There are going to be a lot of new faces this season, as Louie Belpedio and Matt Bartkowksi both have moved on to other organizations. Belpedio signed a 2-way contract with Montreal and Bartkowski signed a PTO with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both had significant roles with Iowa the last 3 seasons, playing in the top 4 and at times on both special teams units. Additionally, depth defenseman Josh Atkinson and Matt Register signed in Europe, and Hunter Warner retired after a long stint with the organization that unfortunately ended with injury troubles. 

Minnesota’s prospect pipeline was very thin on defensive draft picks, but have made this a focus the last two years with the selections of Ryan O’Rourke, Daemon Hunt, Carson Lambos, and Jack Peart. The Wild will need some of these draft picks to hit, as they will be cap squeezed the next 4 years due to the contracts of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. But at least for one more year, Iowa’s defensive core will feature lots of veterans with O’Rourke, Hunt, and Lambos returning to juniors and Peart starting his college career with St. Cloud. 

With that, let’s take a look at the parts of a blue line that is going to be very skewed towards left shots, with Calen Addison the lone right shot under contract. 

Calen Addison

Age (October): 21

Contract: ELC, 2 years remaining

2020-21 Season: AHL Iowa 31GP 6G 16A, NHL Minnesota 3GP (plus 3GP playoffs 1A)

NHL Experience: 1 year (3GP) Minnesota

AHL Experience: 2 years (34GP 24P) Iowa, Wilkes-Barre

The Benn signing doesn’t completely eliminate Addison from earning a full-time NHL role (they could carry 8 defensemen or waive someone), but it significantly reduced the likelihood of it happening, especially on opening night. The Iowa Wild will certainly love Addison returning to Des Moines, as there is no one else currently under contract that can fill his role. As mentioned, he is the only right-shot defenseman and will quarterback Iowa’s top powerplay. With just half a season of pro experience, more time for Addison in a full-strength AHL is likely the right move to further develop his defensive game. In 2021-22, look for Addison to start the season as a top-pair defenseman with the Iowa Wild who will be looking to make the jump to the NHL. 

Dakota Mermis

Age (October): 27

Contract: NHL 2-way, 2 years remaining

2020-21 Season: NHL Minnesota 3GP

NHL Experience: 4 years (23GP 4P) Minnesota, New Jersey, Arizona

AHL Experience: 5 years (304GP 87P) Binghamton, Tucson, Springfield

In Mermis’ first year with the organization, he did not end up spending any time in Iowa as originally planned due to the taxi squad. As a result, he has only played in 3 professional games since March 2020. In his AHL career, he’s never been a huge point producer. His career season-high for goals in a season is 3 (in 18/19 and 19/20). In 2018-19 with Tucson, he has a career-high 21 assists and 24 points in 62 AHL games. Mermis has worn a letter for his AHL teams the last 3 seasons, including captaining Tucson in 2018-19. He is projected to be a big part of Iowa’s blue line this upcoming season, playing in all situations and potentially partnering with Addison on the top pair. 

Joe Hicketts

Age (October): 25

Contract: NHL 2-way, 2 years remaining

2020-21 Season: AHL Grand Rapids 32GP 1G 17A

NHL Experience: 3 years (22GP 5P) Detroit

AHL Experience: 5 years (286GP 118P) Grand Rapids 

Hicketts has spent his entire career with the Redwings organization after signing with them as an undrafted free agent. Despite not being drafted, Hicketts was a two-year captain of Victoria in the WHL and won a gold medal with Canada at the 2015 World Juniors. In his first professional season (2016-17), Hicketts won a Calder Cup with Grand Rapids and posted a career-high 34 points. In total, Hicketts has played in 29 career AHL playoff games and brings lots of experience to the Iowa lineup. He is just 5 feet 8 inches tall but is constantly described as a defender that is really tough to play against. Besides Addison, Hicketts and Mermis are the two likeliest defensemen to earn NHL call-ups during the season. Hicketts could be an option on Iowa’s 2nd powerplay unit. I expect Hicketts to be a consistent presence in one of Iowa’s top 4 defensive pairings, and it sounds like he has some experience playing the right side. 

