URGENT: Marco Rossi INJURY Opens Door for Danila Yurov PROMOTION | Will Hynes WASTE Another Chance?

URGENT: Marco Rossi INJURY Opens Door for Danila Yurov PROMOTION | Will Hynes WASTE Another Chance?

With Marco Rossi headed to injured reserve and week to week, now would be a great time for Bill Garren and John Hines to figure out what they have as far as young players go on the roster. Hey, this is Matt Foldi and you’re listening to Locked on Wild. Hey, this is Marcus Fino and you’re listening to Locked on Wild. You’re Locked On, your daily podcast on the Minnesota Wild, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hello, I’m Seth Toal. Welcome to Locked on Wild, part of the Locked On podcast network. Now, the number one sports podcast network. Locked on Wild is your daily Minnesota Wild podcast. We are your team each and every day. And we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. As well, you can find us on all of your favorite podcast platforms. Make sure to subscribe and follow us on YouTube so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the course of the week. On today’s episode of Locks on Wild, Jesse Pierce of NHL.com and the Barown Beauties podcast joins us as we get caught up to speed on the last couple of weeks of the season since Jesse last joined the show. and we’ll take a look at a couple of Bill Garren quotes that caught my attention in Bill Garren saying we don’t know what we have with the young players and also saying he’s not afraid to make a big splash to shake up the roster. We will ask those direct questions to see if we think number one that Bill Garren will make a big trade before the trade deadline to shake things up and then we will discuss how the Minnesota Wilds can try to figure out what they have with some of the young players on the roster. My name is Seth Toal, credentialed media member and host of Locked on Wild and had the chance to uh catch up with Jesse Pierce of the Barown Beauties podcast and nhl.com to get her thoughts on where the Minnesota Wild currently sit since we last caught up with her back at the start of the season. So, we’ll lead off with that interview, get some of Jesse’s thoughts on what we’ve seen so far this year. We will then dive into uh those two big meaty Bill Garren quotes uh about potentially shaking up the roster and also we don’t know what we have with the uh the youth. So uh let’s dive right in. Let’s uh get some of Jesse Pierce’s thoughts on the start of the season for the Minnesota Wild. All right, Wild fans. Jesse Pierce of the Barown Beauties podcast, which is now part of the Score North family of podcasts and uh covering the Minnesota Wild for NHL.com, joins the show once again. Jesse, we are uh 18 games into the season and after a uh overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks pretty much the whole week to just kind of take a look at where this team is at and assess what we’ve seen so far this year and you having a bird’s eye view uh to everything that has gone on with this team. 77 and four. Uh what are what have you seen? What do you what do you pull away from the first 18 games of the season? Or do you just take what we’ve seen the last couple of years? You just change a few names, change a few letters, and you just call it good. That sounds about right. It It’s nothing’s different, right? Like last year, the difference is they started out hot but fell apart. And blame injuries, blame what you will, but we can’t keep looking back on last season and comparing the season at 18 games in. They’ve shown us who they are. And unfortunately, I think who they are just isn’t very good. I’m not saying they’re bad, they’re just not very good, you know what I mean? Which is it’s underwhelming to say the least. Um I mean because you have Carl Capri off, you have him coming off this massive contract signing and not to like pull him out and say he’s not doing enough, but the roster construction around him isn’t enough and we kind of knew that. And yes, the off season didn’t yield the signings that you wanted, but the guys underachieving now on the roster, it’s it’s hurting this team. I mean, you look at Anaheim, San Jose, Utah, Seattle, Chicago is in a playoff spot as of the moment we’re recording this, right? So, you’re right now in a tough position in the West. The West is always hard, but now that these underbelly teams are coming to the top, you have no room for error. And unfortunately, 18 games in, it hasn’t been too successful for Minnesota so far. And it’s it’s largely the same things like special teams being, you know, up and down. I know the power play has been the main source of offense so far this year. Five on five scoring is worse than it has been the last couple of years. And it just it just is a series of just these little things that happen during the games like a breakdown defensively where if it happens at any other point of the game, it’s fine. But it happens at that exact moment and it leads to a goal and then you don’t have the five onive scoring to be able to offset that. But it’s, you know, we’re we’re in the same we’re in the same shoes, which is why I kind of wanted to go through a few quotes to tee up the rest of the episode today. Um, Michael Russo talked to Bill Garin and John Hines about the predicament between play the kids and continue to try to win. One of the quotes that stood out to me was uh was Billy saying, “I’m not afraid to make a big shakeup with this roster.” Jesse, what do you think the chances are we see