"I'm not too worried about it, it's pretty much normal for me," Kunin said. "I think I'll be moving more, more involved in all the plays. When you're playing center, you're more involved all over the ice, especially in the d-zne, you're not standing around very much. Always being moving and engaged, I think that will help me. I'm looking forward to it."
Eric Fehr, of course, will remain the fourth-line centerman.
Winnipeg made several trades on Monday, acquiring forward Kevin Hayes from the New York Rangers in their biggest deal of the day. Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu was also nabbed from the Buffalo Sabres.
Of course, the Wild and Jets also traded with each other, with Minnesota sending forward Matt Hendricks back to Winnipeg in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Tuesday's game continues a brutal stretch of games for the Wild, one which began Sunday with a 2-1 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues.
The Jets are in second place in the Central Division, but trail Nashville by just one point and have three games in hand.
After a couple days back in St. Paul, the Wild will travel to Calgary, for a matchup against the Pacific Division's best team and the top club in the Western Conference, the Flames, on Saturday.
After that, the Wild has a quick turnaround back in St. Paul against the Predators on Sunday.
A rematch with the Preds next Tuesday in Nashville is after that, followed by back-to-back games in Tampa -- the NHL's best team -- and against the Florida Panthers.
The Wild returns from the Sunshine State to begin a five-game homestand against the San Jose Sharks, arguably the NHL's hottest team.
Yikes.
Boudreau wasn't kidding last week when he said the upcoming stretch is likely to make-or-break the Wild's season, considering Minnesota enters the night Tuesday tied with the Colorado Avalanche for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The Wild partook in a morning skate today at Bell MTS Place. Here is what it looked like:
