Early injury exits, a scoring machine in the scrimmages and the roster hopefuls have stood out at the beginning of camp, which continues with more practices Saturday before the Wild’s first preseason game Sunday at Winnipeg.
“I don’t care if it’s an intrasquad scrimmage on Day 1 or Game 45 or the first round of the playoffs,” President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin said. “It just feels nice to score goals.”
“A lot of game develops outside of the hockey [rink], when you can find the same things to talk about when you’re on the bench, when you’re in the locker room, and talking about the game,” Tarasenko said about clicking with linemates. “At the same time when you play with guys who are willing to work hard and they don’t care who scores a goal, you just work for each other. It makes the chemistry a little better.”
Now, the No. 19 overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft has a plump chance to show not only that he belongs on the team but in a prominent position.
Ohgren focused on his upper-body strength over the summer to help him better battle on the ice, and the 21-year-old feels readier for the NHL compared to a year ago when he made the team out of training camp before spending most of the season in the minors.
Not only is Zuccarello sidelined because of an undisclosed injury that occurred before camp, but rookie defenseman Zeev Buium suffered an upper-body injury Thursday and didn’t practice Friday. Neither did center Nico Sturm after leaving early Thursday due to a back issue. Fortunately for the Wild, coach John Hynes doesn’t anticipate either being out long term.
Brett Leason has been skating on the fourth line and will get a look on the penalty kill. The 26-year-old played for Anaheim the past three seasons (new Iowa head coach Greg Cronin was the Ducks’ bench boss the latter two), but Leason had an “eye-opening” summer going unsigned for so long. The feedback he heard was to be more physical and bring more pace to his game.
Johnson, who won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022, has been working with David Jiricek, and Johnson found out at the beginning of July the Wild were interested in bringing him to camp. The 38-year-old believes he still has “something left in the tank” after surpassing 1,200 NHL games last season.
“I was just a kid growing up in Michigan hoping to be good enough to play college hockey someday,” said Johnson, who was at Shattuck-St. Mary’s before starring at the University of Michigan. “All of this, this has been a dream come true and far and beyond what I ever imagined. Appreciative to still be here.”
The Wild’s terrific start a year ago, in which they began 8-1-2 and didn’t trail for their first 19 periods, can be traced to their intense training camp, which was Hynes’ first at the helm. Players have been told repeatedly how the goal is to have these weeks of prep be a competitive advantage for the team.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine advisers added confusion Friday to this fall’s COVID-19 vaccinations — declining to recommend them for anyone and leaving the choice up to those who want a shot.
The Senate rejected competing measures on Friday to fund federal agencies for a few weeks when the new budget year begins on Oct. 1, increasing prospects for a partial government shutdown on that date.