Kevin Czuczman (pronounced “Churchman”)

Age (October): 30

Contract: NHL 2-way, 1 year remaining

2020-21 Season: AHL Wilkes Barre Scranton 28GP 4A, NHL Pittsburgh 2GP

NHL Experience: 2 years (15GP 2P) Pittsburgh, NY Islanders

AHL Experience: 7 years (402GP 124P) Wilkes Barre Scranton, Manitoba, Bridgeport

Czuczman is another new face in the organization, but is familiar with Bill Guerin and Tim Army from their time in Wilkes-Barre Scranton with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate. He has an interesting career path, with his first 13 professional games in 2014 being in the NHL with the Islanders. His next stint in the NHL did not come until 2021 when he played two games with Pittsburgh. The gap between games in the NHL included time spent in 3 different AHL cities and 9 games in the ECHL with the Florida Everblades in his first full professional season. His offensive production has declined in recent seasons, but I’ve read that he has improved his mobility and can play both the strong and weak side. For this season, he projects to be one of Iowa’s top 4 defensemen and be a valuable mentor to younger players. 

Jon Lizotte

Age (October): 26

Contract: NHL 2-way, 1 year remaining

2020-21 Season: AHL Wilkes-Barre Scranton 32GP 3G 6A

NHL Experience: None

AHL Experience: 3 years (94GP 28P) Wilkes-Barre Scranton

Like Czuczman, Lizotte comes to the Wild from the Penguins organization. Lizotte was originally signed by Bill Guerin late in the 2018-19 season (Guerin’s last with the Penguins) after finishing his NCAA career. While many of these minor-league signings are now made by Mike Murray, I have to imagine the connection with Guerin helps in some way. Despite being an older player, Lizotte doesn’t have much pro experience which means he doesn’t count towards the limit of 6 veterans that can dress for an AHL game. While the AHL was missing a lot of veterans last year due to the taxi squad, Lizotte was an alternate captain in just his 2nd full professional season. He is a native of Grand Forks, North Dakota (Iowa seems to always have a few from up there), and walked on at St. Cloud State after nearly giving up on his hockey career. He mostly played his off-side last year and should be an everyday player in Iowa’s lineup. 

Today, we looked at the top 5 defensemen that should be in Iowa’s lineup every night that they are on the roster and healthy. Keaton Thompson is the pretty obvious 6th player, but we are going to save him until part 2. Other players featured in part 2 will be Turner Ottenbreit, Doyle Somerby, Fedor Gordeev, and Riese Zmolek. Aside from Addison, the theme so far seems to be defensive-minded, left-shot defenseman that are good leaders for the younger players and will be solid AHL players. If Addison is called up, that will leave a big hole on the top powerplay and right side of the blueline. Here are some possible pairings for opening night:

Dakota Mermis (Vet) - Calen Addison

Kevin Czuczman (Vet) - Joe Hicketts (Vet)

Keaton Thompson/etc. - Jon Lizotte 

The start of the minor league hockey season is going to be here before you know it, and the first-ever lineup for the Iowa Heartlanders is starting to become clearer with their first ECHL contract signing announcement and another player signed to an AHL/ECHL contract by the Iowa Wild. 

Maybe it is just a coincidence, but the first player signed in Iowa Heartlanders franchise history ends in “hart”. Jake Linhart is a 25-year-old right-shot defenseman, who has 111 games of ECHL experience with the Adirondack Thunder. Linhart did not play in 2020-21 during the reduced ECHL season, so it has been a while since he has suited up for a game. 

Linhart also got 5 games of AHL experience in 2018-19 with the Hershey Bears. The Brookfield, Wisconsin native is already very familiar with the upper Midwest, playing for the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL and attending the University of Wisconsin. He played with former Wild forward Luke Kunin with the Badgers and was coached in Green Bay by former Iowa Wild bench boss Derek Lalonde. 

It sounds like Linhart is a defenseman that contributes at both the offensive and defensive ends of the ice. In his 111 ECHL games, he has scored 13 goals and posted 53 points. 