a big shakeup with this roster at some point this season? There’s no reason not to. If you are truly in a win now mode situation, which you don’t necessarily have to be given that Carrill’s locked up for eight years if Carrill had signed, you know, a three-year extension or what have you, I would understand that push, but also he’s getting older, so it’s kind of, you know, adjusting that timeline, too. Um, it’s why not? This is the first time this year, I think I said this on the bees podcast is I would be okay with trading a Jewel Eric Neck, a Jonas Broaddin, a Jared Spurgeon, names that usually in my mind are complete locks for no. And again, putting aside the no moves, no trades, the you know, what have you of their contracts, I’d be okay with it because there really are very fewer and fewer untouchables on the roster this year than there have been in years past. And you’ve seen it happen. you remember the core of Dumba, Granlin, Coyle, Zucker, they got moved at at deadline, you know, and it’s it says a lot about where you think the team is at, but if you can get the return that you need to Orion Hartman, right, like he’s another guy that I think would be of great value. Marco Rossi of course is in that mix, but guys that I think people imagine are staples on the team. That’s what would signal to me that yep, Billy is trying to dial in on this year. And it’s I mean but again it goes two ways. Are you selling are you a seller because eh you’re selling on the season or are you selling because you truly want to get those huge pieces that are going to help Matt Baldi that are going to help Z Bull even on the back end or that are going to help Carrill to that next step. So I’d love to see it. I dare you Billy. I dare you. I don’t know that he’ll do it. Um but you’re that’s the only way this team’s going to get better. It’s not going to come from within. It’s not going to come from the guys you know Vladimir Terasenko all of a sudden finding his game again. like it’s going to come from a big trade like that. I’m so glad you said that cuz that was the literal exact thought that popped into my head is go ahead and do it. I dare you, right? Like I I would love to see it. I don’t know that Billy has the gusto necessarily too, right? Because I think there’s there sometimes seems to be a certain sense of safety for players on the Minnesota Wild roster where they think they’re not worried about getting moved. They’re not worried about getting traded because it doesn’t happen unless you’re a prospect or or a pick. That’s what’s been moved in the past under Bill Garren’s to to near. So, I just I think they’re guys feel safe sometimes and and make the move then, Bill. Do it. Let’s see. Let’s see what you can make happen. Uh the other one to uh to finish up was a quote where Bill said um he said, “Look, we don’t really know what we have as far as prospects go. We could have some high-end guys. We might have a Duncan Keith in the system. You never know. He played two years in the AHL and look at how he turned out. We don’t know what we have. And I cannot scream it, yell it any louder. Villain era here on Lockown Wild. Um, what a better reason to try to see what you have then if you don’t know what you’ve got. 100%. Like how? Like, so Liam Ogrren, let’s take him as an example, right? Like I’ve had other people on, you know, say, “Well, why are you so high on Liam Ogrren?” I’m like, “Because I haven’t seen him be bad. I haven’t seen him be good. don’t know what he is because he’s not given the opportunity. You know where Ben Jones is. You know where Tyler Pitick is. They’ve had their opportunity in their career. They are AHL guys who are good to fill in when there’s injuries on the fourth line. I don’t need them getting more opportunity than Liam Ogran, especially in the juncture of the year that you’re at. We’ve been hearing about this first round pit prospect in Ogran. We’ve been hearing about all of the prospects and how great they are and how Minnesota Wild has them. We never see them. I am all for pacing development to an extent, right? Like Jul spent some time in Iowa, Matt Baldy did. Like I am all for it, but at some point you got to play the kids. There’s a reason Bard, Celibbrini, and Carlson are a top the points in the league because they’re getting the opportunities to play. Now again, different scenarios for those three teams in particular, but let them make like why is Z Buham allowed to make his mistakes and be so egregiously bad. Why are you so afraid to do that on the offensive side of the puck? Why are we so afraid to let Liam Ogen try it? Why are we burying Dan Nilur of down at the bottom and not seeing what else he can do? I mean, it just it’s a very curious different dynamic cuz even if you look back at Brock Faber, too, they allowed Brock Faber to hop in and get a bigger role. And for some reason on the offense in particular, they’re so cautious and they’d rather have these old wy vet guys. And it’s like that doesn’t it’s not going to get you points. Like let the young guys get out there, make the mistakes, see what they can do. And then at least I can see with my own two eyeballs that you were right, Liam Ogrren isn’t an NHL player or you know, what have you. I just or Hunter Hate deserves to be in Iowa for another year. Like I haven’t seen it enough either side to make that claim. So it just it seems really silly and redundant to not have the belief and give those guys that opportunity. Yeah. And it runs us into the argument of