Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1546920
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ROSTER PROJECTED FORWARD LINES ADDITIONS SUBTRACTIONS Kirill Kaprizov / Ryan Hartman / Maxim Shabanov Blake Coleman / Joel Eriksson Ek / Matt Boldy Danila Yurov / Michael McCarron / Bobby Brink Marcus Foligno / Nick Foligno / Yakov Trenin / Nico Sturm LW Mats Zuccarello LW Marcus Johansson RW Vladimir Tarasenko D Jake Middleton D Jeff Petry LW/RW Robby Fabbri LW Blake Coleman D Olli Maatta RW Maxim Shabanov G Calvin Pickard Russo's Rants Photos / Minnesota Wild/Bruce Kluckhohn Even though the Wild continue to be confident he will sign on the dotted line, Hughes is entering the last year of his con- tract after Bill Guerin traded Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren and a first-round pick for the offensive stud from the back end. Now, a full year of Hughes playing on a team with stars like Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, plus Eriksson Ek and Hughes' tre- mendous partner in Brock Faber should be enough to get the Wild into the playoffs. But make no mistake, this thus far has been an under- whelming offseason for the Wild after Edina native Anders Lee opted to sign with Central Division rival Utah over his home state Wild and Minnesota responded by trading for Coleman and Olli Maatta. The Wild will be banking on good health and a lot of quality play from Shabanov and Bobby Brink, who wasn't very good after coming over from Philadelphia. They'll also be hoping for vast improvement from Danila Yurov, who had a solid rookie year but could be the big chip to get Larkin or another No. 1 center. Minnesota enters the season with Jesper Wallstedt as its No. 1 goalie with Filip Gustavsson recuperating from offsea- son hip surgery. Wallstedt, coming off an 18-win season and the No. 1 in the playoffs, will get a bulk of the early action with longtime NHL backup Calvin Pickard brought in from Edmonton to support him and buy time for Gustavsson to get back healthy. This should still be a good team, but with so many oth- ers in the West improved and the Wild relying on so many unproven players to shine, it could be a battle to continue to be in the top-three in the Central. VYING FOR SPOTS: Hunter Haight, Charlie Stramel, Mason Shaw Quinn Hughes / Brock Faber Jonas Brodin / Jared Spurgeon Olli Maatta / Zach Bogosian SEVENTH DEFENSEMAN: Daemon Hunt Jesper Wallstedt / Calvin Pickard INJURED: Filip Gustavsson M H J ON L I N E . C O M | O C T O B E R 2 0 2 6 28 Maxim Shabanov Newcomers Maxim Shabanov and Blake Coleman will get a chance to make their mark early in the top 6. PROJECTED DEFENSE PAIRS VYING FOR SPOTS: Viking Gustafsson Nyberg, Carson Lambos, David Spacek Matt Boldy Joel Eriksson Ek PROJECTED GOALIES P R E S E N T E D B Y Jesper Wallstedt