The Minnesota Wild’s preseason has officially gotten underway. It got off on the right foot with a 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on the road on Sunday, Sept. 24. In the first game of the preseason, neither team had their big stars playing, but it wasn’t all prospects hoping to make the roster either.
The Wild had two of their fourth liners playing in Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime, also known as “Dewey 1” and “Dewey 2”. They were missing their newest addition, Patrick Maroon, who will debut later in the preseason. The Wild also had Alex Goligoski, Jon Merrill, and goaltender Filip Gustavsson who backed up Jesper Wallstedt.
On the other side, the Avalanche had Jack Johnson and newcomers Miles Wood and Tomas Tatar, both of whom came from the New Jersey Devils. While these games may not have points on the line, the preseason is still crucial for teams to get their chemistry going with room to make mistakes. The Wild had plenty of errors and some shining spots to build upon in the next few weeks.
Wild’s Walker & Wallstedt Leaders
We’ll get to the NHL roster players, but first, we must talk about the players who stepped up and secured the win for the Wild. While it’s unlikely Wallstedt sees time in the NHL this season due to his contract and the amount of cap space the Wild don’t have, they still want him to get some ice time and be prepared if need be. Again, while the preseason differs from the regular season, it’s still an NHL-level game with NHL-level players.
Wallstedt performed throughout the game with an impressive 40 saves out of 43 shots. He didn’t have to face the top stars of the Avalanche, but he still made some big stops to give his team the chance to win. Keeping with the theme of players whose contracts may be slightly too high to slip into the Wild’s tight budget, the other shining star was Samuel “Sammy” Walker.
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Walker showed great potential in his nine games for the Wild last season, resulting in one goal and one assist for two points. He stepped up again this preseason with the first goal of the game for the Wild that tied the game at one and the second goal that gave them a 2-1 lead. He didn’t stop there either; he also had one assist on what was the eventual game-winner by Vinni Lettieri.
Both Walker and Wallstedt made a strong case to be considered next in line if there is an injury if their contracts fit. Regardless, fans saw the strength of the Wild’s future in their youngsters, who will join the ranks sooner rather than later.
Wild’s Dewar & Duhaime Give it All
Dewar and Duhaime didn’t register any points in their first preseason showing, but they led by example with their efforts. Typically before the regular season starts, players don’t give it their all unless they’re fighting for a roster spot. Dewar and Duhaime already have their spots guaranteed, but that didn’t affect their efforts.
They skated hard, blocked shots, took shots, and gave it their all, including throwing some hard hits. Duhaime had some issues staying out of the penalty box, but hopefully, that can be fixed before the regular season commences. He needs to be careful not only with his penalty minutes but also to keep himself from getting hurt, unlike last season, where his injuries greatly affected his season.
These two players are the perfect examples of grinding players. They play with a high energy that can motivate a roster and show that every game matters, whether points are on the line or not. Those are the types of players you want on your roster because they won’t stop even if the odds are against them.
Wild’s Bright Spots & Areas to Improve
Of course, this wasn’t the NHL-level roster, but there are still areas the Wild can work on. Head coach Dean Evason and his staff use the preseason to test things out and fine-tune their processes to prepare for the regular season grind. One bright spot was the Wild’s ability to score on the power play. While they could’ve done more, they did score on three of their eight opportunities. They also blocked an impressive 22 shots, and it would be great if they could transfer that to the regular season.
They need to work on two issues in the future: their high number of penalties being the first. It was a real problem at the start of last season and throughout the postseason. The Wild usually are a clean team, and they need to ensure it stays that way and not form bad habits.
The other area with room for improvement is their number of shots on goal. The Avalanche nearly doubled the shots the Wild had, and that can’t happen going forward. Thankfully, this is only the preseason, and there’s room to fix that, but it has to be done sooner rather than later.
Wild’s Season Progresses
The Wild have five more preseason games to play, and they’ll continue on their small road trip this time to face the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, Sept. 26. They’ll likely have other NHL players on the roster, and it’ll be interesting to see which goaltender they go with. While they took down the Avalanche in their first game, they know they have things to fix, like their shots on goal and penalty issues.
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Hopefully, the team can clean up their game and have youngsters continue to step up. The Wild’s depth is extreme, and it’s great to see it showcased even if they aren’t able to fill the regular season roster just yet. They have plenty of players to fill their preseason roster, and it’ll be fun to see what players they pick to take on the Stars.
