NEXT MAN UP: Minnesota Wild Continue to THRIVE Without Key Players—Depth Players Shining BRIGHT

NEXT MAN UP: Minnesota Wild Continue to THRIVE Without Key Players—Depth Players Shining BRIGHT

On today’s episode of Lockdown Wild, the Wild are showcasing a masterclass in resiliency. Every time a player gets hurt, somebody else steps in to fill the void. >> Hey, this is Matt Faldi and you’re listening to Locked on Wild. >> Hey, this is Marcus Fino and you’re listening to Locked [music] on Wild. >> You’re Locked On, your daily podcast on the Minnesota Wild, part of the Locked On [music] podcast network, your team every day. Hello, I’m Seth Topppal. Welcome to Locked On, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network. Locked down Wild is your daily Minnesota Wild podcast. We are your team each and every day and we thank you for making Lockown Wild your first listen each and every day. As well, make sure you subscribe on all of your favorite audio platforms. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and on YouTube. Make sure you subscribe everywhere so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. Today’s episode of Lockdown Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. On today’s episode of Lockdown Wild, we look at key examples of resiliency for the Minnesota Wild this year. We’ll talk about injuries plaguing the Wild and how they have utilized roster depth to plug holes in the lineup all season long. We’ll also talk about the resurgence of Vladimir Terosenko, his best game in a Minnesota Wild uniform. Can he continue this? we’ll discuss as well as taking a look at a few fourthliners that have stepped in and started to really give the Wild solid impact here this season. My name is Seth Toal, host of Lockdown Wild. I have covered the Minnesota Wild since the 2020 2021 season and uh we are moving slightly out of Quinnota mode here. Although we we will talk about Quinn Hughes just a little bit here at the end of the show. But we’re saving it. We’re going to go right back to it with Alex Mleti for tomorrow’s episode. A rare Mleti Thursday for you. Uh we’ll talk plenty more about Quinn Hughes uh and what might come next for the Minnesota Wild. But I just want to talk about what we have seen from this Minnesota Wild team as far as overall resiliency goes. you look at the last two games especially the Minnesota Wild have had key pieces out of the lineup uh whether it be Matt Sakarelloo whether it be Jonas Broaddin whether it be Jake whether it be Vinnie Hinestrosa you know up and down the lineup there have been players out that have missed good chunks of the season and the Minnesota Wild just do not miss a beat Now, injury update. The Minnesota Wild just put Jonas Broaddin on injured reserve retroactively because of the current state of the roster with uh several players that are banged up daytoday. Damon Hunt, another player that got injured uh in the game against the Washington Capitals. Uh the Wild were forced to play with five defensemen for a majority of the game. didn’t didn’t blink. Uh you lose Matt Zigurello after he had just come back and kind of helped restore a little order in the month of November. They don’t blink. This Wild team has put on a master class in the way of lineup resiliency so far this season. And in the case of Matt Zukarelloo, you know, Zuki goes out of the lineup. Marcus Johansson steps in to fill that spot in the top six. and Johansson, you know, on pace for a career season. And then he gets hurt and Vladimir Terasenko steps into the top six. Denilov steps into the top six when Marco Rossi went down and guys just plug holes and the lineup the roster continues to just churn away. Okay. Now, I will say cuz injuries are they’re nothing new to the Minnesota Wild. I will say that the biggest reason that the injuries have been um easier to navigate compared to previous years is because they haven’t involved those key core pieces uh at this point in the season. Uh, yes, I did just knock in my desk. So, we we’re we’re all set there. But you look at it for the Minnesota Wild so far this year. And they have not had to fill any games for Jared Spurgeon, Brock Faber, Juel Erikson, Gorilla Capri off, and Matt Baldi. It’s a pretty solid nucleus that you can just count on on a nightly basis to uh to do whatever’s necessary. And having those pieces in the lineup compared to what happened last year where Carrill got hurt. He was initially dayto-day. Then we had the the surgery debacle. He came back, but the Wild were hanging on for dear life at that point to a playoff spot. Well, Carrill has has played every game this year, and we’ve seen the uh we’ve seen the jolt that his game has had since Quinn Hughes came to town. Um it it has led to, you know, just a resurgence in his game. On the defensive side, you know, you’re missing Jake Middleton. you would just lost Jonas Broaddin. Uh, and we’ll probably see him miss. He’s got to miss at least a week. He had played pre he had played before this in 30 of the 34 games so far. So, he had stayed relatively healthy. So, there have been pieces in the lineup that have had to be juggled, but it hasn’t been any of those major impact spots in the lineup, which makes it easier to uh to navigate. But, you know, on the defensive side, you’re not having