Opening Night Roster

Here is why I have this as my opening night roster:

1. I am almost 110% confident that Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi will be making the opening night roster out of training camp. Boldy proved his worth in Iowa in his short stint there, and will be a key cog for this team for years to come, he is ready. Now, even with Rossi missing time due to his COVID related heart condition, I feel incredibly confident that he will also make it out of camp and not need any time in Iowa either. His work ethic on and off the ice is very well documented, and he looked like the same top 10 draft pick we all saw him as in junior at the Olympic qualifier. He will come out at the prospect showcase with CHI and dominate there, and will prove himself even more at the big camp with the big boys and make it.
2. I think that Nico Sturm will get a chance right away to prove himself at camp and show if his flashes last season were a fallacy or the real deal, and slotting him with two hard-working line mates will be his opportunity to show us once and for all his real potential, which I think is more than just a 4th liner.
3. What to do with Victor Rask and Nick Bjugstad? Well, knowing that Bjugstad is a right shot compared to Rask who is left handed, one would think that due to the Wild's lack of right shots that Bjugstad would have the upper hand. I personally think otherwise, and feel that a transition to a less important defensive role for Rask will benefit him on the wing to see his full skill unleashed, whatever that may be. Nick Bjugstad will be the perfect injury replacement/depth forward for the Wild to have, and can slot in just about anywhere fortunately, but I think due to Guerin and Evason's draw to Rask, that Victor has the spot on the 4th line instead of Bjugstad.

Defensively, it is pretty straightforward fortunately, maybe Goligoski and Brodin could flip flop where they play, but I think these are the best fits for each pair. Talbot will be the starter right away, maybe Kahkonen can have a strong run where he gets some more games, but I think his time to show his potential as a starter is starting to run out.

Forward line combinations can easily change, but I feel that Ekker needs a shot to get some bigger minutes with some bigger guns, and that Rossi will fit a top 6 center role just as well as I think he can. If Greenway shows some more flashes on that 3rd line, then I could see him and Boldy being flipped around as well, but for now he needs to show more consistency to get his big shot, as I feel Boldy will step in and have immediate chemistry with Fiala to earn his spot there.

Let me know what you think!

can anyone in Minnesota explain the Parise and Suter Buy outs. you get this year cap space then the next 3 years the buy out is almost identical to their cap number, plus then your paying 2 mil for the next 4 years after.
To me the better idea would be to dump them both in the minors for 4 years or healthy scratch them or trade them 50% retained.

I would disagree on Rossi, but the rest looks pretty good. I think he will require time in Iowa. Italy’s Olympic team is a lot different than the NHL, and while I thought he looked pretty decent there, I didn’t see enough.

Hard to say and training camp can be revealing, but going off his performance against Italy (which is the only game I saw in entirety), I would say he’s not ready.

Dumb GM.

that’s what i think! no replacement level
player is out there for nhl min contract that would play better than those two could. should have eaten the cap hit dealt for 2 more years then bought them out, or let them play out their deal and sign smarter deals next time.