like, well, they haven’t done anything with what they have been given at the NHL level. It’s like what are you supposed to do with eight minutes? tonight with Trenton on your wing and you know like it just it it you’re not putting them in a position to succeed again. You’ve put Bou in a position to succeed and there have been and I I know Wild fans hate hearing this. He has been far from perfect. There are some massive turnovers on the defensive side of the puck. I think Zouham really struggles offensively. Incredible talent and it’s there. And I’m not at all suggesting bench him or move him or send him. Could you imagine sending him to Iowa because he’s made these mistakes, right? Like it’s it’s the same storyline. You’re just allowing your blinders on for some reason for the defensive players. And again, cuz has shown enough good, but he’s been given the opportunity to do so. So do the same with the hates and the ograns and any other offensive prospects because it’s just they’re not they’re not getting their time to shine. Yeah. set the players up, put them in positions to be able to help you out as opposed to pulling Denilov out of the lineup for a breather, saying we’re putting Ben Jones in the lineup to help with faceoffs. Like I, trust me, Jesse, I crunch the numbers. There’s not a single statistical category in which Ben Jones is better than Denil Yurov. And yet, here we are. It makes no sense. And again, that’s not to knock down the Pitlicks and the Joneses because they have a role in the league, right? Like they do. and that’s fine and well, but it’s just they had their chance. They’re not the young kids anymore. And that you establish where they were. They’ve been on different teams. They’re rotating and up and down. Like that’s who they are as players. They are never going to be a top six. Yurov could be a top six player is going to be a top six player in the NHL, right? Ogrren, if he came in and performed, made the mistake, he might be, but like they still have that that opportunity to grow, right? They’re not fully bloomed like the Pitlicks and the Joneses. So that’s where my frustration is. It’s like we already know what those guys are and what they bring. So why are they still getting the ice time and still getting those those chances in the lineup? It just makes no sense. These are the things that people got upset with Chuck Fletcher for. Just saying. That’s so true, right? like and again I think you’ve we’ve given Bill a long enough leash for the past couple times and he’s made some really great moves and and I think the thing with Bill Garin is he’s a people person man like he’s great like he is a guy that you want to sit down grab some beers with and and have a good time but I think that also then again has people putting on their rosecolored glasses like see he’ll do it cuz it’s like well sure but will he will he is he going to make the is he going to make the moves is he they they haven’t they still are in the same position ition they were with Fletcher, they still are in the same position that they’ve been in with every single general manager aside from the 0304 era, right? So, here we are. Go ahead, Billy. Make a trade. We dare you. Big thank you to Jesse Pierce for joining the show today. And again, if you have not checked out the Bardown Beauties podcast or Jud’s Hockey Show, make sure to do so over at the Score North family of Podcasts. So, let’s dive into those two big Bill Garren quotes that Jesse and I discussed. Uh, we’ll start by taking a look at the potential to make a trade to shake up the roster. That is, uh, coming up as we continue today’s episode of Lockown Wild after this. Today’s episode of Lockown Wild is brought to you by Drip Drop. Folks, when I’m hydrated, everything just seems to work better. My focus, energy, mood, even my skin. That’s why I’ve been using Drip Drop. It’s a doctor developed hydration that keeps me running at full power no matter what my day looks like. Drip Drop isn’t your average sports drink. It delivers three times the electrolytes and half the sugar of leading brands using a science-backed formula trusted by medical professionals, firefighters, and over 90% of top college and pro teams. As somebody who used to not get enough hydration in my day, the difference is night and day. When you are uh when you are operating at uh optimal levels, everything throughout your day seems a little easier and drip Drop makes that so tasty too and delicious. They have unbelievably great flavors. So, it is something that you are going to be able to easily insert into your morning routine. Right now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to dripdrop.com and use promo code lockdown NHL. That’s dripdrop.com. Promo code lockdown NHL for 20% off. Stock up right now before the heat hits hard and keep your body and mind performing at their best with Drip Drop. Welcome back to today’s edition of Lockown Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen of the day and thank you for making Locked On the number one sports podcast network. A reminder, our next live show comes your way at noon on Sunday and Denny has a full slate of topics to discuss. I can promise you this is going to be a can’tmiss edition of Denny’s show. So, make sure to mark down noon on Sunday on your calendars and uh join in the conversation. So, Bill Garren had the two kind of eye-opening comments that uh that Jesse and I discussed uh in segment one here today, and I wanted to I wanted to dive into the first quote uh before