Two years ago, Linhart had a testicular cancer scare, but after surgery was able to put it behind him and still play in 51 games that season. He discusses this and other members of his family that has/are battling cancer in this video posted by the Heartlanders and this article by Jeff Johnson of The Gazette (Cedar Rapids). 

On Thursday, the Iowa Wild signed LW Nate Sucese to an AHL/ECHL 2-way contract. Sucese joins the organization after his rookie season with the Tucson Roadrunners, scoring 6 goals and adding 7 assists in 36 AHL games. 

The 25-year-old Fairport, New York native played 4 years with Penn State in the NCAA from 2016/17 to 2019/20. Sucese was a productive player every season with the Nittany Lions, including scoring 17 goals and adding 19 assists as a freshman. He went on to score 29, 37, and 38 points the next 3 years respectively. 

Sucese is already familiar with the state of Iowa, playing his USHL hockey with the Dubuque Fighting Saints. In his junior career with Dubuque, he scored 39 goals in 113 games over 2 full seasons (plus 2 games as an affiliate).

With his contract set up as a 2-way AHL/ECHL deal, he certainly could end up in eastern Iowa again with the Heartlanders. But with his background, it would not be surprising to see him spend time in Des Moines, and the Wild have had success developing undersized, college scorers in the past (Gerry Mayhew and Sam Anas). 

He joins Ryan Kuffner, Kris Bennett, Bryce Misley, and Bryce Gervais as forwards competing for AHL games on similar contracts. Hopefully, before the season we will be able to write something comparing these players. But there is lots of experience and the Heartlanders should benefit from at least a couple of them as top players in their lineup. 

Veteran defenseman Matt Bartkowski signed a professional tryout (PTO) for training camp with his hometown Pittsburgh Penguins late last week. Bartkowski was a mainstay on the top defensive pair of the Iowa Wild the last 3 seasons, mentoring young defensemen like Brennan Menell and Louie Belpedio. He played in 3 total NHL regular-season games with Minnesota (where he scored one goal), plus one playoff game in the Edmonton bubble. It sounds like he was quite the character in the locker room, and hoping he earns a contract somewhere in the Penguins organization. 

Finally, the KHL regular season is underway and two Minnesota Wild draft selections have begun their seasons. Entering play on Friday, 2020 2nd round pick Marat Khusnutdinov has scored 1 goal (first of his KHL career) and tallied 3 assists in 4 games played for SKA St. Petersburg. He was drafted as a center, but it sounds like he is playing on the wing. Even the highlights where he hasn’t scored have been impressive. Hopefully, the Wild can get him over to North America for next season once his KHL contract expires, and with his skating ability he shouldn’t be too far away from the NHL. 

The other prospect playing in the KHL is Matvey Guskov. His contract runs through the 2022-23 season, and I don’t think it’s likely we ever see him in Iowa. He was drafted out of the OHL’s London Knights, but as of last year he made the move back to his native Russia and has split time between the KHL, MHL, and VHL. Guskov also scored his first career KHL goal this week in his 2nd game of the season (4th KHL game overall). 

Looking forward to prospects camp next week and hopefully a few more ECHL signing announcements coming soon. The plan is to have a few more posts in the next week, so be on the lookout for those. Thank you for following and reading. 

Cam Talbot

20-21 Stats: 33GP .915SV% 2.63GAA 19-8-5 2SO (NHL Minnesota)

21-22 Projected Role: NHL Starting Goalie

After signing a 3-year contract with Minnesota in October, Talbot built off his bounce back 2019-20 with another strong season in 2021. Despite Talbot entering his age 34 season, Minnesota showed faith that he can remain a starting-caliber goalie, protecting him in the expansion draft over the younger Kaapo Kahkonen. While the decision didn’t end up mattering (as Seattle took defenseman Carson Soucy), it would have been hard to find a replacement for Talbot at a similar price. 

