Minnesota Wild Gameday Preview: Dallas Stars – 09/26/2023

The Minnesota Wild enter tonight’s preseason contest against the Dallas Stars fresh off a victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Sept. 24. This will be the first meeting between the two since the Stars eliminated the Wild from last season’s playoffs, although the lineups are vastly different than the ones that faced off just a few months ago. The Wild have brought half of their projected regular season roster along with them for the preseason contest, as well as both of their goaltenders. It may only be preseason, but a win over a divisional rival is always a good thing.

Minnesota Wild Gameday Preview Kirill Kaprizov, Matthew Boldy, Jared Spurgeon, and Marc-Andre Fleury
Kirill Kaprizov, Matthew Boldy, Jared Spurgeon, and Marc-Andre Fleury (The Hockey Writers)

Setting the Stage

Minnesota Wild Roster

At the time of writing the actual lines for tonight’s game are unreleased, however, the roster has been posted and there have been clues as to which players we will be seeing together. The top two offensive lines are very likely accurate, while the defense and goaltenders are my best guess.

Marcus Johansson – Joel Eriksson Ek – Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno – Marco Rossi – Pat Maroon
Adam Beckman – Jujhar Khaira – Jake Lucchini
Mike O’Leary – Greg Meireles – Joel Teasdale

Jake Middleton – Simon Johansson
Carson Lambos – David Spacek
Ryan O’Rourke – Kyle Masters
Dakota Mermis

Filip Gustavsson – Marc-Andre Fleury

Where to Watch/Listen

Currently, the only confirmed way for fans to tune in is to listen on KFAN 100.3 FM, although hope remains for a live stream to pop up somewhere from one of the teams. Either way, the game starts at 7:00 p.m. Central Time.

2 Keys to the Game

Top Line Chemistry

The top line for this game is the return of the Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Matt Boldy combination that was on fire at the end of last season. They have been together throughout training camp and this will be their first opportunity to try and rekindle that chemistry in a full-game situation. Their ability to return to form will have a direct impact on how well the Wild do this season overall as it provides them with a very dangerous secondary scoring line that was unavailable for most of 2022-23.

Related: Minnesota Wild Prospect Report: Walker, Wallstedt, Hunt, & More

The true wildcard in this scenario is Johansson and whether his 18 points in 20 regular season games was merely a phantom performance boost brought on by being traded and attempting to earn himself a more permanent spot on a team, after being bounced around eight times in the last seven years. Johansson’s play was good enough to earn him a new two-year deal worth $2 million a season and could be an absolute bargain if he ends up in the 40-50 point mark, while also allowing Boldy to evolve into the superstar we all know he is going to be. This is all assuming he manages to stay healthy, which he has struggled with over his career.

Rossi’s Linemates

I can already hear the uproar from Wild fans as they find out that Rossi is most likely centering a combination of Marcus Foligno and Pat Maroon. Not the most offensively inclined players, Foligno and Maroon bring more of a physical presence and less of the offensive play that Rossi does. Placing him on this line in a preseason game may be the Wild’s coaching staff getting a feel for how his offseason went as far as improving his ability to play aggressively and add a bit of grit to his game.

It also provides Rossi the opportunity to be the driving force on the line. Any offense they generate is going to go through Rossi, which is exactly what the Wild are going to need him to do if he is going to end up being a top-six center. He led the NHL in preseason points in 2022-23 but was not able to generate anything once the regular season started. The goal this year is to make sure he is ready to go once the puck drops on opening night, not for him to fill the net in preseason and fall off the map again.

Next on the Docket

The Wild’s next game will be their first home preseason game as they welcome the Avalanche back to the Xcel Energy Center on Sept. 28. The top line of Ryan Hartman, Mats Zuccarello, and the wonderous Kirill Kaprizov are currently slated to be on the roster for that game.

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