Jones, Hunt Both Impressing But Wild Anticipate Several Cuts in Next Few Days

The Wild are gearing up for the season and are expected to make many roster cuts soon.

ST. PAUL - The Wild are ramping up before the start of the season. Head coach John Hynes said on Saturday that the Wild are expected to make a flurry of roster cuts in the next day or two. 

Whether the cuts happen before the game on Sunday or after, they are expected to come and today's two groups might have indicated who will and won't be cut. 

“It could be a little bit of both," Hynes said. "Depending on who’s in the practice group and who’s in the game group.”

The Wild don't really have the flexibility to have three healthy scratches for game one of the season so instead they may open the season with exactly 12 forwards and one extra defenseman or vice versa. 

This all depends on Matt Boldy's status though. The Wild winger skated on his own Saturday but won't play on Sunday. Once Boldy starts practicing with the team, it will be hard to project how the Wild's roster will look in game one. 

Here are the Wild's lines from Saturday:

Kaprizov - Hartman - Zuccarello 

Johansson - Eriksson Ek - Ohgren 

Trenin - Rossi - Foligno 

Lauko - Khusnutdinov - Gaudreau

Brodin - Faber

Middleton - Spurgeon

Chisholm - Bogosian

Scratched: Merrill, Hunt, Jones

Guys like Devin Shore, Travis Boyd, Brendan Gaunce, and Reese Johnson skated in the Wild's second group on Saturday. 

“I think there still is the game tomorrow, for sure. Some of it was we’d like to just see the majority of the group if not the main group together with a couple of other guys that are contending," Hynes said about the two groups on Saturday being an indicator. "But I wouldn’t say that these two practice groups are finalized. But it was just what we wanted to look at today.”

Daemon Hunt has been one player, along with Ben Jones, that has impressed Hynes during camp so far. 

“Yeah, I think Huntsy’s kind of taken that next step in his development where he got some games last year, learned some things, played really well down the stretch for Iowa, has come back to this camp he looks more mature," Hynes said. "He looks physically able to handle the battles, skating looks good, more confident I think in himself and his decisions. So, yeah, he’s right there."

Hynes indicated that Jones' play has earned him a spot with the NHL squad from Saturday's practice but it doesn't mean its a guaranteed spot. 

“Yeah, and it was difficult to be honest," Hynes said on Jones getting the 13th forward spot. "I think Shore has played really well. Gaunce has played well. They’ve been in the conversation. Boyder has done a good job. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to see Reese Johnson much but I would say up front those guys were kind of all in the mix but we went with Jonesy today and obviously Ohgren. So, we’ll see how everyone does tomorrow.”

Shore, Boyd, and Gaunce will all play on Sunday against the Dallas Stars. Jones and Graeme Clarke will also play. The play of those forwards on Sunday could be a big factor in who gets cut and who stays. 

Nonetheless, the Wild are expected to make some cuts soon. This will help the team ramp up for the start of the season in hopes of getting off to a good start. 

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