Locked On Wild - Your Daily Minnesota Wild Podcast

On today's episode of Locked on Wild, Spoked Z joins the show to recap the first two games of the NHL season! How much of an issue is the depth of the Lightning going to be this year? Will they be able to get everything pulled together by the end of the year? Are the Kraken going to be better than people initially thought in a weak Pacific Division? We then move to "If not them, than who?" A game in which we remove the favorites from each division and ask which team has the best chance from each to get to the Conference Finals. We also discuss if there is any possible scenario for Arizona and Buffalo to make a playoff appearance, or potentially even a deep run in the playoffs. Unfortunately the answer for both is an emphatic no.

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On today's episode of Locked on Wild, we look at the positional rankings for the Central Division. It should be no surprise that the Avalanche rank near the top of the NHL on offense, defense, goaltending and special teams. The Wild rank near the top of the division on offense, defense, near the end of the division in goaltending and middle of the pack in special teams. Are we surprised that Cam Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen rank so low? Could the Wild power play and penalty kill be better than expected? One thing is for sure, it will be a LONG year for Arizona, as they rank near the bottom of the entire NHL in almost every position category.

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On today's episode of Locked on Wild, we break down the 2021-22 schedule for the Wild. We start with October and November, which give the Wild a chance to get off to a great start. December, January and February will present the biggest challenges for the Wild of the entire season, so their biggest objective here will be to hold serve. The month of March is where the Wild have the best chance to make a run or entrench themselves in the playoffs, with a 9 game homestand to finish the month and coming off of the Olympic break. The month of April sets the Wild up well to get into the postseason again this year!

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On today's episode of Locked on Wild, we look at the 2021-22 Season Expectations for Cam Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen. Can Talbot repeat his 2020-21 performance or will we see him regress against the full NHL schedule? Depending on the number of starts he gets, Talbot could easily outpace his projected stats for 2021-22. Our biggest worry though is Kaapo Kahkonen. Can he show that his numbers against the better teams in the league are just a fluke? Or is he going to struggle in every similar occasion this year. If both goalies can hold serve against more competitive teams, the Wild should have another great season.

We also look at when we could likely see some of the Wild's top prospects join the NHL roster. Depending on injuries and inconsistencies, the Wild will likely call up Calen Addison first, followed by Adam Beckman, Marco Rossi, and then Matt Boldy after he heals from his injury. It all depends on which positions prompt a call up first. We finish by looking at expectations for Bill Guerin and Dean Evason. Can Evason recapture the magic he had with the 2020-21 squad? It certainly seems likely that he will be able to. How will Bill Guerin play this year if the Wild exceed expectations? Will he push the chips into the middle of the table for one year? What about if they fail to live up to a playoff berth?

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On today's episode of Locked on Wild, we look at season expectations for the Wild's starting defensemen. For Jared Spurgeon and Alex Goligoski, will we see a similar level of production as we did with Spurgeon and Suter last year? If Alex Goligoski can get through the season without us saying "we really miss Ryan Suter", then I will consider his season a huge success. Can Spurgeon and Goligoski beat their statistical projections? Do we have any concerns at all with Spurgeon heading into the season?

For Jonas Brodin and Matt Dumba, can they both keep or add offense to the arsenal in 2021-22? For Brodin, he found a high level of goal scoring last year. Was that a fluke or a new element he's added to his skillset? Matt Dumba's numbers have been slipping for a few years. Can he regain his offensive swagger or will he further regress?

For Dmitry Kulikov and Jon Merrill, can they do the little things well like Carson Soucy and Ian Cole did last year? We didn't hear their names really at all, and for a 3rd line D pairing, that sort of under the radar play does WONDERS. If they aren't able to do that for the Wild, they may have some major problems that will have to be addressed.

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On today's episode of Locked on Wild, Alex Micheletti joins the show to look at the 2021-22 roster. We start by discussing the Matt Boldy injury, and when we may see him return. We also discuss whether or not it makes sense for Marco Rossi and Adam Beckman to start the year in Iowa. We look at the Wild's line combinations, and agree that Kevin Fiala could use both of those players to help him out at some point this year. We debate whether or not Victor Rask deserves the benefit of the doubt or if he should be the odd man out with Rem Pitlick available to fill his roster spot.

We discuss our concerns with the Wild's third defensive pairing, and how long it will be before the Wild need Calen Addison to come up and help shore it up. We look at if there any concerns with the goaltending, and why the Wild should just give Kaapo Kahkonen the night off any time the Blues are involved. We also share where we think the Wild will finish in the Central Division Standings, and our surprise player for the year. Alex goes with Brandon Duhaime and Seth sticks with Nico Sturm.

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On today's episode of Locked on Wild, we recap the Wild's 3-2 Overtime win over Chicago in their second to last preseason game. We look at some of the noticeable improvements the Wild have made this year, including the Power Play and Penalty Kill. Unfortunately the win looks like it came at a price, as Matt Boldy left injured. What effect will that have on the rest of his season? We also discuss the difficult decision the Wild have on their hands with who takes the final roster spots.