Talbot missed time early in the 2021 season due to an injury and then time on the COVID protocol list. But in late March and throughout April, Talbot was the clear-cut starter despite the team comfortably in a playoff position. The heavy workload late in the season seemed to benefit Talbot in the playoffs, posting a .923SV% and 2 shutouts in the 7 game series vs Vegas. When Talbot and Kahkonen are both healthy in 21-22, it will be interesting to follow how the coaching staff splits games in a full-length season. 

Kaapo Kahkonen 

20-21 Stats: 24GP .902SV% 2.88GAA 16-8-0 2SO (NHL Minnesota)

21-22 Projected Role: NHL Backup Goalie

One of the themes of Kahkonen’s professional career to this point has been inconsistency. In his first AHL season in 2018-19, there were times he was outstanding, posting a league-leading 6 shutouts in just 39 games. But especially late in the season, there were times he looked unplayable, including some 3rd-period meltdowns. He did not appear in any Calder Cup playoff games in 2019, and in 2020 the postseason was unfortunately canceled. 

In Kahkonen’s 2nd AHL season (2019-20), he was outstanding from start to finish and was named the AHL’s Best Goaltender. Hopefully, we will see a similar trend in his 2nd full NHL season. Kahkonen won 9 straight starts from February 18th to March 16th last season. Kahkonen lost his next 3 starts on March 20th, March 31st, and April 9th (which were very spread out despite the recent month-long win streak). 

Kahkonen’s worst two games of 2021 came in St. Louis, allowing 9 goals on 38 shots on April 9th and 7 goals on 27 shots on May 13th (his last game of the season). While you can say those are 2 outliers (and he was forced to stay in the whole game), it shows how high and how low he can be throughout a season. This will be an important year for Kahkonen, as he needs to earn the confidence in the coaching staff to be able to play on any given night. 

Andrew Hammond

20-21 Stats: Did not play (NHL Minnesota - Taxi Squad)

21-22 Projected Role: AHL Starting Goalie

Hammond signed with Minnesota just before 2021 training camp opened, as Stalock was dealing with the previously mentioned health scare. He spent the entire 2021 season as Minnesota’s third goalie on the taxi squad and only dressed for a handful of games as a backup. 

It made sense for Minnesota to bring back a reliable third goalie for the upcoming season, as Hunter Jones and Dereck Baribeau are both still young and have some question marks. In 2021, the AHL was certainly not at full strength due to the NHL taxi squads. The shortened AHL season was a good chance to get Jones and Baribeau in games, but neither has shown they are ready to take on a full load or be an NHL recall option. 

Hammond should be used in a similar role as he was in the 2018-19 season with the Iowa Wild. I would expect him to start at least half the games (if healthy), and be a mentor to the young goalies. Keep in mind that Hammond has not played in an official game at any professional level since March 6th, 2020 (with the Rochester Americans), so there will probably be some rust to shake off initially. 

Hunter Jones

20-21 Stats: 19GP .886SV% 3.50GAA 9-9-1 2SO (AHL Iowa)

21-22 Projected Role: AHL Backup / ECHL Goalie

Jones’ professional career got off to a very rough start in the 2021 season, allowing 7 goals on opening night against Texas (February 5th) and 9 goals in 2 periods in Chicago during his 2nd game (February 20th). In his first 9 games (pre-March 30th), Jones allowed 46 goals and posted a .831SV%, allowing at least 3 goals in every appearance. 

Normally, a 20-year-old goalie that struggles this much wouldn’t continue to get AHL games. But with Hammond on the taxi squad and Baribeau injured or on the taxi squad, the Wild were forced to stick with Jones. Journeyman Joel Rumpel got back-to-back starts March 27th vs Grand Rapids and March 30th in Texas, and this break is where Jones’ season turned around. 

Jones played 3 games in 4 nights in Texas, stopping 93 of 96 shots and earning the AHL Player of the Week award. From March 31st to the end of the season, Jones went 8-2-0 allowing just 18 goals with a .938SV%, including winning his last 4 starts. As a big goalie that relies on positioning, getting his quickness to AHL standards was the biggest challenge for the former 2nd round pick in 2021. 

