OPPORTUNITY: Minnesota Wild CENTER DEPTH DECIMATED — Will John Hynes TRUST Danila Yurov with More?

OPPORTUNITY: Minnesota Wild CENTER DEPTH DECIMATED — Will John Hynes TRUST Danila Yurov with More?

Another key injury to the top six may force John Hines to put Denil Yurov higher in the lineup than he’s comfortable. So, is he going to trust him or is he going to give him an early hook? Hey, this is Matt Faldi 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 Wild, your daily podcast on the Minnesota Wild, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Hello, I’m Seth Toppal. Welcome to Locked On, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network. Locked on Wild is your daily Minnesota Wild podcast. We thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. And we’re here for you every day of the week. We are your team each and every day. Make sure to follow us on all of your favorite podcast platforms, whether on Apple or Spotify or YouTube. We thank you for tuning in and helping Locked on Wild reach new heights every day. Today’s episode of Locked Down Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. On today’s episode of Lockdown Wild, Alex Mleti joins us as we assess the Wild through the first 20 games of the season. We’ll start by looking at what has changed from last year to this year. We’ll also take a look at the continued injury situation for the Minnesota Wild and why it has finally forced John Hines hand. Danil Yurov looks to be in the top six. Will he stay there? We’ll also take a look at first quarter surprises. Some names you know, some names we have come to know who has surprised us through the first 20 games of the season. My name is Seth Toppal, credentialed media member, giving you access from the press box from every possible angle this season and joined by Alex Mleti for a Mleti Tuesday. We uh we float it. We float it during the season and you know we we have no days off limits but because the Wild have been on the break for the last few days we still get a chance to assess the uh the quarter poll Alex and if we look at last year compared to this year pretty much uh pretty much the same that we’ve come to expect. It’s a team that has been buoied by Carell Capri’s offc scoring, Matt Baldy scoring, by defense and goalending, and it’s a team that very much still is struggling to find five on five scoring. They’re taking whatever they can get. So, I I’ll ask you this. Is there really much difference between last year and this year so far? Not at all. And uh I love Matt Bully. He’s he’s the one that’s really stepped up to his he really wants to be that superstar player and it’s awesome to see and Marcus Johansson has come alive. It’s it’s crazy right that that is you know help helping uh when you know they acquired a guy like Vlad Terasenko that hasn’t really done much um and he was supposed to be the one to to help the offense but it’s been Marcus Johansson. So that’s uh that’s interesting. And then we’ll see where Zeve takes off here. And you know they’ve added some some youth there like you said with uh with your off and uh the goalending has been a lot better, right? And Yesper. It’s uh incredible, you know, what a little confidence does uh does for your game. Yeah, because just think a year ago what happened with him and stuck in Iowa being miserable and now he’s with the with the big club and but uh yeah, for the most part it’s it’s the same but a few few wrinkles for sure. Yeah. And I I should say the biggest difference between last year and this year was the start. Last year at this point the Wild were 133 and4. Uh this year a disastrous start. Um, absolutely abysmal defense, bad goalending, penalty kill was it just non-existent. Power play was the only way the goals are being scored. Uh, the team has started to win some games, but I it’s the same problems that persist from last year. Now, as we’ll talk about in segment two, the injuries are starting to mount. And you had a books worth of injury receipts that uh that popped up at practice today that are concerning because of the way that they’re being phrased and handled, which is exactly how they were handled last year. And we saw a glimpse we saw a glimpse of the team at full strength at pretty much full capacity in the early part of the season when they got off to that 184 and4 start. But we I think we all kind of were wondering like is it really responsible to bank on that happening again from an injury standpoint because the injuries are mounting. The five on five scoring really was not majorly addressed. Um it it is it is uh last year’s team with a couple of new pieces, but by and large the same issues just continuing to kind of rear their ugly head. The dreaded week to week. When you hear that, it really is like, oh no. Because last year when when they said week to week, it it seemed like guys were more monthtomonth. And uh that that’s scary. and what Ryan Hartman was your first line center and now he’s he’s out. So that uh that’s scary. We’ll see how you’re off does. And it’s a tough matchup against the Canes who just they recently played and got blown out. And that’s going to be really interesting tomorrow too with if if Chatfield does play, you know, after Pitlick