NHL Draft: Three Players The Wild Should Look At Drafting With Pick 24

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The Wild currently hold the 24th selection in this year’s draft.

The Minnesota Wild will hold the 24th pick in the first round of this year’s NHL draft. It is important in the back end of the first round to still find top-tier talent and I don’t think that there will be any shortage of that.

In previous years, the Wild have done very well drafting. Here’s a look at their first-round selections from 2019 to 2021.

2019: 12th overall: Matt Boldy

2020: 9th overall: Marco Rossi

2021: 20th overall: Jesper Wallstedt & 26th overall: Carson Lambos.

These four picks in the past three drafts are extremely important for years to come as seen with how Boldy broke into the NHL this season and even Rossi, who is knocking on the door for next year. It seems draft success is beginning to show for Minnesota.

Here we will talk about three intriguing prospects who could be available for the Wild to select at 24th overall and what they could bring to Minnesota in the years to come.

(Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images) /

Rutger McGroarty is ranked towards the back-end of the first round and could very well be available for the Wild at 24. The first thing that stands out to me about McGroarty is his size. He’s six feet tall and weighs in at about 205 pounds and let’s not let that take away from his skill set. He has really good playmaking ability and can score at will.

In the past two seasons, McGroarty has been playing in the USNTDP Program and has been a force to reckon with scoring 35 goals and 34 assists in 54 games. A combination of his size and skill would be something the Wild would love to add to their prospect cabinet.

(Photo by RvS.Media/Monika Majer/Getty Images) /

Another direction the Wild could turn is the University of Michigan commit defenseman Seamus Casey. They say big things do come in small packages and Casey is no exception to that. He’s five-foot-11 and 161 pounds, so he would likely have to grow a little bit to be fully effective in the NHL and that is something that he will probably develop upon when he goes off to college. He has a smooth skating ability like no other and that could make him dangerous in his efforts to play a full 200-foot game, something that Wild would love to have on the back burner.

Last but not least, we have Isaac Howard. I think with Howard, just about any team not picking in the top 10 is doing their due diligence on him and it’s questionable to think that he may not be available when the Wild pick at 24 but if he is, he should be the pick. He’s very strong offensively and just like teammate Rugter McGroarty, he tore it up as well. He had 82 points in 60 games this season and 11 points in six games in the U18 World Junior Championship. I’d gladly say he’s the most complete player in this draft outside of the first round and if the Wild were to add him to their prospect pool it would be a home run.

Oddly enough, Howard is currently committed to the UMD Bulldogs and it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch for Minnesota to keep tabs on him in their own backyard.

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