It seems all but certain that Rossi starts in Iowa. Beckman is likely there also. Duhaime seems to be the guy that will start with the Wild on the 4th.

Doesn’t seem like this is going to be very accurate for opening night.

I agree on your Duhaime and Rossi take, but with Boldy’s injury I think the door swings wide open and Beckman comes up. From what I’ve heard about Gaudreau’s play, it would not surprise me to see him sent to IA or the bench.

Granted all of this depends on what the team thinks Pitlick is. All in all, as good a guess as any and not outlandish by any means.

As Russo recently pointed out in an article, it makes some sense for the Wild to keep Rossi to under 10 games played this year. Then his 3 year contract wouldn't start until next year and they wouldn't have to resign him until the summer after the dead cap money ends. Obviously that can change this year if there's injuries or he's just way too good in Iowa. I went to last nights preseason game vs Chicago and my take away was it wouldn't hurt to have him spend a year in Iowa getting used to playing against men and just bigger bodies in general. He had a pretty strong game overall and nearly had a goal but does seem to get pushed around in the center of the ice as he's only 5'9". McCabe gave him a "welcome to the NHL" moment as he entered the zone alone with his head down a bit and was quickly put on his back.

Beckman's had a great camp and can definitely shoot but could also use a year just learning the pro game better. I bet it's Duhaime that gets a 4th line spot with Pitlick being the 13th forward. Duhaime looked like an NHL player already with his speed and size. Beckman, Boldy (hopefully his injury isn't as serious as it looked), Rossi, and Addison can only be helped by spending most of the year in Iowa to get some seasoning.

I wasn’t trying to rag the guy. My last sentence probably wasn’t necessary, as I can’t see that comes off a little harsh.

Point is, there’s just no real evidence that a lot these things will happen. Why does Hartman suddenly get moved back to wing? Beckman Rossi Fiala isn’t something we’ve seen all camp, but becomes our 2nd like opening night? 4th line is another seemingly random assembly. Spare parts just because?

I don’t think Freddy G is waiver exempt, so I can’t see them sending him down and risk claim to start the season. I’d imagine they’d want to see at least a small sample size of games before doing that.