Zach Parise REALLY Wants to Play Saturday; Wild vs Columbus Preview

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Wild Game Notes vs Blue Jackets:

Who: Minnesota Wild (1-1-1) vs Columbus Blue Jackets (2-1-0)
When: Saturday, October 14 – 7:00 PM
Where: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul MN

So, there are some very interesting quotes coming out of Zach Parise before the Wild face the Blue Jackets on Saturday night. This one being the most interesting: (Star Tribune-Megan Ryan)

“The opening night is always a lot of fun. There’s a lot of excitement in the building, and it’s a really fun game to play in. So I’m hoping I’ll be there. If not, I’ll be watching. But it’ll be disappointing if it doesn’t happen.”

So we will keep an eye on Zach but it sure seems like he is getting close to a return. Even if he doesn’t play tonight, let’s hope he doesn’t have any more set backs and we see him back in the lineup much sooner, rather than later.

The most interesting thing to watch in this game will be the Wild’s depth. Some of the depth that they added in guys like Winnick and Cullen could really start to pay off now, as the Wild try to move past these early season injuries. These are guys who are willing to play the 3-4 lines on a healthy team but are definitely capable of moving to top lines when needed… like tonight.

Coyle and Niedereitter to miss extended time after injuries

Bad news came out on Friday. Charlie Coyle will miss the next 6-8 weeks with a broken leg after taking a shot off the shin pad vs the Blackhawks. This sets the Wild back even farther. They are already without Zach Parise and Michael Granlund. But, that’s not all.

The Wild also lost Nino Niedereitter to a high ankle sprain. He will be out at least 3 weeks as he tries to battle back from that. High ankle sprains are notorious for dragging so let’s hope that isn’t the case with Nino. With all the injuries, the Wild will be able to use a seldomly-needed rule in the CBA, for teams who are up against the cap and dealing with injuries like the Wild are. Russo has all the details. You can read his article at the bottom of our Wild notes.

 

Luke Kunin to make NHL Debut; Mike Reilly sent down

The Wild roster is moving all over the place right now and they have a few different ways they can play things (again Russo’s article at the bottom). One thing is for sure. We are going to see Luke Kunin make his NHL debut on Saturday night in St. Paul. That will be fun to watch. Kunin is probably considered the Wild’s most exciting prospect…. at least for the ones who want to play here.

Mike Reilly has had a lot of ice time so far this season. But, the Wild need help on offense and help with the cap. Reilly is a more expensive prospect to have up with the big club, and count against the cap. That’s why they dropped Reilly down in order to bring Kunin up (both more expensive contracts than other prospects). For now, they will go with Kunin since he plays offense but we will see what happens after the game on Saturday.

Eric Strack
Minnesota Sports Fan @RealMNSportsFan
MinnesotaSportsFan.com

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