Marat Khusnutdinov will make his NHL debut tonight against the Anaheim Ducks.
Marat Khusnutdinov will make his NHL debut tonight against the Anaheim Ducks.
ST. PAUL - After a little bit of a wait, Marat Khusnutdinov will make his NHL debut tonight against the Anaheim Ducks.
Wild head coach John Hynes confirmed this morning that Khusnutdinov will make his debut on a line with Freddy Gaudreau and Marcus Foligno.
"He's a tenacious guy and a competitive player," Hynes said. "He's here for a reason. I think a lot of times with young players it's still the game of hockey and he's here for a reason we believe in him. I think the big thing is that - just do what you do really well and I think you can concentrate on those things, it also gives you confidence in something I think believe it, and keeping your mind focused."
Khusnutdinov, 21, has pretty good English for a young kid coming to America for the first time ever. He has learned a lot from watching movies in English but also having fellow Russian Kirill Kaprizov help him out.
Hynes said he has had three meetings with Khusnutdinov already. Two of them have been with Kaprizov so he can translate things but Hynes met with Khusnutdinov this morning alone to tell him he's making his NHL debut.
"He's excited. Certainly excited for sure as much as he can express it," Hynes said on Khusnutdinov. "You can just see it in his face, let me put it that way."
With Joel Eriksson Ek out of the lineup, Hynes might've had the thought to slide the young center with the top line but Khusnutdinov is better suited to play with a veteran like Foligno who can help and protect him. But also with Gaudreau who has speed and can distribute the puck.
"Off the ice, he seems like a really nice guy and that's awesome," Gaudreau said on Khusnutdinov. "I'm really looking forward to seeing him play and get to know him more."
There is lots of excitement with Khusnutdinov. The Wild might be more excited to see what he can do than Khusnutdinov is to play but he will get that chance tonight to try and help this team in the middle of a playoff race to make some noise.
"I'm looking forward to it," Hynes said. "I'm happy for him. It's a long journey for him and he's put in some work here since he got over to Minnesota. He's excited so I look forward to seeing him play."
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