we talk about Marco Rossy’s injury situation and how the Wild can fill that void on the roster. Bill Garren saying that he is not afraid to make a shakeup to this roster. Well, you know, we let’s look at the circumstances for where this Minnesota Wild team has been at for the last couple of seasons. Financially strapped is one way to put it over the last few years. This is the first year that we don’t have to discuss heavy cap hits for Zach Perezy and Ryan Sudter. So on one hand, this is a this is the first opportunity that Bill Garren in theory has had to be able to make major impacts and upgrades to this roster. It is a moving target depending entirely on how healthy the Minnesota Wild are between now and the trade deadline. But if the Minnesota Wild and we know now that this number will change based on putting Marco Rossi on injured reserve. The Minnesota Wild as of right now are projected to have $16.7 million available at the trade deadline as far as salary cap space goes. How do we get to that number considering the fact that the Wild have $4.5 million in current cap space? How do you get from 4.5 to 16.7? Great question. Well, the way that it works is that the salary cap is accured on a daily basis and you can in theory then bank salary cap if you have a healthy roster, which the Wild so far this year have been relatively healthy, but not fully healthy. Now, with Marco Rossi going on injured reserve, uh that is going to bring that number down. But this is going to be this will be the most that the Wild have had for at least the last probably four or five seasons. And it gives them an opportunity to actually do something about it. So, I’m not worried about that. and the Wild have most of their current assets with the exception of their second round pick this year and their second round pick next year. They have a farm system full of players that would be intriguing to other teams if they were looking to make a uh some sort of an impact trade. So, there are options available for the Minnesota Wild to uh to take a look at um as far as making a splash goes. My question is, is that something that Bill Garren wants to do? Think about over the last couple of seasons, one of the biggest moves that we have seen from the Minnesota Wild as far as moving a player out since the Kevin Fiala trade. The biggest move that we have seen the Minnesota Wild make as far as sending a player out was sending Freddy Gudro to the Seattle Kraken. There has just not been a ton in the way of player movement off the roster and any of the players that have been moved off the roster have been lower in the lineup uh than you know some of these core guys that we uh we think about with this team. I mean, they Declan Chisum was uh traded to the Washington Capitals in June before he was uh set to become uh before the Wild had to worry about signing him to an extension. So, that was a player that was sent out. Uh beyond that, Freddy Gudro was sent out back in June. Morat Husnadino and Yakab Blco were traded to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Justin Brazzo as a way to kind of shake up the um the the bottom six. Beyond that though, none of these are major moves in uh in moving players around. I mean, Connor Der probably the uh the last big one and that was back in March of 2024. Bill Garren just has not made a ton of moves as far as shaking this group up go. And Bill Garren said in the off season, you know, the prices are high for current free agents. So, he didn’t get involved a ton in free agency because the prices were high. Also said in the off season that the trade market prices are high as well. So that prevented the Minnesota Wild from uh from getting involved in a ton in the way of the trade market, even though the Wild had Marco Rossi on the trade block in the off season and did not get anything that would have warranted them moving on from him. So, it’s you we’re we’re hearing we’re hearing a little bit of both sides from Bill Garren on this issue and we know because he has said so basically every season that the Minnesota Wild have have not advanced in the playoffs. He has a large level of belief in this team and belief in this team being able to uh to do what needs to be done and to actually advance in the playoffs to win around. He uh he maintains that he has belief in this team to be able to do all of those things which is why we have seen the likes of players like Ryan Hartman, like Marcus Felino, like Marcus Johansson, like Yakov Trenan, like Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Broaddin, Juel Erikson have all stayed despite by many of them being pieces of the early core that Bill Garren had when he first took over. Like the these guys have been around for a long time. And if you look at the 2015 to now run of playoff futility, Jared Spurgeon was part of that. Jonas Broaddin was part of that. Juel Erikson was just starting to kind of get his career going as a young player at the beginning of that grouping. So, I I just I I just need to I just need to see Bill Garren actually kind of put his money where his mouth is because I just until proven otherwise, I’m of the belief that any sort of a trade that is made is going to be something that impacts the middle six, the bottom six, and leads to a young player being shipped out to fill a current NHL roster spot. And I just as you look at the the way that this roster is currently put together, is a bottom six or middle six player going to really help you out that much? Your current