took him out if there’s going to be retribution tomorrow. It wouldn’t shock me if uh you know Felino gets into a brawl with somebody. So that that’s going to be one to to watch out for. Well, we know Pitlick is playing like just just because of the the current state of affairs for this team, but um you know, we’re we’re getting a a look under the hood at this point in the season at the quarter poll. We’re getting a look under the hood at most of the same problems that have persisted over the last couple of years is and we’ll we’ll break the injuries down in full detail coming up after the break. But I just kind of want to to make the point too is like you know your biggest ads in the off season biggest ad was Nico Sturm. uh your hope that some of these young prospects are going to be able to step in and help. You you also added Vladimir Turenko, so I I’m already I know there are uh he he’s got a uh an army of defenders, so I don’t want to I don’t want to set anybody off. You did give Vladimir Terosenko as well, but depth again, like you got AHL level guys who should be playing at the AHL level, but are again playing minutes at the NHL level, and it’s it’s not helping out at all. So, it’s it’s the same pumpkin. You just left it out on the front steps through the winter and hoped, oh, it’ll thaw out and it’ll be just fine. No, it’s continuing to rot. It’s a big problem. And uh we keep hearing that uh Bill Garin is scouring the league for for trade opportunities, but is he really that I mean I’ve been told the Wilder in advance talks on several fronts uh as far as trades go from Yeah. from random It’s not That’s not accurate. Yeah, chat bots. It’s not accurate. Um I I’m sure discussions have been had, but like problem you’re running into right now is it’s frankly too early for teams to be tapped out. Uh unless you are the Calgary Flames or the St. Louis Blues. The funny thing about all this is, you know, Robertson in Toronto, they can’t even move him now because they have so many injuries on their team and he’s having to play a lot, which is it’s just funny how that works, too. Yeah. So, it’s, you know, I the thing that I have noticed most through the first 20 games of the season this year is I think the frustration from fans. Like we were told all off season leading up to the start of the year that this was the year that this was going to be you’re going to rip the band-aid off. No more dead cap. We can take the words dead cap, write them on a piece of paper and light it on fire and never have to talk about it again. July 1st is going to be Christmas. I am sitting here as as somebody who talks for a living and understands the importance of what you say and outwardly project. I continue to just beg for those types of statements to not be said. Like didn’t have to say Christmas in July. Didn’t have to say that at all. But it had kind of a fun catchy ring to it. And then it turns out nobody wanted to leave where they were staying and all of your plan A’s didn’t end up becoming free agents. But we said Christmas in July. We also told Yes Pvalstead we were going to have a three goalie rotation and that he should get an apartment in St. Paul and that lasted two games. Then he got sent down to Iowa. Nightmare. And uh not much has changed with the buyouts being done, right? And uh we also keep hearing that, hey, they have all this room to make a massive move in season. We’ll see if that even occurs. Yeah, I’m I’m telling you, I I’m kind of wondering myself if Billy’s going to get sticker shock at the uh the prices for deadline deals and is going to say, “We’ll make a tweak. We’ll make a subtle tweak.” And cuz even if you bring in our Tammy Paneran, look how much he wants for his for his new contract, there’s no way they’re going to be able to afford to keep him. There are reports that Alex Tuck wants $12 million a year on his new deal. Not a chance here. Which is frightening levels of money, but it is a byproduct of Carill Capri offsetting the market. Mhm. We Caril Capri off wasn’t waiting for the rest of the NHL to set his market. He set the market himself. That’s that’s how that played out. That’s what the Avanas does. He gets he gets the big bag for sure. And not to talk out of both sides of my mouth because I I still maintain that it’s far better to have him than it is to not. But Bill Garren has talked quite a bit about I’m not afraid to I’m not afraid to make moves. I’m not afraid to make a major shakeup. And Jesse Pierce and I challenged that very notion by saying, “Okay, if you if you are not afraid to make a move, go make one then.” So I I think that’s kind of where we’re at through the first 20 is the the start was terrible, which always raises the concern levels, especially at the start of the season. But it’s played out. It’s played out pretty much how you would expect. The defense was bad to start. The defense is writed. The goalending was leaky to start. The goalending is writed. And the five on five scoring is still a struggle. You nailed it. And uh what what what kind of big move would really get this fan base energized or what would cause it even more craziness? Could you imagine you know could you imagine they trade the captain? How much that would just that would be