Wild Camp Day 1

The Wild kicked of its 2023 training camp with three full groups of skaters, 60 in all.

For the record (maybe it’ll be a trivia question someday) the first skater on the ice at camp ‘23 was netminder Filip Gustavsson a few minutes before 9 a.m. local time.

“It was a great start,” Head Coach Dean Evason said after the three sessions were completed. “It’s so optimistic this time of year, obviously. Everybody’s so excited to be back. We like our young guys, obviously. It’s great to have. You see some of the draft picks and some people we’ve signed to play in Iowa, too. It’s a very optimistic day because you get a look at some people for the first time and then to see how our guys have come through the summer and what tremendous shape they’re in, it’s awesome.”

Here’s a look at the news and notes of Day 1 of this highly anticipated training camp:

Ryan Hartman Takes Part And Then Departs

Head Coach Dean Evason thought there was a possibility a couple of players might not be ready to skate on Day 1 but all players were accounted for on Thursday.

It was noteworthy, however, that in the first group, Ryan Hartman, who was banged up at the end of the first-round series loss to Dallas last April with a knee issue, was on the ice but wearing a white jersey which placed him with younger players as opposed to the more veteran group in green.

His regular line-mates, Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, skated in that same group with Frederick Gaudreau as their center.

Gaudreau’s place was taken by newcomer Jujhar Khaira who worked with Marco Rossi and Marcus Foligno who are expected to play with Gaudreau if everyone is healthy.

Hartman left the ice before the end of that first session.

“It was scheduled for him to jump off the ice. It’s nothing serious. It’s just a situation where we don’t want him to be in contact drills yet,” said Evason.

“Like I said, he’s fine. It’s just that was scheduled, planned, that he wasn’t going to take the 2-on1’s and 2-on-2’s that we did out here today,” he added.

The coach said it was a recent upper body issue and not related to his end-of-season injury.

Rossi’s Big Summer

Marco Rossi is one of the most intriguing figures in Wild camp as the 9^th overall pick in 2020 looks to finally break through and become a regular, contributing member of the Minnesota lineup.

The Austrian native spent the summer in Minnesota working with skills coach Andy Ness and trainer Matt Harder and the result is a new skating style and an additional 15 pounds or so of muscle for the skilled forward.

“Yeah, it was really nice to spend the summer here. First, I was working out here. That was the main point, that I train here, and I feel very comfortable even like outside of hockey,” Rossi, 21, said.

With the Wild’s salary cap situation – they have more than $14.7 million in dead cap space owing to the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter – Rossi’s ability to make good on his significant promise this season and beyond is a key piece of the Wild puzzle heading into camp.

“I want to make the team and just want to show that I’ve improved over the last few years and that I gained confidence and that I know what to do,” Rossi said. “But I don’t want to put too much pressure or anything. I just want to have fun and enjoy it here, because I know what I have to do. Like I said, I feel really comfortable after the first practice, but I don’t want to look too far ahead. I just try to enjoy it every day.”

Potential linemate Foligno remarked that Rossi looked a lot thicker and the youngster said having a little more heft has helped his confidence.

“First of all, it gives you more confidence when you’re stronger on the puck, when you hold the puck longer,” he said. “So I feel very comfortable right now.” Missing home and not being able to attend family events in Austria was a small sacrifice to make.

“I mean, it wasn’t hard, because my goal is to be an NHL player so that was not a hard choice to stay here, then,” Rossi said. “Of course, like you miss home and stuff, but I have my goal and that’s number one: I want to be an NHL player. So you do everything to try, to sacrifice everything you can do, so that wasn’t a hard decision.”

Time will tell if it’s all paid off but it’s clear what the organization is hoping will take place.

“We’re looking for Marco Rossi to make our hockey club and be an impact player with the Minnesota Wild,” Evason said. “Where that is will obviously get sorted out through training camp and exhibition games and all of that. But no question we’re looking for him to make a step this year.”

Hello Jujhar Khaira And Welcome To The State Of Hockey

Thursday was also a day for introductions as the newest man in Minnesota, Jujhar Khaira, met with local media for the first time since signing a one-year, two-way contract with the Wild on the eve of training camp. The uncertainty of not having a hockey home as the summer slipped away definitely made for some restless days.

“I wouldn't recommend it. It's obviously stressful, for sure,” Khaira, 29, said. “Playing hockey is something I care about and the unknown is always a scary thing. It's finding that mindset to kind of overcome that and just be prepared for whatever opportunity arises. So that was kind of the plan going into it, but like I said, I don't recommend it.”

Originally a member of the Edmonton Oilers and then with Chicago the last two seasons, injuries have impeded Khaira’s development. But he feels healthy and ready to prove he’s a durable, everyday NHLer.

“Obviously injuries and stuff are very frustrating. I feel like you learn a lot about your body and you try different things, see what works and see what doesn't. But it's hard,” Khaira said. “I want to play 82 games a year. And I get it, you play maybe 50% of the games or whatever I have in the past few years, and it's a risk. I'm here to prove to everyone that I'm durable and I can play in this league and continue to play the way I do.”

If he can stay healthy, Khaira, 6-foot-4, brings imposing size, defensive skills and the ability to help out on the penalty kill. He feels confident that he’ll do just that after a summer that saw him revamp his off-ice regimen.

