Zach Bogosian is the latest Minnesota Wild player to hit a career milestone as the veteran defender skated in his 800th career game in Monday night’s 4-3 loss on the road to the Pittsburgh Penguins inside PPG Paints Arena.
Bogosian, 33, played 16 minutes and 18 seconds in Pittsburgh, the third-most among Wild defenseman behind only Brock Faber (28:18) and Jake Middleton (23:49). Bogosian also blocked one shot, recorded two hits and was -2 with two penalty minutes in his 800th game.
Bogosian, who was drafted third overall by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2008 NHL Draft, has played 16 seasons between five organizations: The Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets (393 games), Buffalo Sabres (243 games), Toronto Maple Leafs (45 games), Tampa Bay Lightning (106 games) and now the Wild.
The Wild acquired the 2020 Stanley Cup Champion from the Lightning on Nov. 8 for a seventh-round pick in 2025. The trade occurred on the same day the Wild traded Calen Addison to the San Jose Sharks for a fifth-round pick in 2026.
Bogosian was effectively Addison's replacement. The Wild's defense had been uncharacteristically poor to start the season — so Wild general manager Bill Guerin felt like an "immediate" change needed to be made.
In Guerin's words, the Wild needed "some heaviness," and that's what the hard-nosed Bogosian would bring.
“We need what he can bring to our lineup,” Guerin said of Bogosian. “He’s a big guy. He still skates well. He brings heaviness, (and) he brings some grit.”
Well, Bogosian has been better than expected in 13 games with the Wild. He has brought an edge and sandpaper to the backend that had everything but that. The right-shot Bogosian has one point and is a +4 with 14 shots, 16 blocks and 23 hits while averaging almost 15 minutes a game, where he’s also averaged 73 seconds of penalty kill time.
Most importantly, Bogosian, who has brought a much-needed physicality element, has kept his penalties to a minimum. Among defenders who played a minimum of 1,500 minutes over three seasons from 2020-23, Bogosian's 4.15 penalty minutes on a per 60 minute basis was the 28th highest among NHL defenseman during that time.
Bogosian has been playing more by the book this season with only three infractions and six penalty minutes over 17 games and 241 minutes between the Wild and Lightning.
Furthermore, with Bogosian on the ice at five-on-five, the Wild have outscored the opposition 8-4 while controlling 54.36 percent of the Corsi share and 60.04 percent of the expected goal share.
The 6-foot-3, 231-pound defender deserves a lot of credit for quickly adjusting to a new system and playing an overwhelmingly clean, effective and physical game so far for the Wild.
All data via Natural Stat Trick