to rely on Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Broaddin like you previously did, especially with Quinn Hughes now in town. You’ve got Brock Faber playing out of his mind right now. Pair him with Quinn Hughes. That can be your top pairing. You don’t have to worry about Spurgeon and Broaddin at this point playing nearly as much as they previously had. So that that kind of helps with the injury mitigation as well. And I I shouldn’t overlook Marcus Felino who’s missed 10 games so far this year. And you know, he it’s one of those seasons where Felo just has not looked the part. He just hasn’t looked like he did previously. Yakov Trenan, step right up, fill the spot, occupy the spot, playing some of his best hockey that he has as a member of the Minnesota Wild. you can come up with a halfozen different examples of which guys have been stepping in and have filled roles um without missing any semblance of a beat. Look at this for the month of December for the Minnesota Wilds in the eight games that have been played this month. Look at the goal dispersal that we’ve seen from this team. So Matt Baldy and Carill Capri off are leading the way with four goals each as you would expect. Four goals in the eight games, but Julenk has three goals. Marcus Johansson has three goals in seven games. Vladimir Terasenko has three goals in eight games. Ryan Hartman has a couple of goals in eight games. And then as far as individual goal scorers, Jared Spurgeon, Danila Yurov, Zack Begoian, Matt Zuckerello, Yakov Trenion, Quinn Hughes, Tyler Pitlick, Jonas Broaddin have all also scored goals for the Minnesota Wild here uh in the month of December. We can even dial that back to November 1st when things really started to um really started to percolate. And again, Carl Capri’s off and Matt Baldy leading the way with 14 goals a piece. But you have guys that have five or more goals. Brock Faber, Juel Erikson, Marcus Johansson, Vladimir Terasenko’s four goals. Danilov has three goals in the last two months. Ryan Hartman’s got three goals. You’re getting players that are stepping in and helping fill the void. And it it doesn’t have to be any sort of major fanfare or major production. It’s guys just stepping in. I mean, Vladimir Terosenko looked like 2015 Vlatty against the Washington Capitals. He had that sick between the legs pass. He had a couple of goals and it was his opportunity to slot back into the top six because of the injury to Marcus Johansson. And it it it is just a collective understanding too. I think that you are occupying a spot. There’s no guarantee that that spot is going to be there once everybody comes back. And so you’re putting your best film on paper to state your claim as to why you should be the one to occupy that role. There are going to be once the Wild get to closer to full health, there are going to be some very intriguing lineup decisions for this Minnesota Wild team to make, including a very interesting combination last night that absolutely popped against the Washington Capitals. We got to talk about the Danilov, Vladimir Turenko, and Yakov Trenan connection. What a second line that ended up being for last night’s game. We’ll discuss and we’ll talk about what it allowed the Wild to also do for the lineup that is on the way as we continue today’s episode of Locked on Wild after this. Today’s episode of Locked Wild is brought to you by Monarch. The holidays are amazing, but they can also get overwhelming very fast. Travel, gifts, parties, year-end expenses. It’s really easy to lose track of your money this time of year. And that is exactly why Monarch has become such a gamecher for me. If you want to keep your finances under control this holiday season, you need to be using Monarch. Rated Wall Street Journal’s best budgeting app of 2025, Monarch is the all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, simple dashboard. My favorite feature, the holiday spending category. Absolute lifesaver. You can see exactly what’s left in your gift and travel budget in real time. That’s the only way that you’re going to see real impact with your money is if you start to really meaningfully budget your dollars. And Monarch makes it so easy to set an amount. Hey, we’re going to we’re going to have this be our budget for for leisure. Walks you right up to that allotted amount and not over. So you don’t look at your finances at the end of the month and say, “Oh, no. I I spent considerably more in that category.” Don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use code lockdown NHL at monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at monarch.com with code locked on NHL. Welcome back to today’s edition of Locked on Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockown Wild your first listen each and every day and for making Lockdown the number one sports podcast network. Fans, you already live your team every day. Now take it up a level and go ad free. Join the Everydayer Club today and get locked on wild with no interruptions, membersonly Discord access, and more. are all for just $5 a month or $50 a year. The link is in the show notes for more on the Locked on Wild Every Day Club. And if you want to take it even a step further than that, all access will bring you exclusive content as well as an opportunity