Based on comments from Dean Evason after the game, it seems like the writing is on the wall that Brandon Duhaime will be on the NHL roster to start the year. What does he bring to the table? And what would expectations be for him this year if he does? We also look at season expectations for Nico Sturm and Nick Bjugstad. With Sturm, it comes down to him playing into more playing time and becoming more of a force on this roster. For Bjugstad, if he can contribute and simply not take up space his season will be a success.

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On today's episode of Locked on Wild, we start by recapping the Wild's 4-3 overtime win against St. Louis in their fourth preseason game. Should we be concerned that Kaapo Kahkonen got rocked early again by the Blues? Or should we take comfort in the fact that he tightened up after a rough first period to keep St. Louis in check the rest of the way. The Wild's young prospects Adam Beckman, Marco Rossi, Calen Addison and Brandon Duhaime all helped the Wild complete the comeback, while also showing that the Parise/Suter buyout years might not have free agents but that doesn't mean they won't have talent. We also campaign for Adam Beckman to make the team with his very impressive preseason.

We move to Player Expectations for Kevin Fiala, Freddy Gaudreau and Victor Rask. For Fiala, a successful season for him proving to the Wild that he's worthy of an extension. If Fiala plays exceptionally well, he might play himself out of the Wild's budget. Fiala can work on his consistency, but that will also come with better linemates. 28 goals for Fiala feels like a goal that is easily reachable for him, and if he hits that the Wild will have to pony up to keep him around.

For his linemates Freddy Gaudreau and Victor Rask, the key comes in just playing a role for this Wild team. If they can find something that this team needs, faceoff wins in the case of Gaudreau, and can excel at that role, the Wild will have themselves a pretty good third line. But if either or both players struggle to fit in, the Wild have plenty of candidates waiting to take their spots in the lineup.

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On today's episode of Locked on Wild, we start the show looking at the acquisition of Rem Pitlick. Could this mean that Victor Rask is either the last forward on the roster or is just put on waivers? Pitlick appears to be more of a 4th line guy, and if he's kept it could also mean a promotion for Nico Sturm to the 3rd line. The bottom line is that this move appears to be the precursor to another move to come, so stay tuned to see what Bill Guerin does next!

We start our season expectations portion of the show with the guy who arguably has the most to prove in Jordan Greenway. We look at his most recent comments after Monday's preseason game as well as Dean Evason's reaction to his performance. We look at what would be considered a successful season for Greenway, and really it comes down to him finally meeting the expectations that have been set for him. Can he finally use his size and turn his line into a defensive problem for opponents? Can Greenway also unlock his offensive potential and provide a double digit goal, 40 to 50 point season? We will have to wait and see, but there is at least some concern he just does what he has the last few years and starts hot but cools off considerably.

For Ryan Hartman, can he keep the Greenway-Foligno line flowing with Joel Eriksson Ek getting promoted to the top line? With his play against Vegas in the playoffs last year and so far in the preseason, there is no reason to suggest Hartman isn't capable of being a great center for those two. Will his increased level of play lead to more production on the ice? That might be the biggest question for Hartman this season, but if his linemates can step up he won't be under as much pressure to equal what Eriksson Ek provided last year.

We finish with season expectations for Marcus Foligno. Can Foligno equal his absolutely torrid production pace from last season? If he even comes close to that level again the Wild will be sitting great with another line providing great production other than the Kaprizov line. We really don't have any questions with Foligno, so long as he can stay on the ice for a full season and dish out justice to opponents any time they step out of line. Foligno seems primed for a big season, the only question is will he be able to do it and will he gel with a new center on his line?

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On today's episode of Locked on Wild, we recap the Wild's 3-1 preseason win over Colorado. The Wild's top line dominated, and we saw some really good things from Kevin Fiala. It certainly looks like Matt Boldy is firmly on the roster. Did we see a bounceback performance from Jordan Greenway, and when will we see Marco Rossi again?

We move to player expectations for 2021-22. Starting with Kirill Kaprizov, we try to figure out what a successful season for Kirill looks like. Now that he has his long term extension ironed out, will Kaprizov's production diminish like so many players fresh off extensions do? Can Joel Eriksson Ek represent the top center Kaprizov has been looking for, and by extension can JEEK unlock another gear in Kirill's play? Kaprizov is projected for 40 goals this year, can he top that? And we finish with whether or not there are any concerns with Kirill heading into the season, of which there really aren't any.

With Joel Eriksson Ek, a successful season for him includes building off of his offensive success last year. Can he further unlock his offensive potential with a more offensively inclined set of linemates? Can Eriksson Ek provide a needed defensive identity that Kaprizov and Zuccarello can learn from? Is 24 goals an attainable number for JEEK, or can he even exceed that mark? The only real concerns for Eriksson Ek involve his offense, but if he improves on that the sky is truly the limit.

Finally with Zuccarello, what does his production look like with a better center next to him? Is it possible that both he and Kaprizov can elevate their chemistry to another level? Can Zuccarello crack the 20 goal plateau and give the Wild a ferocious top line that features balanced scoring? The only real concern for Zuccarello involves his durability, but if he shuts down those concerns just how good can he be?

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