and you know Yonas Broaddin is so beloved too. either one of those size that would be just a gigantic change. Would you move? Would you have Brock Faber be the captain then? Yeah, it’s all sorts of just uh things you you think about if that’s the massive move that they’re thinking. But that’s a corner that Bill Garren painted himself into, which is something that we’ll talk about uh probably later this week since the Wild play Wednesday then Friday, Saturday. uh schedule again just super weird so far to start this season. So 20 games in really not any difference from what we’ve seen over the last couple of years other than the start was an opposite of what we saw last year. Uh now there have been some surprises and we’ll talk about some pleasant surprises to start the year at the end of the show. But uh I think we need to next dive into the uh I I was I was wondering if Russo was uh was working on a book when he uh tweeted out the injury situation from practice today. Uh it’s it’s messy and it continues to be one of the things that frustrates me most about not only the uh not only the team and the reporting but just the NHL in general because this isn’t this isn’t just a Minnesota Wild thing. This is an NHL problem at large. So, we’ll talk about the injury situation and how the Wild will mitigate it as we continue today’s episode of Locked on Wild after this. Today’s episode of Locked on Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. Folks, the NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you missed the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. I’ve got a call for you if you’re looking for a good spot for your first $5 bet to go. Uh I like for the NHL to go with anytime goal scorers. You know, it’s it’s kind of hard to do the spread and the overunder in hockey. Uh not as easy as football or basketball, but anytime goal scorer is a great place to start. Matt Baldy is off to a great start this year and uh I’m I’m feeling a Matt Baldy anytime goal for the game against Carolina. So $5 bet right there. If he does score, then that’s $300 in bonus bets because FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So Matt Baldy anytime goal, $300 in bonus bets could be yours if he scores. So head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Welcome back to today’s edition of Lockdown Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. We are your team every day. And we also thank you wholeheartedly for making Locked On the number one sports podcast network. Think about that. Number one sports podcast network is Locked On is the entire Locked On podcast network. Alex, injuries are the bane of my existence because the NHL refuses any semblance of common sense reporting on injuries. It It’s not even It It’s not even a It’s not even close. It’s not even close to where it should be uh as far as reporting goes because And you hit it right on the head in segment one. We saw this last year. Remember remember vividly Carell Capri off. He’s Hey, he’s a little banged up after Thanksgiving. It was It was after Christmas, I believe. A little banged up. We’re going to hold him out for a couple of days. No, actually it was after Thanksgiving. So, we’re going to hold him out for a couple of days. And a couple of days turned into, well, he’s dayto-day. He missed 12 games and then had surgery. And that is just one of a thousand examples that we’ve seen from this team lately. Marco Rossi, we uh we knew that uh that he was injured. Um it was something that he was trying to play through. So, if if anyone is looking for a reason as to why Rossy’s numbers were starting to dip, it’s because he was playing through injury. Uh, he is now weak to week, but as Russo noted today, he was starting to feel better. So, who knows on that. Like, I I have no idea what that means. Um, so who knows? Maybe he’ll maybe he’ll be back in the lineup tomorrow. read the part about Terasenko too that whatever that he said in that in that tweet made no sense. Yeah, the Teraraenko situation is frankly kind of baffling as well. Uh and then we have the Ryan Hartman situation uh in which Ryan Hartman is now going to be week to week with an injury that is quote not major but it just needs to clear up. So, here’s the here’s the full here’s the full tweet. Russo said, “Hartman is weak to weak, but this isn’t a major injury. Just needs to clear up. Terasenko left practice early, so Hines has to get an update on his status. Be Gojian and Sturm are still a few weeks or a little less out. Rossi is feeling a little better, so we’ll see how quickly he can get back. But Rossi because of the roster situation was put on injured reserve. So Rossi has to miss a minimum number of games in order for that designation to ring true. And the Terasenko thing, I have no idea when that popped up, but Terasenko has missed the last couple of games. He tried to kind of practice through it and couldn’t. He’s not going to play against the Carolina Hurricanes. Am I taking crazy pills here or what? What is what is happening all of a sudden to this team that seems to happen every single season and guys getting hurt in practice too. That is not not good. What what are practices going too hard? It’s uh and and it’s the guys that