Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1171526
PROJECTED FORWARDS LINES: Jason Zucker-Eric Staal- Mats Zuccarello Zach Parise-Luke Kunin- Kevin Fiala Ryan Donato-Mikko Koivu- Jordan Greenway Marcus Foligno-Joel Eriksson Ek-Ryan Hartman POSSIBLE EXTRAS: Victor Rask, Nico Sturm, J.T. Brown, Gerry Mayhew PROJECTED DEFENSE PAIRS: Ryan Suter-Matt Dumba Jonas Brodin-Jared Spurgeon Nick Seeler-Greg Pateryn SEVENTH DEFENSEMAN: Brad Hunt PROJECTED GOALIES: Devan Dubnyk Alex Stalock POSSIBLE EXTRAS: Kaapo Kahkonen, Mat Robson O C T O B E R 2 0 1 9 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M 29 THE LINEUP All teams are optimistic heading into the season and the Wild think they can surprise a lot of people despite a tough start to their schedule... The To-Do List Guerin has a lot on his plate. He'll need to try to convince defen- seman Jared Spurgeon, who enters the last year of his contract, to commit to the Wild long-term. He'll need to fly to Russia in an attempt to become the Wild's third GM to establish a relationship with prized prospect Kirill Kaprizov, whom the Wild want to bring over to the NHL next season. He'll need to decide coach Bruce Boudreau's future. He, too, is in the last year of his contract. And he'll need to really evaluate what he has in an attempt to start to put his mark on his new franchise. All teams are optimistic heading into the season and the Wild think they can sur- prise a lot of people despite a tough start to their schedule with 13 of their first 18 games on the road. "We've got some very good NHL hockey players and I was telling somebody last night, 'People are writing us off way too early,'" Boudreau said. The Crystal Ball RUSSO'S PREDICTED LE ADING GOAL SCORER: Parise turned 35 in July and is at a crossroads. He led the Wild with 28 goals and 61 points last season and when healthy is still as productive as ever and the Wild's best scorer. But he badly wants to win a Stanley Cup while he still is young enough to make an impact. This past summer, in a feature in The Athletic the day before his birthday, Parise sound- ed the alarms that he's very worried the Wild are entering a rebuilding situation after last year's trades. While Parise very much wants to win in Minnesota, with six years left on his contract, this could be the first time in his career that Parise would at least entertain a trade if it were to the perfect situation. Parise controls that possibility though because he has a full no-move clause. Nevertheless, because of his age and $7.5+-million cap hit, it's a difficult trade to make. So Parise should be back and if healthy very likely will lead the Wild in scoring.