So, it made sense that bringing him back felt like a bad move, especially giving up a third-round pick for the player.īut, this is not the 2021 Marcus Johansson that we’re used to. Most Wild fans remember him as the struggling forward that would look lost on the ice and could barely skate during the weird COVID season. Getting Marcus Johansson back was a controversial move, to say the least. But, he doesn’t have much longer in Minnesota. Hopefully this can solidify and he isn’t affecting the team this much, because it has been just four games and that is too small of a sample size to truly judge a player. His underlying numbers at 5-on-5 are pretty dang bad (33.73 shot attempt percentage, 34.28 expected goals percentage) and after losing Marcus Foligno to injury, that line might only get worse. Oh my Oskar Sundqvist registers his first point in a Wild sweater with some SLICK backhand sauce to Marcus Foligno and Foligno SNIPES #mnwild /OPh88IKSE3- Spoked Z March 9, 2023 ![]() Sundqvist also can pass the puck pretty dang well, apparently. If you’re looking at him as a Jordan Greenway replacement, through the four games Sundqvist has played for the Wild, he has two points and the now-Buffalo Sabre finished his season in Minnesota with seven. The defense-first forward that can play either center or wing has solidified the bottom-six forward group into something that can still score against any opponent. Sundqvist wasn’t the sexiest name acquired by the Wild at the trade deadline, but it might be the most on-brand acquisition for them. The only downside to trading for Klingberg is kicking Calen Addison out of the lineup, but even then, having someone around that went to the Stanley Cup Final just three years ago - and earned 21 points in 26 games during that playoff run - might be a good thing for this crew. ![]() But still, when he’s on the ice in a Wild sweater at 5-on-5, Minnesota has the greater share of scoring chances, unblocked shot attempts, and shots on goal - unfortunately he is just below the 50 percent mark when it comes to shot attempts and expected goals (the first two things people look at) but both those numbers are a massive improvement over his time with the Ducks. His defensive deficiencies still pop up every now and again, and that’s impossible to just completely hide. Matt Boldy takes Klingberg's stretch pass and buries the breakaway, putting Minnesota up to start the 2nd! #mnwild /mcU7IIeFYj- Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights March 13, 2023 Plus, in just five games, he already has three assists for the team. You won’t see him take over games on both ends of the ice, but he can pop in the skill at even strength and then return to being the offensive juggernaut when they have the man advantage. ![]() His time has been spent on the bottom pairing for the Wild, but also on the top power play unit - basically a perfect summary of what Dean Evason sees him as. He’s not your typical Wild defender, but within this sound structure of a team, he can flourish his offensive game and we’re seeing a rejuvenation of his career back to what he looked like while patrolling the Dallas blue line. Five games into his Minnesota career and it looks like the Wild have taken a broken-down blueliner that spent his season on a miserable team and are utilizing his skills almost perfectly. John KlingbergĬertainly the headline deal of the week was the Wild acquiring defenseman John Klingberg from the Anaheim Ducks. ![]() Some have played in minimal games, and some have not played at all, but let’s check in and see how the new dudes are doing. For the Minnesota Wild, they couldn’t do a lot with wanting strictly rentals, but they ended up acquiring four guys before the clock struck 2:00 p.m. The NHL trade deadline was almost two weeks ago at this point and the players moved during that hectic, transaction-heavy week are starting to settle into their roles on their new teams across the league.
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