is a good penalty killer. With some of these players, whether it's Jones or otherwise, sometimes you play them on the right side or the left side, look at them in the middle, look at what they can do on the penalty kill, look at what they look like at different players, and he was solid .

“He made an impact in every game. He’s stood out and that’s why he’s getting attention, but there will be other guys in the game on Sunday.”

Still, Hynes acknowledged that the fact that Jones is in the main group on Saturday is a sign that he is at the top of the list of depth guys.

“Honestly, it was difficult,” Hynes said. “I thought Shore played really well. Gaunce played well. They were in conversation. Boyder did a good job. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of Reese Johnson (due to an upper body injury), but I would say those guys were kind of involved up front. But today we were out with Jonesy and of course also with Ohgren. So we’ll see how everyone does (Sunday).”

Could Daemon Hunt get the team out of the camp?

Yes, but unless the Wild can trade Jon Merrill or plan to place him on waivers, Hunt will start in Iowa.

But he's close.

While it may seem like a no-brainer to put Merrill on waivers now, because the Wild could bury all but $50,000 of his $1.2 million (representing a savings of $321,667 due to Hunt's cap hit of 828,333). Dollar would be replaced) if Hunt simply leaves To be the seventh defenseman to start the season behind the third pair of Declan Chisholm and Zach Bogosian, the Wild could be a little more patient and start Hunt in the minors for the youngster to play games, instead of sitting in an NHL press box.

This would also give Bill Guerin more time to try to trade Merrill before going down the waiver route.

But the 22-year-old Hunt, who played his first 12 NHL games last year, appears to be NHL-ready.

“I think Huntsy has taken the next step in his development by playing some games last year, learning some things, playing really well across the board for Iowa, coming back to this camp and looking more mature,” Hynes said. “He seems physically able to handle the fights, the skating looks good, and I think he has more confidence in himself and his decisions.”

“So, yeah, he’s right there. This is really good to see. That's what you want. You want to have younger players that are developing and getting the experience that he got last year and putting in a lot of hard work in the summer and taking the lessons, but you can also kind of see when they know they belong and stuff play. That's when you think, 'Okay, they're pretty close, if not ready.'”

Will Wallstedt make the team?

If he doesn't, it's only because the Wild know they won't play him in either of the first two games against Columbus and Seattle and want to free up some cap space.

But it wouldn't be long before he was recalled for his season debut, perhaps in St. Louis in the fourth game of the season. The Wild will likely want him on a good portion of the first seven-game road trip as well. There are so many off nights on this trip, including two in Florida and three in Pittsburgh, that the Wild would probably like to have him there from a bonding perspective.

The Wild plan to have three goaltenders most of the year and will be strategic in taking him down. If this is the case, it would be a cap or scheduling issue, be it in Minnesota or Iowa.

Go deeper

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The 21-year-old Wallstedt will make his second and likely final start to training camp on Sunday after making 36 saves in last Saturday's preseason win in Winnipeg.

(Photo of Wild's Daemon Hunt and Jesper Wallstedt and Nikita Chibrikov from Winnipeg: James Carey Lauder / Imagn Images)