are getting hurt too have had injuries in consecutive seasons. That’s Yeah, it’s it’s not good at all. Uh Hartman, his is a lower. Vladimir Terosenko missed the last game. Hartman’s was a lower body. He came back into the game briefly or at least came back onto the bench and then left again. But the designation of it’s not major. It just needs to clear up. It is I like and this is again this is not necessarily just a wild frustration. Every team in the NHL does this and it’s just so vague because it’s the gamesmanship. It’s so vague in the reporting that you can literally say a guy’s dayto day and you might not see him the rest of the year. Right. And uh for a team that’s lacking depth, that’s never a good thing at all. And you look at Iowa and Iowa’s there’s not a whole lot that can can help out when it comes to the Wild’s injury situations. Yeah, the lineup is as follows. So you’ve got Capri off centered by Danilov with Matt Sarella on the top line. We’ll talk about Denil in a second. Marcus Johansson, Juel Eriken, Matt Baldi. Your bottom six is as follows. Marcus Felino, Yakov, Trenion at center, Vinnie Hinestro on the wing, Liam Ogrren, Ben Jones, Tyler Pitlick. That is yikes. That is John Hines’s dream, but that is my nightmare. And there other than the other night when Trenan scored, I mean, the bottom six had been non-existent. Yeah. I I don’t I don’t understand um I don’t understand the fascination and intrigue with Ben Jones. And so this is where the mood microphone comes into play because this is the kind of stuff that kind of starts to set me off a little bit. eye of Sauron. Yeah, it pretty much is. I don’t understand the fascination with a guy who has no points in 35 career games. We did the breakdown a couple of weeks ago, a week ago. Statistically, he is worse than Danilov. He should be an AHL player. Tyler Pitlick should be an AHL player, but because of how this because of the this current situation with the injuries, which is playing out the way that it has for each of the last three seasons, you’re just continuing to hope, oh, I hope the injuries aren’t as bad as last year. I’m guilty of this by a I’m guilty of this a thousand%. I said this in fact after the season was done. There’s no possible way this team can be as injured as they were last year, right? And here we are again. You’re playing AHL guys in bottom six roles and just hoping that maybe they luck their way into a goal. It’s not a a long-term success idea, right? And uh look at all the teams in the central division. They a lot of them are sick of losing and uh you see Utah having a lot more success. Chicago, they just don’t lose now. And uh you know, Bard’s turning into that superstar role and uh got other teams not in the division but in the West. Look at San Jose. Cabbrini’s got two tonight against Utah. Anaheim, I don’t know why they didn’t play Docel the other night against the Wild, but Morazzic somehow kept them in it, but uh Docl’s on fire. So, you have all these younger teams and uh the Wild just kind of think they can just get by here. It’s it’s that’s not a good strategy. Um, a and this leads to, I think, what is the the most intriguing part of Wednesday’s game, and this is a question that I want fans to answer in the comments for today’s episode. Do you think John Hines is going to trust Danilla Yurov in a topline role or do you think we’re going to see him get like seven or eight minutes and then you are just going to say all right for this game we’re going to play Capri off 33 minutes we’re going to play Matt Baldi 34 minutes I so help me if Yakov Trenan ends up with more faceoffs than Denil Yurov I’m going to be comeomaosse after the game’s done, it would it would mean that they’re down by like two or three goals. But yeah, it then they can’t if he makes one mistake, they can’t just say, “Oh, we’re switching lines and banishing him back to the fourth line.” because give give him give him a real shot here to to prove that he he can do it because if you if you envision him to be in that type of role in the future, you have to just get give him an opportunity now. Yeah. This is this is what we have all been waiting for. And it just feels like, well, I can’t really trust a rookie in this situation because he might make a mistake and so I got to go with the sure thing. Well, guess what? The sure thing’s not great. It’s the the sure thing is not good. The risk could be great, 100%. And uh you know maybe that’s something Hines can you know in in the past it’s it’s burned him so why not uh uh why not do things the opposite way in you know if he wants to continue a long long-term future as coach here. Yeah it’s it has to change because this roster as currently constructed without the the breath of life put into them is not it’s not capable. It’s not capable of of beating any of the legit contenders because they haven’t done it for three years. It’s not just going to change. Like you’re banking essentially on the other teams all of a sudden getting bad and you you could have a far easier time simply trying to improve your roster, get yourself to the good category as opposed to just saying, you know, maybe when we play Colorado today, maybe they’ll be bad. like that’s just that’s just not a