Hoping to build off the regained confidence in the 2nd half of last season, Jones should be the favorite to be the primary AHL backup to Hammond in 21-22. Keep in mind that he will still be very young (21 on opening night), and the most important thing will be getting him playing time. With the new ECHL affiliation less than a 2-hour drive away, this could be another opportunity to get Jones in more games. 

Dereck Baribeau 

20-21 Stats: 10GP .914SV% 2.54GAA 6-1-2 0SO (AHL Iowa)

21-22 Projected Role: AHL Backup / ECHL Goalie

When Baribeau was available for Iowa in 2021, the 2nd year pro was outstanding. But like the last few seasons, he struggled to stay on the ice. In 2018-19, his last year in juniors, Baribeau played in just 21 total QMJHL games between two teams. In 2019-20, he played in 15 ECHL games with the Allen Americans and 4 AHL games with Iowa. 

This year, he did not play in any games in March due to an injury and time spent on Minnesota’s taxi squad. On April 23rd against Rockford, he suffered a concussion on a collision late in the 1st period which ended his season. What made Baribeau successful this year was his size (6 feet 6 inches tall), and his ability to compete and challenge shooters. 

Looking ahead to the upcoming season, it will be the last year of Baribeau’s entry-level contract he signed way back in September of 2017 as an undrafted rookie free agent. His performance in 2021 certainly earned him more AHL games, but I think Jones will have the first crack at the backup spot due to his draft position. But both young goalies need to play as many games as possible this year, in the AHL or the ECHL. 

Trevin Kozlowski

20-21 Stats: 20GP .922SV% 1.91GAA 14-4-1 2SO (NCAA Army), 1GP with Iowa Wild (3GA on 22 shots)

21-22 Projected Role: ECHL Goalie

Kozlowski was signed to an ATO with the Iowa Wild late last season and made his professional debut in a loss to Texas in the season finale. He was signed this summer to an AHL/ECHL contract and is expected to be one of the main goalies for the Iowa Heartlanders (ECHL). 

His numbers in college certainly earned him an AHL contract, and this means he can only play for the Iowa Wild and Iowa Heartlanders (and not be signed to a PTO by another AHL team). If everyone is healthy, I would expect either Baribeau or Jones to be with the Heartlanders most of the time. But Kozlowski should still see plenty of game action and be an option for the AHL if needed.

That’s it for the professional goalies in North America, but it’s important to also discuss 2021 1st round pick Jesper Wallstedt. There was some talk after he was drafted about moving to the CHL or finding another SHL team, since Lulea brought back one of the top SHL goalies. But he has still been playing for them in the preseason, so it looks like he will stay there for now. 

As an 18-year-old in a professional league, Wallstedt put up very respectable numbers in a professional league last season (22GP .908SV% 2.23GAA 12-10-0). Hopefully he gets a good number of starts this year, setting him up to come over to Iowa as soon as 2022-23. This would put him in a position to reach the NHL in a couple of years once Talbot’s contract is up, and hopefully Kahkonen or Jones can help bridge that gap. 

Goalie prospects are never a sure thing, so it is always a good idea to have as many options as possible. With Kahkonen’s encouraging development and the high draft choices of Wallstedt and Jones, Minnesota has come a long way in recent years in developing their once non-existent goaltending pipeline.

Prospects camp and the scrimmages against Chicago are just two weeks away, and the first NHL preseason game is September 25th in St. Louis. As Michael Russo pointed out, this is just a few days after the start of training camp, so expect a very young lineup for game 1. 

In the meantime, the main thing we will be keeping an eye on are ECHL contract signing announcements by the Iowa Heartlanders. There are also prospects playing in Europe, whose seasons are now underway. 

Iowa Wild sign Bryce Gervais to AHL/ECHL contract

On Monday, the Iowa Wild announced the signing of 29-year-old Bryce Gervais to an AHL/ECHL contract for the 2021-22 season. Gervais is an undersized left-shot forward who can play both wing and center, per his Elite Prospects page (keep in mind that these positions are sometimes outdated). 

Gervais has 3 seasons and 106 games of AHL experience from 2015-16 to 2017-18, all with the Chicago Wolves. His best year came in his first full pro season (2016-17), scoring 13 goals and adding 8 assists in 60 games played.

