Three things to watch: Wild training camp edition

ST. PAUL -- A return to normalcy - at least in NHL circles - is growing closer as the Wild prepares to open training camp on Thursday at TRIA Rink.
Following an abbreviated 2019-20 season and a shortened 2020-21 campaign, Minnesota will embark on an 82-game schedule beginning in less than a month.
Between now and then, it will play six preseason games and decide what a very different-looking roster will look like on Opening Night in Anaheim on Oct. 15.

It'd be cliche to say the Wild is at the precipice of a new era
, but it sure seems that way, with the number of new faces on the roster and the familiar ones that will be playing elsewhere this season and beyond.
With media day upon us, and on-ice work officially beginning on Thursday, here are three things to watch for during training camp:

1. Competition up front

For the first time in several years, the Wild have a number of high-end prospects that are knocking on the door of making the NHL roster.
Once upon a time, a group of prospects that included Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker, Mikael Granlund, Jonas Brodin and others all ascended to the NHL roster right around the same time.
Of that group, only Brodin is left.
But like that group, there is another wave of NHL-ready prospects that appear ready to challenge for ice time with the big club, a group that includes Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Calen Addison.
Assuming Kirill Kaprizov is back in the fold at some point soon, the Wild currently sits with a spot along the wing and a 13th forward currently unmanned. (UPDATE: Kaprizov signed a five-year, $45 million contract with the Wild early Tuesday evening).

Rossi and Boldy will be right in the middle of the competition for those spots, although it's safe to assume the Wild will not want one of their top prospects sitting in the press box every night. If Boldy wins a spot on the wing, Rossi will have to outperform a veteran in camp and leave Wild GM Bill Guerin no choice but to keep him.
Both Boldy and Rossi were impressive at the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase in St. Paul last weekend, leading the team in scoring and helping the club to a pair of wins against the Chicago Blackhawks prospects.
But NHL training camp is a different animal.
"I'm anxious to see them out there," Guerin said. "It's really two different games; the rookie tournament games are high-intensity, high-pace, a little more scramble than what they get with the NHL guys, it's a lot high skill, more execution. It'll be interesting to see them. They'll get a good opportunity."

But to say Boldy and Rossi are the only ones competing for those spots would be a mistake.
Other prospects like Brandon Duhaime, Connor Dewar and even Adam Beckman could emerge as well.
Ultimately, the competition could also come down to roster composition as well.
If Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello stay together, as well as Jordan Greenway and Marcus Foligno, how do the club's other lines stack up? Nico Sturm and Nick Bjugstad looked good together last season and seem likely to start camp together on the fourth line.
That leaves a gaping hole on the wing opposite Kevin Fiala, a fast, skilled, playmaking winger. That would seem like a prime opportunity for a guy like Boldy.

But what if coach Dean Evason shakes up the lines and Fiala ends up with one of the more established wingers? That could mean a bottom-six job is open and someone like Duhaime or Dewar might fit that role better, at least to start.
How does Rossi fit in?
Because the Wild has plenty of flexibility at center, if Rossi blows the doors off coaches and staff at camp, he could force the team to move an NHL pivot to the wing. Ryan Hartman, who is expected to start camp at center, has played right wing most of his NHL career. Freddy Gaudreau, signed over the summer,
can play both spots as well
.
"My goal is to make the NHL," Rossi said. "I know how good I am. I know I can make it. But I have to prove myself to them that I'm ready for it. You have to earn that spot. It's really hard, but at first, I'm focusing on my rookie camp, the two games ahead of us and I'm not thinking too much ahead of [that]."
The good news is, Minnesota doesn't need to rush either one of its top prospects along because it has depth and flexibility if they need to start the season in Iowa.

2. Competition on the blueline

The same goes for Addison's fortunes on the blueline.
Ryan Suter was bought out and signed with Dallas. Carson Soucy was picked by the Seattle Kraken in the Expansion Draft. Ian Cole signed as a free agent with the Carolina Hurricanes. That leaves three spots open on the back end that will need to be filled.
Grand Rapids native Alex Goligoski was signed to fill Suter's spot next to Jared Spurgeon on the top pairing.
He's pencilled in to play big minutes for the Wild
in all facets of the game, including on the power play.
Brodin and Matt Dumba expected to comprise the Wild's second group, but that's where the certainty on the club's blueline ends.
While a trio of veterans was signed to help fill the void, Addison is among that group that will compete to be in the top-6 come the first game of the season.
Addison made his NHL debut last season and played three games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Whether he earns a spot in Minnesota or starts the year in Iowa, he's not far off from becoming a regular NHLer.