middle six is Marcus Johansson, Juel Erikson, Matt Baldi, Vladimir Turko, Danilov, and Henrosza with Marcus Felino, Yakov, Trenion, and Ben Jones on the bottom line. If you throw a player into that mix, yeah, sure, you’re going to take Ben Jones or Vinnie Hinistroza’s spot, but are they going to give you are they going to give you more consistent or more noticeable production than those two players than Ben Jones in particular? I hate to keep harping on this, but Ben Jones is working on a string of 34 straight games without a point to start his NHL career. Is whoever you bring in going is their production going to greatly outpace that? Which leads me to I think if you made a top six edition, you’d have a better chance for the production to be noticeable is is kind of my my crux of my argument here. Is if you if you go get another bottom six guy, are they going to outpace the current bottom six or is their production going to blend in and just be kind of adding to that collection of players? If you get a top six guy, their production is probably going to stand out. So, if Bill Garren says he’s not afraid to make a shakeup to this roster, like I like Jesse and I said, go ahead. We dare you. Go do something to kind of jolt this team jolt this team in. this team as currently constructed, if they make the playoffs, they feel like a team that needs a lot of things to go right their way and a few things to go wrong on the other side in order to win a round. Like you got to be fully healthy for one, which is not a high percentage occurrence and you got to have a couple of things go wrong for the other side. making a swing would certainly impact that and would uh would certainly give you better odds. But there’s another part to this, another quote that really stood out to me as far as Bill Garren goes in saying that he doesn’t really know what the Wild have as far as their young players go. Well, now an opportunity has presented itself for the Minnesota Wild to try to answer that question. And we’ll talk about Marco Rossy’s injury situation and how the Wilds could look to fill his spot in the lineup. That is coming up as we finish today’s episode of Lockown Wild after this. 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Once again, we thank you for making Lockown Wild your first listen each and every day. And uh thank you for making Locked On the number one sports podcast network. Again, join us at noon for Denny’s latest edition of the uh the live show and trade proposals, trade possibilities. It’s going to be one that you do not want to miss. So, mark it down for noon and make sure to join us right here on YouTube. So, Bill Garren, the other quote that we kind of dug into a little bit is we don’t really know what we have as far as the prospects go. We don’t know if we’ve got, you know, high-end guys. We just haven’t seen a ton of them. Could have another Duncan Keith down there. He played two full years at the AHL and look how he turned out. We don’t really know what we have. Well, now would be a real opportune time to try to get to the bottom of that very question because just today, Marco Rossi was put on injured reserve and according to the Wilds, he is week to week with a lower body injury, which is a big blow to the Minnesota Wild at this current moment. Rossi was one of, if not your best center playing topline minutes with Carell Capri off and Matt Sarello. Uh, taking a ton of, you know, doing a ton of topline things. And if you wondered where the production had gone recently, now we know injury that Rossi had been dealing with, as the Wild said, for quite some time and finally got to the point that he needed to be taken out of the lineup. So, what happens now that Marco Rossi is out? Who fills that spot? Who fills that slot? How do you replace Marco Rossy’s production as a uh take it to the bank 20 plus goal scorer when healthy on the lineup? Well, as Bill Garren said, we don’t really know what we have as far as young players. As far as young players go, seems to me that this maybe would be a pretty good opportunity to try to elevate one Danilla Eurovv higher in the lineup to maybe see what he’s got. See if his offense can take a little bit of a leap playing with more offensively inclined players. Not according to John Hines. Denil Yurov in the uh latest line rushes from today was centering the third line with Vinnie Hinistrosza and Vladimir Terosenko. Ryan Hartman hopped up to the top line centering Carell Capri off and Matt Sakurello. Uh Hines hoping to replicate some of the magic that that team had that that line had in 2021 2022. And look, I honestly I’m not uh I’m not surprised that Hartman gets the first crack to uh to try to fill that spot. He has uh he was one of the the better players to start the season for the Minnesota Wild and he kind of has gone cold a little bit. So, in putting him up in that spot, the hope is that that’ll jog his offense a little bit and try to kind of help get him going. But what we’ve seen from Ryan Hartman throughout his career is if his offense isn’t humming in particular, that’s when some of that frustration starts to set in and uh starts to lead to some of the penalties and the frustrations that uh lead to him kind of parading to the penalty box on a frequent basis. And if let’s just say that combination doesn’t capture the magic quite like they used to, I would hope that one of the possibilities is that you bump Juel Erikson up to top center and maybe you give Danila Yurov a shot. This is the frustrating