good mentality to have in any game situation. But not at all. We’ve belleaguered that point, I think, to the point that uh the message is clear. I do want to finish by taking a look at some of the pleasant surprises from the start of the season so far because there have actually been some and there have been some fun points and players to watch through the quarter first quarter of the season. So, we will talk about that to finish today’s episode of Locked on Wild after this. Today’s episode of Locked on Wild is brought to you by Rouette. Let’s be real, making excuses doesn’t solve anything. We’ve all heard them before. It’s just stress. I’m tired or it happens to everyone sometimes. When it comes to performance, sometimes your body just needs a little extra support. And that’s where Rouette comes in. Rouiet.com offers fast acting doctor prescribed treatments for ED designed to help you stop making excuses and start making moves. Rouette makes it easy to get started. You just connect with a boardcertified doctor 100% online. No awkward waiting rooms, no in-person appointments. And if prescribed, your treatment ships directly and discreetly to your door. Visit rugg.com/lockdownnhl to get 15% off your first order. That’s rugg.com/locktonnhl. And don’t forget to use our code lockdown NHL so they know we sent you. Rouette, stop making excuses and start making moves. final segment of Locked on Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Locked on Wild your first listen each and every day. We are the people’s podcast covering the people’s team, the Minnesota Wild. And we’re glad to have you along, however you are tuning in here today. Let’s talk some surprises, Alex, because there have actually been a few surprises to start the season. It’s not all It’s not all despondent, hideous, just mindnumbing play. Some of it is, but I want to start with I want to start with Matt Baldi for one. 21 points in 20 games. He’s got 10 goals on the season. He has some of the highest shot volume in the league so far this year. and he is leading the team in shot attempts per 60 minutes. He is one of your top options as far as shots on goal goes. He’s crashing to the net. He looks more assertive. Uh Matt Baldi is probably he may not be the biggest surprise this year, but if you were asking Baldi to take a leap to start the season, uh it feels like he certainly has. the series uh the playoff series against Vegas that’s where he just became a different player and we did we did see it in the for nations too. It was nice to to see him be productive there but the playoff series said you know this is this is my time to to be uh you know an upand cominging superstar and it’s just taken off uh at the beginning here. Um he’s firing the puck with urgency. some of the goals that he’s scored have just been phenomenal and uh been great on the power play. Yeah, it’s really nice to see him turn into that kind of power forward and with the shooter mentality. Uh I have to I have to give credit where credit is due. Marcus Johansson has been a very pleasant surprise so far this year. But I think the play that Marcus Johansson is exhibiting right now further underscores the overall problem with the roster is you have a guy who is making basically league minimum and is your third leading scorer and is put in a top six role out of necessity, I would argue. And the fact that he has produced so far this year makes the last couple of seasons that much more frustrating. It also makes the roster situation that much more frustrating. But seven goals through the first 20 games for for Johansson. Uh I’m willing to give him credit for how he has performed so far this year because in a year so far in which players have really like kind of risen above the water and have sank below it. It seems like he has been one of the few players that has consistently been above water so far this year and they have needed right to even get some of the wins that they have had. And uh kudos to him and uh they’re going to need it for the full season, right? the they can’t just have it be just this first quarter and then and then silent and go and go back to what what it has been in the past. So defin definitely kudos uh uh for him for stepping up. But on the problem side, those three have scored 28 of your 55 goals on the season, which that’s that’s bad. Right. Right. That is unconscionably bad, right? And that they’re going to have to figure that out fast. But it, you know, now I have the injury, so more more adversity coming. And uh like I said, will be the litmus test against one of the best teams out of the east against the Canes. Another late late home late game national TV. So we’ll see how that goes under the bright lights of national TV coverage. Yeah, get your nap in. I certainly will. Uh, as far as the youngsters go, I’ll put Zeve and Yesper and Yurov in the surprise category. Pleasant surprise. We’ve seen flashes from Zeve, and it seems like they’re getting more consistent. He even got in overtime for a bit the other day. Yeah, for the first time. I couldn’t believe it. Hines out of absolute necessity. I just imagine how panicked he was. He’s like, “Oh my gosh, I have to put Denili. I have to put Zeve Boy in in overtime. Where’s