Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1324324
emerge, but Parise is Parise and is the model, gritty goal scorer. Still betting he's there at the top at the end of the season. Russo's predicted leading scorer Ugh, I'm looking at last year's Minnesota Hockey Journal Wild preview, and let's just say I swung and missed on Zuccarello. Forget I wrote that he was "the type of playmaker that could replace the loss of Granlund." Hey, it M H J O N L I N E . C O M | J A N / F E B 2 0 2 1 30 Will Kevin Fiala be the gamebreaker Wild fans desperately crave? made sense because Zuccarello averaged almost 0.7 points per game during his Rangers tenure, and maybe he can show us the real Zuccarello this season. But if Fiala's healthy, he should be a shoo-in to lead the Wild in points. Ready to break out Don't want to go with a rookie because it 's unfair, especially when Guerin's trying to down- play expectations, but Kaprizov 's 23 years old, not a typical 18- or 19-year-old rookie, like poten- tially Rossi. So here's betting that Kaprizov steps in, quickly adjusts to the North American style and winds up in the Rookie of the Year conversation by sea- son's end. What must happen for the Wild to make the playoffs The NHL has placed the Wild in the temporarily realigned " West Division" with A naheim, A rizona, Colorado, Dallas, Los A ngeles, San Jose and Vegas. Well, if the top three teams from each division can make the play- offs, plus two wild-card teams, the Wild absolutely have a shot. Despite the changes, the Wild, to me, are still better than A naheim, A rizona, L.A. and San Jose. So, as usual, the Wild should find themselves on the verge of making the playoffs behind the class of this new divi- sion—Colorado, Vegas and Dallas. But, the Wild need to overcome a pretty blah group of centermen by getting great goal- tending, quality play from their top-four D, scoring from their wingers and bounce-backs from some of the disappointing sea- sons a year ago. Michael Russo writes for The Athletic. He's entering his 16th season covering the Wild and 26th covering the National Hockey League. He co-hosts the Worst Seats in the House podcast on talknorth.com and Straight From The Source podcast on The Athletic. Both podcasts can be heard wherever you get your pod- casts. Russo can be heard weekly on KFAN (100.3-FM) and seen throughout the hockey season on Fox Sports North and the NHL Network. Follow Russo on Twitter and Instagram at @RussoHockey. To subscribe to The Athletic at a discount, go to theathletic.com/ straightfromthesource. P R E S E N T E D B Y Russo's Rants Zach Parise hopes to eclipse 400 career NHL goals this season.