to text one onone with yours truly. links in the show notes for either of those elite tiers of additional Lockdown Wild content. So, we’re talking about plugging holes and the resiliency that the Minnesota Wild have shown on offense especially, but don’t overlook what they’ve done on defense, too. Uh last night the line combination of Yakov Trenion, Danilov and Vladimir Turenko as we all expected was responsible for three goals for zero goals against. Hey Seth, every line last night was responsible for zero goals against. Thanks for stating the obvious. You’re welcome Seth. Um, three goals for zero goals against Vladimir Tureno with a multi-goal game. Denilov with a multi-point effort in last night’s game. And I don’t know what the staying power is for a line like that for the um I’m calling it the Russian roulette line. Tren, Terasenko, and Yurov. I don’t know what the staying power is for that combination because I’m going to be honest, it’s it’s a little odd. It’s a little odd fit. You know, you think of Yakov Trenion as more of a defensive forward, but they got it done last night. They got it done last night. They were opportunistic. They scored goals in close. Tren had the uh Terasenko that is had the just disgusting feed to Denilov for his goal. Uh the point that I want to get to though is this. It doesn’t matter who I if you have a second line that is producing by playing that combination of Eurovv Tereno and Trenion and having them produce the Minnesota Wild were able to throw Carroll Capri off Juel Erikson and Matt Baldy out there as a line combination and then as an opponent you’re like what are we supposed to do? Who are we supposed to throw our attention at? This line is scoring, but you’ve got Carell Capri off and Matt Baldi on the ice together. It creates lineup nightmares. And you want to talk about one of the big things that has led to the turnaround for this Minnesota Wild team in addition to the defense absolutely uh just turning into Fort Knox and the defense uh and the goalending being just absolutely rock solid for the Minnesota Wild over that uh over that category. One of the other key pieces to this is that the Wild have started to get contributions more consistently throughout the lineup. And when you have a second line that can complement your first line, then your opponents have to choose. They can’t throw all of their defensive resources at both. They got to choose. They have to pick. They got to pick their poison. And you got to live with your choice. If you try to limit Capri off in Baldi and the second line beats you, that’s that’s your bet. That’s your bet and you made it. And then the next time you say, “Well, we can’t let that second line beat us and you get gouged by Capri off and Baldi.” And then if the lineup starts to struggle or if the second line starts to become inconsistent, then you detach the uh you detach the uh the Megazord of Capri off and Baldi and you let them run their their own lines because Matt Baldy has this year turned into a line driver himself. He we saw glimpses of it in the past, but Matt Baldi is a full-fledged line driver this season. And so you’ve got Capri off who can drive his own line. We know that. We’ve seen that time and time again. But Matt Baldy now being a line driver himself, it makes it so that if they have to split those two up, you can you can have two lines that are Revan and Human on uh on all cylinders. Uh just a fun note, since November 1st, they uh the Minnesota Wild 173 and two in 22 games. They are behind just the Colorado Avalanche. We’re 171 and three. So the Wild are one point back. They are one point ahead of the Dallas Stars. Who’d have thought that the top three teams in the Central division would all be within a point of each other for essentially six weeks, seven [snorts] weeks, 20 plus games a piece. and uh they’re all separated by a point. But in that span, the Minnesota Wild, they’ve scored seven they’ve scored 70 goals. So they’re at 3.18 per game. They’ve given up 39 goals in the last 22 games. That’s 1.77 goals per game. They got six shutouts in that span. They’re plus 31 in the goal department since November 1st. And that is because of the depth. That’s because you got two lines that can push, that can drive. And uh that that is a nightmare for your opponents. That’s a nightmare for your opponents to be able to have to try to choose who to guard. And you know, you add Quinn Hughes into this. You sprinkle him in to this mix. And not only now are you getting more production from the forward group, but now the production on defense is going to improve as well. Before Quinn Hughes came in, the Wilds were near the bottom, if not at the bottom of the list as far as points from their defenseman goes. Quinn Hughes is going to massively impact that. And then you have blue line, you have blue line pairings that can step in and can impact the offense as well. you you’re just creating a situation where the opponent is not going to be able to cover everything. It’s a leak in a dam and you’re trying to plug one and another pops up and before you know it you you’ve got water everywhere. Uh and that is I think a reason that this Wild team is just elevated to a level where they are substantially more dangerous than they were. And uh as the lineup