"Coming in years before, you're a little more timid and you don't know guys so well, you don't have that same experience as I do now," Addison said. "Now the expectations are at a new level for myself. I came in years before kind of expecting to go back or get sent down, and now the expectations are high for myself and I come in trying to make this NHL] team. That's what I'm here for, to try and make it and show them what I've got."
In order to crack the Opening Night lineup, Addison will have to outplay at least two of those veteran additions that were brought to Minnesota specifically to help fill the departures of defensive specialists Soucy and Cole.
Dmitry Kulikov and Jon Merrill were signed early in the free agency period, while Jordie Benn was added just a couple of weeks ago. Together, they bring nearly 1,700 games of NHL experience to the Wild's third pairing.
Kulikov was the headliner of the trio,
[added on the opening day of free agency
. The 30-year-old signed a two-year contract worth $2.25 million per season. He has played in 725 NHL games with five teams since being the 14th overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, skating with New Jersey and Edmonton last season.
"Since I came into the league I was a young player, 18 years old, and I had much to learn. But over the years I feel like with the experience you learn the defensive part of the game and responsibility and the role on the team. It all comes together with years of experience," Kulikov said. "You just kind of understand what the team needs to win and sometimes you have to adjust to what the team needs."
And
don't discount Benn
, who has quietly had a real nice run the past three years, scoring seven goals and 39 points in 164 games while posting a plus-15 during that stretch.
"[Goligoski] said the guys here seem great, and it's a team I've watched a lot over the years and played against quite a bit when I was in Dallas," Benn said. "I've played with a lot of guys from Minnesota and they always talk about it being such a nice place. I thought it'd be a good opportunity to go to a new team and a new city that everyone talks really highly of."
Merrill was a deadline acquisition by the Montreal Canadiens last season and skated in 13 playoff games, including three games in the Stanley Cup Final. Of the the three, Merrill has skated in more postseason contests (29) than Kulikov (27) and Benn (23).
None of the three are huge offensive producers from the back end - but none are expected to be. All three are solid veteran role players who will be counted on to eat critical minutes and perhaps kill some penalties. No doubt, Each will play important roles at various points in the season, but how that pecking order shakes out early in the season will be one of the interesting storylines the next couple of weeks.
"I think with our d-core now, there's more grit on the back end and we're going to be hard to play against," Spurgeon said. "We've played against those guys for a long time, and just the way they play down low and still create offense - and for Goose as well, tough to play against, creates offense with his skating - I think everybody brings a different dynamic to that back end and that's good for the team."

3. No drama in goal

There have been times in the last decade or so where the Wild has had plenty of question marks in goal, whether in the starter's crease, at the backup spot or simply there was enough depth to withstand an injury.
This doesn't look like it's one of those instances.
About the only place on the Wild's roster where there isn't expected to be much drama is in its crease, where Cam Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen each return coming off strong campaigns.
And that's good news: almost any coach would tell you that if he could pick stability in one area to start a season, it'd be between the posts. With Talbot and Kahkonen in Minnesota and veteran Andrew Hammond behind them, the Wild has quality options.
Talbot started 33 games and went 19-8-5, posting a .915 save percentage and a 2.63 goals-against average - almost identical numbers to his career averages in those categories.
An abrupt start to training camp and the season, with no exhibition games, wasn't easy for Talbot, who arrived in Minnesota after Christmas and was starting game one in Los Angeles only a couple of weeks later.
"It was hard on the body," Talbot said. "I'm getting a little bit older, so I have to be a little bit smarter with my body. Sometimes you've gotta listen to it and take a day off here and there."
He was injured early and missed nearly a month of play, but was seemed to grow more steady as the season went along. He was outstanding in the postseason against Vegas, posting a pair of shutouts and helping the Wild advance to a Game 7 at T-Mobile Arena, where it ultimately came up short.
This time around,
Talbot has been in Minnesota for nearly a month
and will have a full camp and a full slate of preseason games to get back into his normal routine before the season opener.
"Last year I got here a little later, just because of when camp started, Christmas and travel and all that stuff," Talbot said. "Being here three weeks before camp this year will make it a lot easier to ramp it up and be ready once camp starts."
About the only question to decide here will be how much Kahkonen can eat into the veteran's playing time?

Thrust into the backup role as a rookie at the start of last season, Kahkonen started 23 games along the way and posted 16 wins. His 2.88 goals-against and .902 save percentages were muddied by a couple of outlier performances against the St. Louis Blues later in the season, games where Kahkonen had little help in front of him.
Quietly, Kahkonen finished 15th in Calder Trophy voting and was likely headed for a finish much higher than that in the middle of the season, when the netminder won nine consecutive games between Feb. 18 and March 16. During that stretch, Kahkonen had a .947 save percentage and allowed just 1.44 goals per game.
If Kahkonen can find consistency in his game that resembles anything close to that stretch, he could be in line for a sizable chunk of starts behind Talbot. And that would certainly be a good problem for the Wild to have.
Hammond, who served as the taxi squad goaltender last season, was re-signed and will serve as a veteran third goaltender in the system, while Hunter Jones is expected to get plenty of work in Iowa. Dereck Baribeau will also be at training camp and could push for time in Iowa after posting solid numbers in spot duty there last season.
Offseason features:
- Alex Goligoski - Dmitry Kulikov - Frederick Gaudreau](https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/gaudreau-friendly-faces-mn-080921/c-325931440) - Jordie Benn - Jared Spurgeon - Cam Talbot - Dean Evason