It’s that time of year when everyone starts getting excited with the upcoming season and expectations are starting to form. Along with expectations come predictions, some obvious and some bold. In this article, it’s all about the bold while keeping some realism as well. It’s no fun to have wild predictions that have no chance of coming true.
Predictions like the Minnesota Wild getting past the first round of the postseason, Ryan Hartman reclaiming his rightful spot as number one center, and Joel Eriksson Ek hitting 70 points are all fun bold predictions, but too obvious. These upcoming predictions, while they are definitely bold, they’re also different from the norm.
Prediction #1: Kaprizov Hits 120 Points & 60 Goals
Kirill Kaprizov is a player that is basically the definition of bold, at least with his play. He may not be the most talkative person when it comes to interviews but his skating does plenty of talking. In his first season, he recorded 51 points and then a season later he crushed that with 108 points. He hit a slight snag last season with the injury but still amassed 75 points.
He’s going to want to do everything in his power to redeem himself from last season and he still has more to prove. Hitting 50 goals shouldn’t be too difficult for him since he already scored 47 two seasons ago, but getting to 60 may be a bit harder as will the 120 in total points. However, with Kaprizov, it feels like anything is possible, and hitting that high of points isn’t out of reach. Recording something like 150, while it’s a reasonable number to expect from him, it’ll likely take a season or two for him to work up to that.
Regardless of what number Kaprizov hits, there’s no doubt it’ll be entertaining to watch him get there. Hopefully, he can stay healthy and show everyone the next level in his game.
Prediction #2: Rossi Hits 30 Points
This prediction may be a little bit bolder than the first one as Marco Rossi hasn’t really proven himself just yet, at least at the NHL level. He did hit 51 points last season in the American Hockey League with the Iowa Wild. He’s shown he’s capable of scoring goals but we already knew that, he just needs to translate that game into the big leagues, something he’s struggled to do so far.
However, this is Rossi’s make-it-or-break-it season and his chance to truly show he can play in the NHL. He’ll be 22 years old when the season starts and while that’s still very young, the team is expecting a certain level of production. In 21 NHL games, he has yet to tally his first NHL goal despite coming very close but he does have an assist.
With how close Rossi came to scoring last season, I feel this season he’s going to burst onto the scene and record some points. Thirty points may seem a bit high for a player that hasn’t even scored his first NHL goal yet but he’s got the talent to do it. Hopefully, he can get his mental game on the same page as his physical game and he’ll get those numbers going this season.
Prediction #3: Foligno Stays Under 60 Penalty Minutes for Season
This may seem a little out there for someone like Marcus Foligno but I’m also still a little bitter with how the Wild’s postseason ended. He spent more time in the penalty box than necessary and while some of that was not his fault, he didn’t do himself any favors by aggravating the situation. Regardless, he’s still a good player and a smart one too, he knows that can’t happen again. He’ll be looking to make up for what happened and that’ll mean staying out of the box.
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The only problem is he’s one of the most physical guys on the team and he will take penalties, there’s no way around it. However, if he can keep those minutes to a minimum, like under 60 minutes, that would be outstanding to help his team. He can do it, there’s no doubt that he can, but will he? Hopefully, his discipline level will be refreshed this coming season and he’ll stay on the ice to score goals instead of being in the penalty box costing them.
Prediction #4: Spurgeon Blocks Over 200 Shots
This may seem less bold and more of an expectation but the most blocked shots Jared Spurgeon has recorded were 179 last season. He added almost 100 blocked shots from 2021-22 to this season with just 14 more games played. If he can do that, he should be able to add 20 more blocks but it won’t be easy.
The number of blocked shots he accumulated was obviously very impressive and I believe he can do it again but bigger. The only issue with more blocked shots is a higher risk of injury, but Spurgeon seems to have figured out how to avoid that problem for the most part. While his team is going to have some more offense added, it can’t forget about the defense and despite the team being in the top 10 for most blocks, they need more.
As the captain, Spurgeon knows he has to set the example and he’ll be the first one going down to block a shot. Hopefully, he can keep his high numbers going with no injury issues this season.
Prediction #5: Gustavsson Hits 35 Wins
I was going to say 40 wins but even Marc-André Fleury only hit 40 twice in his career so far and likely won’t again so that threshold, while bold, may be unrealistic for Filip Gustavsson, at least at this point in his career. He hit 22 wins last season and that was impressive for his first full season as a backup goaltender. Now he’s going to have the reins for the most part and he’ll be able to show his full potential.
When he gets on a roll, it’s hard to get anything past him and he’s been good at dealing with the pressure. He struggled a bit in the postseason but it was also the first time he’s been in the playoffs and given such an important role. Now that he has that experience it’ll be fun to see him succeed even more and shed some of those nerves he had last season.
As long as his team steps up and helps him out, there’s no reason he can’t hit 35 wins. It may be a high number but it’s obtainable and would be quite the response to his brand new contract. Hopefully, he can use last season as a strong stepping stone and continue to prove what he can do.
Wild’s Predictions
The Wild have a lot of expectations to live up to this season and that includes predictions as well. These were just a handful of what the season could look like for certain members of the team and hopefully, they follow through and the wins will follow as well.