part. This is the frustrating part about this entire battle between play the kids and the kids aren’t ready is the Wild have almost to the letter tried to fit young players into particular roles most notably on the fourth line. I know Liam Ogrren has gotten a couple of looks on the second line, but then you look at the end of the game and he’s played like 10 minutes and it was Liam Ogrren, it was Danilrov, it was Adam Beckman, it was any other combination of names that uh that we can think of. Sammy Walker, all players that were kind of pigeonholed into a fourthline role. And then people were surprised that they didn’t produce when they were on a line with similar fourthline players that were not very offensively inclined at all at all. Like it just, you know, some of the roster construction stuff is what leads to me being the most frustrated is you have a guy in Danilurov who both Bill Garren and John Hines went out of their way to say he’s playing really well. His defense has his defense has tracked. He’s been uh doing a great job defensively and we feel like the offense has kind of started to come around a little bit as well. He’s got a couple of goals on the season and then you pull him out of the lineup for as John Hine said, we we’re going to give him a breather and we’re putting Ben Jones in the lineup because we want an opportunity to win some more faceoffs. Are you really helping yourself out if Ben Jones takes two faceoffs in a game and offers you on the season? Ben Jones expected goals are 08.08 goals is the offensive output that Ben Jones has uh has generated so far on the season. That’s not a lot. That’s that’s hardly any at all. and defensively on and on and on. Like it just you pretty much know what you have there. which goes right back to the theme that we see so often with these young players is you you are being played in certain situations and then uh veterans who don’t maybe give you as much but are I guess known commodities end up getting most of the playing time and I know until this point Ben Jones had gone back to the bench and ironic that Denilov scored a goal in his immediate return to the lineup. So, a a baby step in the right direction to get Denilov up to the third line, but it’s going to be very interesting to see how he performs with his linemates who I think are in similar positions to what we saw with Marcus Felin and Yakov Trenan. And if Yurov struggles to produce with those two, then are we going to see Hines try to move him with more offensively inclined players or are we going to see him move Ben Jones up? Like you see you see kind of where I’m going with this is you you are presented with a couple of different options in these situations. Okay, such and such player isn’t producing. What if we put them with more offensively inclined players? And guess what? If you do put Denali Yurov in the top six, you’re probably gonna lose some faceoffs. So, I’m not even I’m not even I guess that upset that Yurov initially just bumped up one line. But if that Capri off Hartman Zuk combination just doesn’t have the same flare that it did previously, well, at some point you’re going to need to try Danilov in one of those spots to see what he has because we’re getting to the situation where a lot of these prospects that get shipped out, what you say outwardly is that it just felt like they needed a change of a change of scenery. What I see that as is they need an opportunity. They need an opportunity to try to break down the door and they’re just not getting that here. And the more that that happens, the more frustrated people get, the more frustrated fans get. So, we’ll uh we’ll have another episode coming up later today as well as uh tomorrow um and probably on Sunday too for the games. So, uh, that is our show for today. Again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day and for making Lockdown the number one sports podcast network. Make sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. We got you covered every Monday through Friday. As part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, we are your team every day.

With Marco Rossi sidelined week-to-week on injured reserve, the Minnesota Wild face critical decisions about their roster construction and young talent evaluation. GM Bill Guerin admits the organization doesn’t truly know what they have in their prospects—yet continues burying players like Danila Yurov and Liam Ohgren in limited fourth-line roles.

Jessi Pierce of NHL.com joins host Seth Toupal to dissect the Wild’s mediocre 7-7-4 start, examining whether Guerin will finally make the “big splash” trade he claims he’s not afraid to execute.

The conversation challenges Minnesota’s cautious development approach, contrasting how defenseman Zeev Buium receives top-pairing opportunities to make mistakes while offensive prospects get eight-minute nights with Ben Jones. With $16.7 million projected in trade deadline cap space—the most flexibility in years—could Guerin actually move core pieces like Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon, or Joel Eriksson Ek? Pierce and Toupal dare the Wild GM to prove his words with action, arguing that roster safety has bred complacency while special teams inconsistency and anemic 5-on-5 scoring plague Kirill Kaprizov’s supporting cast.

Discover why Rossi’s absence creates the perfect opportunity to finally answer questions about Minnesota’s prospect pool—if coaching will allow it.

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