“Yeah, I feel very healthy. It was a summer to figure that out,” said Khaira, a native of Surrey, British Columbia. “I changed everything up from training, skating, everything was more intentional. So yeah, this is probably the best I felt in a while. So, I'm excited to get going and continue to get better not just stay at this point with my health, but continue to improve every day.”

Kaprizov The Happy Film Critic

Speaking of Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild scoring star was in a buoyant mood after his first session as he described his summer travels to Italy, Turkey and Florida and skating with a group of NHLers in Minnesota.

He said he’s continuing to improve his English in part by watching movies including Barbie which was not his cup of tea and Oppenheimer although he did not do the much-talked about summer blockbuster double-bill. He was, perhaps, more surprisingly, quite optimistic about the new My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 flick. Who knew?

Kaprizov spoke, both in English and through a Russian interpreter, about his desire to move on from last season when he was injured before the playoffs and returned at the end of the regular season before managing just one goal, that in Game 1, in six games against Dallas.

 “Every year you learn from your mistakes,” he said via the interpreter. “You take those losses and you learn from them. You try to get better. You learn. You continue to improve in the offseason and like every year, looking forward to the year, to have a much better year to learn from my mistakes, to put those learnings to action and have a much better season.”

Asked about expectations, Kaprizov said he is “staying calm but for sure extremely motivated, extremely hungry, and the fire’s been lit for sure.”

As for other goals, he’s hoping not to repeat mistakes he felt he made in the playoffs against Dallas and beyond that, “to make sure every single game, every single season, to be a lot more consistent. To have a lot more better games than worse. Limit the bad games. Increase the good games. Continue to come every single night to play and show up. I think that’s what I need to work on.”

Faber And Brodin, A Duo As Expected

As we noted in a story on rookie Brock Faber, the widespread expectation is that the former University of Minnesota captain will line up in the top four on the Wild blue line on the right side with veteran Jonas Brodin.

Nothing changed those notions on Day 1 of camp as he skated with Brodin in Group 2.

“He’s obviously a pretty fun player to watch. A player and person I’ve always kind of looked up to and so, yeah, being able to call him my D-partner even just the first day of training camp is pretty cool,” Faber said after his first-ever NHL training camp session.

“Something I don’t take for granted. Just try and soak it all in and learn as much as I can from him and be the best D-partner that I can,” Faber added.

Those kinds of relationships will take time but the building of a strong partnership begins in these sessions on the ice.

“It’s communication, obviously. That’s number one as a defenseman with a new D-partner,” Faber said. “I think communication is obviously pivotal to be successful at this level. It’s communication. It’s film.”

“Just learning to grow or trying to grow a bit every day and take it one day at a time I think we’ll grow together as a unit,” the young defenseman added.

Evason said Faber has already caught the eye of the coaching staff with his defensive work on Day 1 and thinks the skating skills of Brodin and Faber complement each other.

“Well, their skating ability both of them. Brodes can bring (it) with his legs but Fabes can do the exact same thing,” Evason said. “But what I was really impressed today, we were really impressed today, we’ve already talked about it, is Fabes’s stick. We did a lot of defensive zone stuff today. Getting that dialed in and our stick on puck and our dislodging and not allowing people to have success in the offensive zone, that’s who he is.”

Both Evason and Faber have similar goals for the young defenseman to expand his offensive repertoire.

“Fabes has got to learn how to play some offense too. He’s got to learn to get up into the play and have that confidence to get up into the play,” the coach said. “But you play with Brodin you’re going to be protected so he can take some chances but very impressed with his defensive game obviously here today.”

Foligno Still A Hockey Player (Not A Minnesota Twin)

Marcus Foligno threw out the first pitch recently at a Twins game but did confirm Thursday he had not been signed to the MLB squad this in spite of practicing before the big event.

“I was throwing against the fence (at home) because my daughter is not capable of catching yet,” Foligno explained. “It was good though. That was kind of a little bucket list. Love the sport of baseball so that was a lot of fun. It’s pretty cool, I got to speak to (Rocco) Baldelli after and just being around that atmosphere of baseball is just so relaxing. What we do is kind of high intensity, and, maybe because they play 100 and some games it’s a little more relaxed if you lose one. I don’t know, it was just cool to be there. It’s a great ballpark too, so a lot of fun.”

Foligno is among a number of Wild players who ended the season more than a little banged up. He confirmed he needed off-season surgery but now feels 100% and is ready to resume a career that seemed poised to take off two seasons ago when he had a career-high 23 goals.

“I feel like myself again. It’s nice. I had to get an offseason surgery and fix up some things that have been bothering me and train a little bit differently,” Foligno, 32, explained. “Right now I feel fantastic.”

“I'm really happy with how Day 1 went and how it’s been feeling the past couple weeks,” he added. “Building lot of confidence trying to get the offensive side of my game back. Just little by little, get things going in training camp.” 

During his big season he felt he wasn’t pressing to score but was rather he was “just trying to win the moment and playing my best in those games. And it ends up being a really good season for you. Last year I put a little pressure on myself, didn’t play the style that I needed to for this team.”

“I think that’s what I’m trying to get back to, get back to the hard-nosed game, straight lines, and that’ll lead to those opportunities of putting in the puck in the back of the net and getting more points,” Foligno said.

And, in case you were wondering, he is Pat Maroon’s partner in the team’s fantasy football league and their team name is Big Moose Rig. Of course it is.

Be sure to check Wild.com daily for more coverage of Training Camp 2023.