A day after the Minnesota Wild submitted their official opening night roster to the NHL, they made a little tweak. The changes allow for yet another young prospect to make the roster as the youth movement continues for the Wild. Hunter Haight was recalled from Iowa as Mats Zuccarello and Nico Sturm officially went on injured reserve. The team also announced that Cameron Butler, Michael Milne, and Stevie Leskovar would start the season as injured, non-roster players.
The 21-year-old Haight joins Danila Yurov (21), Liam Ohgren (21), Zeev Buium (19), Jesper Wallstadt (22) and David Jiricek (21) as part of the rookie roster infusion for the Wild. After completing his junior career, Haight made his professional debut with the Iowa Wild last season, posting 20 goals in 67 games. A strong training camp put him in the position to be recalled once the two veterans were placed on IR.
While it’s fun to see the prospects get a chance, losing the services of Zuccarello and Sturm will leave the Wild with a few more question marks than they would like to open the season. Zuccarello in particular will be missed as he was a key component on the second line. The Minnesota coaching staff hoped that Yurov or Ohgren could step into that role, but based on the practice lines from earlier this week, head coach John Hynes appears to be leaning towards veteran grinder Marcus Foligno lining up next to Joel Eriksson Ek and newcomer Vlad Tarasenko.
If that ends up being the case, look for the youngsters to cycle through on the fourth line with Vinny Hinostoza keeping an eye on the kids. Haight and Yurov in particular may rotate in and out of the line-up early on with the odd man out spending some time learning the game from the press box.
Nico Sturm’s absence is a bit worrisome as well. The main acquisition in free agency this past summer, Sturm was expected to fill that fourth-line center role while providing some valuable penalty-killing minutes. After missing part of training camp he was practicing as recently as Monday, but suffered a setback great enough to land him on the injured reserve list.
For a team that wants to rely on its defensive play as much as the Wild do, it’s a big loss as they don’t really have a replacement for him, especially on the penalty kill. If Sturm, who signed a two-year deal in the off-season, is out long-term, the Wild might be perusing the waiver wire for a depth veteran center early in the season.
The Wild have an intriguing blend of veteran players like Foligno, Tarasenko, and Marcus Johansson as well as players in their prime in Kirill Kaprisov, Matt Boldy, and Marco Rossi. While they may be inexperienced, this influx of young roster players in Buium, Haight and Ohgren should inject a little excitement into the locker room.
A look at the potential opening night lines in St. Louis:
Kirill Kaprizov - Marco Rossi - Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno - Joel Eriksson Ek - Vlad Tarasenko
Yakov Trenin - Ryan Hartman - Marcus Johansson
Liam Ohgren - Danila Yurov - Vinnie Hinostrova
Jake Middleton - Brock Faber
Zeev Buium - Jared Spurgeon
Zach Bogosian - David Jiricek
Filip Gustavsson
Jesper Wallstedt