Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1324324
Guerin's objective is solely to deliver the State of Hockey a Stanley Cup-winning team. So, Guerin felt it was time to shake things up by get- ting a new face in goal (Cam Talbot), changing the face of the franchise by not bringing back longtime captain Mikko Koivu and working to make the team younger, faster and, frankly, more flexible by compiling a roster of numerous players in the last year of their contracts. "Why have we been falling short?" Guerin won- dered aloud on The Athletic's Straight From the Source podcast in August. "There's something rooted here that's not working. … It's something in the cul- ture, and we need to change it." Guerin, who added, "We can't live in the past," hopes to build through the draft by adding to a couple quality draft classes in a row (Matt Boldy, Adam Beckman, Alex Khovanov, etc.) with his own picks like this past October when the Wild added Marco Rossi, Marat Khusnutdinov, Ryan O'Rourke, Daemon Hunt and Pavel Novak to the crop of prospects. Beyond letting Koivu leave for the Columbus Blue Jackets as a free agent, Guerin traded Eric Staal, Devan Dubnyk, Luke Kunin and Ryan Donato from a team that in the previous year also traded longtime key fixtures Zucker, Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund and Charlie Coyle. So, is this roster makeover a true "rebuild?" Do the Wild still expect to be a contender next season? Or, both? Yes, yes and yes again, Guerin says. P R E S E N T E D B Y Russo's Rants M H J ON L I N E . C O M | J A N / F E B 2 0 2 1 28 THE LINEUP PROJECTED FORWARDS LINES: Kirill Kaprizov / Marcus Johansson / Kevin Fiala Zach Parise / Joel Eriksson Ek / Mats Zuccarello* Jordan Greenway-Nick Bonino-Nick Bjugstad Marcus Foligno / Nico Sturm / Ryan Hartman Vying for spot: Marco Rossi Possible extra: Victor Rask / Gerry Mayhew PROJECTED DEFENSE PAIRS: Ryan Suter / Jared Spurgeon Jonas Brodin / Matt Dumba Carson Soucy-Greg Pateryn / Brad Hunt Seventh defenseman: Brad Hunt / Greg Pateryn Vying for spot: Louie Belpedio PROJECTED GOALIES: Cam Talbot Alex Stalock* Third goalie: Kaapo Kahkonen "Every time we step on the ice, I expect us to win. And I expect us to compete for a championship." – Bill Guerin Photo / Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images *Will start the year on injured reserve