Gervais has spent the last 3 seasons in Europe, averaging a point a game between the SL and the DEL2. Before turning pro, he played 4 seasons in the NCAA with Minnesota State (Mankato). 

In addition to Gervais, Iowa has previously signed forwards Ryan Kuffner, Kris Bennett, and Bryce Misley, defenseman Riese Zmolek, and goaltender Trevin Kozlowski to similar AHL/ECHL deals. These contracts pay players different amounts, depending on if they are playing in the AHL or the ECHL. 

Players signed to these deals are usually expected to be top ECHL players, with the opportunity to be called up to the AHL as needed. They can only play for the Iowa Wild and Iowa Heartlanders, unlike players under standard ECHL contracts who can be signed to a PTO by any AHL team (regardless of affiliation agreement). 

Hunter Warner and Zach Palmquist Announce Retirement 

After 6 seasons in Des Moines, defenseman Hunter Warner announced his retirement from professional hockey over the weekend. He will be pursuing a professional boxing career with his brother Colt and will be trained by his dad (Jeff).

After being signed as an undrafted free agent, Warner spent his entire pro career with Iowa. He is 9th on the franchise's all-time games played list (193) and 2nd on the penalty minutes list (211), behind Kurtis Gabriel. 

Warner really struggled to stay healthy the last few years, with shoulder injuries limiting him to just 27 games in 2019-20 and only a single game in 2021 (opening night). Warner was extremely popular in the Des Moines community and in the locker room, and we wish him the best of luck in his next endeavor. 

Also retiring this week was 30-year-old Zach Palmquist, who played 216 games with Iowa from 2015 to 2018. After playing with Iowa, Palmquist went east to Lehigh Valley (as many have done) and then spent 2 seasons playing in Sweden. Palmquist is also a former Minnesota State Maverick and Waterloo Blackhawk. We also wish Palmquist well and hope he enjoys the time with his family. 

Additionally

• On Friday afternoon the Heartlanders unveiled their first jerseys. The white jersey will be worn at home during the first half, before switching to the dark at home after the all-star break. Both jerseys feature the primary logo on the crest and the pink flower logo as a shoulder patch. 

• The Regina Pats of the WHL announced on Wednesday that 18-year-old LW Zack Stringer will be attending Minnesota Wild training camp on a tryout. I would expect to see him participate in the prospect scrimmages against Chicago. 

• Former Iowa Wild and Allen Americans defenseman Matt Register is currently playing with the Cardiff Devils of the EIHL in the Champions Hockey League tournament. Through 3 games, Cardiff is 1-2 and has been outscored by a combined 13-6. Register leads all players in the CHL in TOI per game at 30:06 (it sounds like Cardiff has been playing pretty short-handed). 

In case you missed it, be sure to check out our post from Tuesday on the Minnesota Wild training camp roster battles. Early next week, be looking for a feature on the goaltending situation throughout the organization. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

As the NHL roster currently sits, Minnesota has 19 players signed to 1-way contracts. This number does not include unsigned RFA Kirill Kaprizov, but we will assume his contract gets done before the start of training camp. 

Here are the 11 forwards, 7 defenseman, and 2 goalies locked in (the lines are mostly based on last season for now, more to come on that):

Kaprizov - Rask - Zuccarello 

Fiala - Hartman - _______

Greenway - Eriksson Ek - Foligno 

Sturm - Gaudreau - Bjugstad

Goligoski - Spurgeon 

Brodin - Dumba

Kulikov - Merrill

Benn

Talbot

Kahkonen 

NHL teams typically carry 22 or 23 players on their roster at all times, with at least one extra forward and one extra defenseman. So that leaves Minnesota with at least 2 forward spots to fill. 

Since the goalies are set, at least at the NHL level, let’s start with the defense, which should be more straightforward. 

The first draft of this post was written before the Minnesota Wild signed veteran defenseman Jordie Benn to a 1-year contract on Friday afternoon. Like Jon Merrill, this is a 1 way deal under a million dollars. 

