The Minnesota Wild kids will play – Minnesota Wild

Have you ever gotten exactly what you wanted? Exactly what you wanted. No replacements, no disappointments, just exactly what you wanted.

That's a feeling I don't particularly know, especially as a sports fan. Maybe it would be different if I was rooting for the Los Angeles Dodgers or something. But from my perspective, it feels like wanting more is a constant state of fandom. It's not even limited to big things like playoff disappointments. Maybe that feeling comes out when you want a player to be just 5% better, or when you regret what could have been had a star not gotten injured early in his career.

Or, if you were me and you watched the Minnesota Wild last year, a team that doesn't handle a losing situation quite the way you'd like. Even though Minnesota was clearly not a favorite, they didn't let the majority of their young players play until the 79th game of the season – until they were technically eliminated. And even then, that only meant a couple of starts for Jesper Wallstedt and Liam Öhgren.

We understand that there weren't many promising pros to draw from. What else was there besides Wallstedt? Daemon Hunt didn't impress everyone in 12 NHL games. Carson Lambos, the 2021 first-round pick, struggled as a rookie in Iowa. Marat Khusnutdinov and Öhgren had to finish their regular season abroad.

But this year? We'll get exactly what we want. The only question is: do we really want it?

Yes, the Wild's initial lines in training camp didn't leave much room for young players. Marat Khusnutdinov was the only member of our top 10 list of young players on the team's four offensive lines… who made up the fourth line.

But don't worry, the guys will play. They just have to. Minnesota didn't give itself much choice in the offseason.

The Wild's salary cap meant that their improvements had to come from within. They didn't have the money to sign an expensive player, so they put what little money they had into Yakov Trenin's $3.5 million AAV. That's why Minnesota's first two lines featured some very familiar setups: Kirill Kaprizov with Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello on the first line, and Marcus Johansson reunited with Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek on the second line.

But as we've seen before, injuries will take their toll. Boldy is now week-to-week with a lower-body injury. While he's expected to be available for opening night, it's still telling. Players get injured and, as we saw last year, they don't perform at their best. Opportunities open up.

There aren't many NHL veterans waiting to fill the shoes of a top-six pick in St. Paul. Despite rumors that the Wild were keen on him, Patrik Laine isn't going to walk through that door. Unless an injury frees up some salary cap space, they're not going to make any big trades to get some offensive momentum.

That makes Öhgren, who is entering his first full season in North America, a player competing for that type of role. Marat Khusnutdinov should move up the lineup should an opportunity arise. Riley Heidt, a 19-year-old who made the team 15 months after his draft day, even has a realistic chance of making the team after training camp.

It's not just that Minnesota could hypothetically take one of its young players in the top-six position. They're practically begging for it. A team doesn't seek out a defensive weak spot like Laine because they believe his scoring doesn't need improving. The most likely way to get him now is if Öhgren and/or Heidt are willing to move to the NHL, like Wyatt Johnston did for the Dallas Stars two years ago.

In terms of options, Minnesota has a lot more young players at its disposal this year than last season. Wallstedt (our most promising young player), Öhgren (No. 4), Heidt (No. 5), Khusnutdinov (No. 6), Hunt (No. 8) and Lambos (No. 10) have more than half of their top players available. In addition, forwards like Caedan Bankier and defensemen like Jack Peart and David Spacek could play roles.

It will be new and original, but will it be better? We'll find out. We've wanted to see the future for so long, and this season will force Minnesota to throw at least some of these guys in the pool without water wings. If they succeed right away, great, they were ready. Or maybe they were witches. But more likely, they were ready.

But what if not? We should be prepared for that, too. There is no safety net when the kids are your first (or almost first) option. There will be no veterans coming out of Iowa to stop the bleeding when the young players fail as the first line of defense. As a fan and young player nerd, it will be exciting to see those players. However, there is also the possibility that I will have to deal with the feeling that I should have been more cautious with what I wished for.

Do you think you could write a story like this? Hockey Wilderness wants you to develop your voice, find an audience and we'll pay you to do it. Just fill out this form.