gets healthier, you know, we’re we’re going to see that continue. But another piece to this, another piece to the Minnesota Wild being able to, you know, get this production from the lineup is because we’ve started to see some of the depth pieces make impacts. some of the guys that were in Iowa to start the year that we we weren’t sure if they were going to be consistent contributors or were going to be able to help. Well, now they’re starting to. So, we’ll take a look at some of the names that were signed in the off season to provide additional organizational depth that are doing just that as we finish today’s episode of Lock 10 Wild after this. Today’s episode of Lock 10 Wild is brought to you by FanDuel. NFL Sundays move incredibly fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not just watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. We’ve been rolling here over the uh the last handful of games. We had Carrill Capri off for an anytime goal against the Washington Capitals. That delivered. So, now we got to pick who should be on the list for an anytime goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Well, I’m gonna go to the new guy. I’m gonna go to Quinn Hughes for an anytime goal against the Washington Capitals. Like I have previously said, everydayers know this. Well, anytime goal scoring is the safest, most sure bet that you can go with in the NHL. Then that way you can set which player you think will score and just watch the game and hope that you’re right. It’s absolutely the best way to enjoy NHL games on FanDuel. So, if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and now so can you. Final segment of today’s episode of Locked on Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. Again, make sure to like and subscribe on all of your favorite platforms, whether it be Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. Make sure to follow along so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. So, we’ve been talking about the lineup filling holes, players stepping up to uh to increase production in key spots in the lineup, and now we need to talk about some of the uh depth guys that in previous seasons just really didn’t give you much. And now it seems like we’re getting at least some semblance of what uh what they are going to bring to the table every time they’re out on the ice. So, let’s start here in the month of December. We’ve seen a couple of main stays as far as down in the lineup go with the injuries that have uh plagued the lineup. We’ve seen Nicholas Abbe Kubel get uh some play the last couple of games. We’ve seen Tyler Pitlick get a good amount of play here in the month of December with Marcus Felino out of the lineup, with Matt Sarelloo out of the lineup. These guys are are getting opportunities and they are certainly cashing in on them. Tyler Pitlick with the goal in the uh the first seven games of the uh of the month. But in addition to the goal that Pitlick scored, he’s got 56 hits in 22 games, he also has only given it away four times. and uh he’s got 17 shots on goal, 30 shot attempts in uh in the 22 games that he’s played. So, he is in the roughly seven, eight minutes he plays, he’s giving you shots, he’s giving you attempts, and uh he is he’s making an impact. You know, uh, the reason that I keep kind of showing frustration in the the Ben Jones minutes that that we see from the Wild is because you’re just you’re not getting it doesn’t seem like you’re getting a ton other than the faceoff wins, which don’t get me wrong, the faceoff wins are important, and he is winning faceoffs at a 57.8% clip. The faceoffs are important, but I kind of want to see more than just that. I want to see more of an impact than just the um just the faceoffs. Like throw your body around, lodge some hits. That’s that’s I think what what separates like a Pitlick from what we’re seeing from uh from Ben Jones. uh as far as you know the the bottom line quote unquote of uh Jones Sturm and Pitlick uh they did not factor in any scoring but you know you’re you’re getting just good defensive production from those guys and even Abbe Kubel playing a third line role with Ryan Hartman and Marcus Felino that line did their job as far as shutting down the Washington Capitals. They played the most minutes of any of the combinations, 11 minutes 21 seconds together against Washington. They allowed six total shots on goal. Uh they had a expected goals percentage of 65.1%. Cory percentage of 62.1%. So, they were possessing the puck and they were the as far as the expected goals percentage goes, they had the highest group of the entire any of the line combinations that the Wild utilized in the game. So, you know, we we think of that, we expect that from guys like Marcus Feno and Ryan Hartman, but for uh Abe Cubell to hop in and to be able to help add to that, that’s that’s vital. And last year just didn’t get that type of impact from those guys. I mean, you you you saw from the likes of, you know, Devin Shore and uh Ben Jones and others. We just saw minutes, but not a lot in the way of production or even attempts, even shots generated. And it just it feels like the guys that are playing those lower in the lineup roles this year are doing a much better job of being able to have an impact on the game, which takes