Before the signing, it looked like the Wild were going to give 21-year-old Calen Addison a real chance to win the RD3 spot, with Jon Merrill as the 7th defenseman. If Addison needed more time in Iowa to start the season, that would have meant Merrill in the lineup and Dakota Mermis or Joe Hicketts as the extra defenseman. 

This signing does not prevent Minnesota from putting Calen Addison into the lineup, and it gives them more depth in case of injuries or performance. At least to start the season, I would guess the Wild will carry 13 rather than 14 forwards on the roster. This would still leave one opening to carry 8 defensemen if needed. Also, while the contracts of Merrill and Benn are 1 way, they could still easily be waived and sent to Iowa if a roster spot needs to be created down the line.

In his first full professional season, Addison played in 3 NHL regular-season games, as well as 3 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs replacing the injured Carson Soucy. Spending most of his season with Iowa, Addison was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team and the Central Division All-Star Team. While Addison has the offensive tools to play in the NHL immediately, it is his defense that may need more refinement in the minors. 

It is also noteworthy that Addison is the only right-shot defenseman currently in the organization (including AHL contracts), outside of Jared Spurgeon and Matt Dumba. Iowa could certainly use a mobile, right-shot defenseman who can quarterback the top power play, with plenty of left-shot, stay-at-home defensemen currently projected on their roster. 

While their chances of making the NHL opening night roster each took a significant hit with the Benn signing, Dakota Mermis and Joe Hicketts are two depth defensemen who could be the first options for NHL callups. Mermis is returning for two more seasons after spending all of 2021 on the taxi squad, playing in just 3 games. He has 23 career games of NHL experience with Minnesota, Arizona, and New Jersey.

Hicketts is a 25-year-old defenseman who is joining the organization from Detroit and Grand Rapids. He is listed at 5 feet 8 inches tall but is constantly described as someone who plays bigger than his size. Hicketts has won a gold medal at the World Juniors with Canada in 2015 and a Calder Cup with Grand Rapids in 2017. Minnesota also signed veterans Jon Lizotte and Kevin Czuczman to 2-way contracts this offseason. 

The Jordie Benn acquisition is a completely reasonable depth signing, in that it still allows Calen Addison the opportunity to force his way into the NHL as the season progresses. The one gripe I have with this is that Brennan Menell could have been the perfect placeholder for Calen Addison. But it’s obvious Menell and Bill Guerin did not see eye to eye, so hopefully Menell is successful with Toronto. 

Now, let’s take a look at a handful of forwards on 2-way contracts who will compete for the last couple of forward spots. 

Matt Boldy

After tearing up Iowa for the first 14 games of his pro career, Minnesota Wild fans were furious that Boldy did not get a chance to make his NHL debut before or during the playoffs. Boldy was prepared to enter the lineup in case Marcus Foligno couldn’t play, but that never came to fruition. With the departure of underwhelming forward Marcus Johansson in free agency, there is a gaping hole on the opposite wing of Kevin Fiala. What helps is that Boldy has spent a lot of time on the right wing, so Fiala can remain on the left wing (where he ended last season), if needed.

Boldy’s biggest strengths that were evident during his time in Iowa were his size, ability to retrieve pucks, and the release on his shot. His pace is probably the main area for improvement, but the same thing was said about Alex Tuch (which has turned out to be absolutely false). Sometimes, players who are a level above their competition aren’t pushed to play faster, and playing with Fiala can help Boldy bring out this area of his game. 

Hopefully, Boldy has had a strong offseason and comes to camp in position to win this job. Otherwise, Fiala likely ends up playing with more checking-minded forwards (Ryan Hartman, Frederick Gaudreau, etc.)

Marco Rossi

The Wild’s 2020 1st round pick has had an uphill battle throughout 2021, after complications from COVID-19. I remain skeptical that he will make the opening night roster, after having very little game action since March 2020 and Guerin’s handling of prospects so far. But he does have a head start due to his participation in the Olympic Qualifiers, and his work ethic is never in question. This team still desperately needs center help, and Joel Eriksson Ek and Marco Rossi centering the Kaprizov and Fiala lines sure looks a lot better than Victor Rask and Ryan Hartman. It’s still likely that we see Rossi start the year in Iowa, but it shouldn’t be for long if he shows he is up to speed. 