Zach Begoian when you need him? Where’s Jared Spurgeon when you need him? Where’s Jonas Broaddin when you need him?” We we’ve seen the flashes it seems like, are getting more and more consistent with Zeve as the season goes on, as he gets acclimated. Uh, as far as Danilov goes, you know, I I still maintain I think his defense was ready to go week uh game one. Um, and you’ve seen we’ve seen some some good push from him offensively. It’s just a matter of getting more and more minutes, more and more reps for him to get fully comfortable. Uh, Yasper has been the biggest rookie surprise of all. Like he he has looked great so far this season. the celebrations after the wins. Just love love the vibes from that. A little flurry in them doing that. And uh yeah, getting getting shut outs in in the NHL is it’s it’s so hard. And good for him to get a couple here. And uh you know, really, you know, as a as a backup, you know, especially with this condensed schedule, you’re going to be getting a lot of the back end of backtobacks. And so kudos for him to to playing well and sometimes in front of a tired uh decor. So yeah, he’s gaining confidence every, you know, every game he plays. And you hear the noise of maybe a more of a 1A 1B instead of just uh your normal uh backup. So yeah, credit to Yesper. I I believe I believe I may have uh started that chatter this year um right on this uh right on this very show, but Yeah, we’re we’re 20 games in and the Minnesota Wild are 9 and 11, not 9, seven, and four. They’re all losses. The four overtime losses just took a little longer than the other seven. So 9 and 11 through the first 20 games. The Wild have a lot of work to do to get themselves back to where they want to be, but they’re not going to be able to they’re not going to be able to get further than we than they want to go as far as we want them to go unless they finally take a long look in the mirror at that top six scoring situation. Been talking about it for years, Alex. We’ve been talking about this for years on this show and we’re not going to I’m I’m tired of running from it. I’m tired of running from it. I’m tired of the fill-ins as opposed to the fixtures. And so if we’ve learned anything from the uh first 20 games of the season, it’s that that is a that is a gaping wound that you can no longer try to gauze and bandage. You have to stitch that thing up. You had to cauterize that wound. And the only way that Billy Garren is going to do that is if he has what it takes to make a deal. The supposed big move. So, I’ll I’ll say the I’ll end this show the exact same way Jesse Pierce and I did uh her segment from uh last week. Go ahead, Billy. We dare you. That’s going to do it for today’s episode of Locked Down Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. We thank you for making us part of your listening plans on all of your favorite platforms. Make sure to like and subscribe. And if you want to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or uh or any of the other platforms, we certainly appreciate those as well. Any five stars will uh will get read on the show. So, if you want a shout out on the show, leave us uh leave us a fivestar review. It helps with circulation. It helps get Lockdown Wild out there to more Minnesota Wild fans like you. So, we’ll catch you on the next episode right here on Lockown Wild, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Minnesota Wild’s injury woes hit critical mass as Danila Yurov is thrust into the top six, raising the question: Will John Hynes trust his young talent or double down on veteran minutes? Seth Toupal and Alex Micheletti size up the Wild’s struggles with 5-on-5 scoring, mounting injuries to key players like Ryan Hartman and Marco Rossi, and leadership decisions that could reshape the team’s NHL playoff hopes.

Breakdowns include Matt Boldy’s offensive surge, the unexpected impact of Marcus Johansson, and persistent roster depth issues leaving AHL-level players with heavy NHL minutes. The duo debates Bill Guerin’s search for a blockbuster trade, rookie surprises like Jesper Wallstedt and Zeev Buium, and asks whether the Wild have the guts to make a true franchise-changing move. Can Minnesota regain traction—or will recurring injuries and limited lineup solutions doom their season?

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOWild?sid=YouTube

Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL

Join our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/ZAB6yyck

Have a Question for the Show or a Topic you want Covered? Email lockedonwild@gmail.com

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!

DripDrop – Right now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to https://dripdrop.com and use promo code LOCKEDONNHL.

Indeed – Now, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/lockedon right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.

Gametime – Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

Monarch – Take control of your finances with Monarch. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at https://monarch.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.

FanDuel – Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

#NHL #KirillKaprizov #MinnesotaWild