pressure off of the other lines up in the lineup. Now, as long as the scoring is is going, that that is a great that’s a great problem to have and that’s a great uh ability to have uh lines lower in the lineup that can just focus on, you know, the other side of the puck. And so I think that’s another way to kind of underscore what we’ve seen from this Wild team in the transformation is just we’ve seen what it looks like when you have two lines that are capable and you get production from other parts of the lineup in addition to just those two lines. It just everything else slots into place and order is order is restored. and guys not having to play out of position are just in much better positions to succeed than what we’ve seen over the last couple of years where you have to elevate guys cuz you just don’t have anybody that can fill uh and and now this year that that has not been nearly as much of an issue uh as it was previously. Uh just a couple of uh quick notes on the uh I wanted to talk about just the absolute craziness at the top of the Central Division as we uh finish the show here today. I put this out on X. probably have seen this, but just look at the stretch that the top three and not only the top three in the Central, but these three teams are near the top of the list in the entirety of the NHL standings. Colorado Avalanche may never lose again. The Dallas Stars, they are keeping pace. The Minnesota Wilds are keeping pace. One point separates each of the three for over a calendar month. But beyond that, the rest of the division is falling behind. The Utah Mammoth, they picked up a crucial win. They have 37 points, but they are two game. The Minnesota Wild have two games in hand on the Utah Mammoth. Then you’ve got the St. Louis Blues who just beat the Winnipeg Jets, the uh Blues in the five spot in the division, Winnipeg in the sixth spot, Chicago in the seven, and Nashville in the eight. And your wild card teams right now, the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks. Utah is in a virtual tie, but Utah is way ahead in the games department. St. Louis is four points back of all of the wildcard teams. Winnipeg is five points back. Winnipeg did just get Connor Halabuk back and they lost one- nothing. We’re starting to see a separation as to the teams that are going to be battling for playoff spots and the teams that are going to be in similar situations to where Vancouver was where they got to make some moves. Now, we will keep an eye on the uh potential for additional trades. We’re going to talk a little bit more about that with Alex coming up tomorrow. Uh, so I I just saw today that Bruce Budro said that he didn’t think the Minnesota Wild were done. Lou Nanny doesn’t think the Minnesota Wild are done. Several NHL insiders don’t think the Wild are done. Time will tell, folks. Time will tell. That’s going to do it for today’s episode of Locked Down Wild. Again, as mentioned, Alex Mleti joins us for tomorrow’s show, and we’re going to take a look at where the Minnesota Wild stack up, what the Minnesota Wilds still need, and u we’re going to just take a look at this threeheaded monster that has uh pushed themselves head and shoulders above the rest of the Western Conference. and uh to the point that there there are three teams that have started to elevate themselves above the entire rest of the NHL standings. That of course being the Colorado Avalanche, the Dallas Stars, and the Minnesota Wild. There are three teams that have more points in the Minnesota Wild. Two of them are in the Central Division. So, we’ll talk about that. Make sure to follow Locked on Wild on all of your favorite social media platforms as well, Locked on Wild, if you’re looking for uh more coverage throughout the week. If you need a last minute holiday gift or someone keeps asking what you want, make it easy. Ask for the Everydayer Club, add free episodes of this show, exclusive Discord server access, and more. Subscriptions can be gifted. You can find the link in the show notes. For those of you on video, we’ll send you to the first ever 247 National Lock Podcast Network YouTube channel. on audio. Make sure your second listen is NHL game night on Locked on NHL. That’s it for this edition of Locked on Wild. We’ll catch you for the next episode. We are your team every day, part of the Locked On podcast network.

Minnesota Wild showcase elite resilience as injuries test roster depth, but surprise stars keep the playoff hunt alive. Can Vladimir Tarasenko and the “Russian Roulette” line continue to spark offense while Quinn Hughes transforms the blue line?

Seth Toupal explores how the Wild maintain momentum despite key absences for Mats Zuccarello, Jonas Brodin, and Marcus Foligno. Discussion spotlights the emergence of Yakov Trenin, Danila Yurov, and fourth liners like Tyler Pitlick, along with crucial contributions from core players including Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy. Get insights on evolving line combinations, defensive improvements, and how Minnesota matches up in a fierce Central Division race against the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars. Plus, potential trade buzz and what fans can expect as the Wild climb the NHL standings.

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