Kyle Rau

Dean Evason showed a lot of trust in Kyle Rau during the 2021 season. His 14 NHL games played in the regular season were his highest in a season since 2016-17, when he played in 24 games with the Florida Panthers. Rau also dressed for a playoff game against Vegas, and saw time on the penalty kill. He played the game hard and did what coaches want out of a 4th line player, despite a lack of offensive production (just 2 assists). There is a decent chance that Rau opens the season as the 13th forward, so that a younger player can be sent to Iowa to play every game with big minutes. If Rau does end up in Iowa, he will be counted on for veteran leadership and offensive production in a top 6 role. 

Connor Dewar

Dewar was a 2018 3rd round pick by Minnesota who had a great career with Everett in the WHL. As a rookie in the AHL in 2019-20, Dewar started the year as a frequent healthy scratch or was on the 4th line playing with the likes of Cody McLeod and Mike Liambas. As he got more comfortable as a pro, his game and role grew considerably throughout the middle of the season. By the time the season was canceled in March, he was seeing regular time on both special teams and was on Iowa’s most consistent line with Brandon Duhaime and Dmitri Sokolov. He continued his development in 2021 as one of Iowa’s top forwards and saw more responsibility due to the NHL taxi squads. 

Dewar has played almost exclusively center with Iowa, but could project as more of a left wing in the NHL. He’s smaller, not as fast, and much younger, but I could see him developing into a Nico Sturm role in the near future. Dewar is still a long shot to make the club out of camp, but should be one of the first injury call-ups when needed. 

Brandon Duhaime

Like Dewar, Brandon Duhaime will be entering his third professional season. Duhaime is a few years older, having played with Providence in the NCAA. He was recently awarded a two-year contract extension, including a one-way deal in 2022-23. This means that the organization views him as very close to contributing in the NHL. 

In 2021, Duhaime started off very slow in terms of offensive production and missed time with an injury early in the season. His role in the NHL will likely be a bottom 6 winger and penalty killer, where he excelled with Iowa this season. Some more development in the AHL with an offensive role will help his long-term development, but expect to see Duhaime get at least a taste of the NHL in 2021-22. 

While a lot can change between now and opening night, I think the most likely lineup looks something like this: 

Kaprizov - Eriksson Ek - Zuccarello 

Fiala - Gaudreau - Boldy

Greenway - Hartman - Foligno

Sturm - Rask - Bjugstad

Rau

Goligoski - Spurgeon 

Brodin - Dumba

Kulikov - Merrill 

Benn

Talbot

Kahkonen

It sounds like they want to give Eriksson Ek a chance to play in more of an offensive role, so I expect him to center either Kaprizov or Fiala. Whoever centers the other line is likely a placeholder for Rossi, and I went with Gaudreau for now. If Eriksson Ek is moved up, I expect either Hartman or Sturm to take his spot on the 3rd line. Sturm and Bjugstad seemed to really play well together last season, so I kept them together on the 4th line, though I would like to see Sturm more in the middle. 

In the coming weeks, be looking out for breakdowns on the minor league lineups, special teams units, and the goalies. 

IA Wild 2021 Season Awards

MN Wild Prospect Rankings - June 2021

2021 Offseason Transactions

Wild / Heartlanders Affiliation Announcement

Resigning Likelihoods

5 Wild related pre expansion draft polls

Carson Soucy Expansion Selection

AHL Schedule 2021-22

2021 NHL Draft

Free Agency Preview 2021

Gerry Fleming Hired as HC of Heartlanders

Assistant coaches hired for IA Wild and Heartlanders

AHL 2022 Expanded Playoff Explanation

WILD WEEKLY (Offseason Editions)

July 2nd, 2021

July 9th, 2021

July 16th, 2021

July 23rd, 2021

July 30th, 2021

August 6th, 2021

August 13th, 2021

August 20th, 2021

August 27th, 2021