The Minnesota Wild grabbed two of a possible four points this week in their first two regular season games of the year. The Wild won 2-0 over the Florida Panthers in their home opener on Tuesday, but lost 7-4 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in their first road game of the season on Saturday.
The Wild wrap up their two-game road trip in Montreal against the Canadiens on Tuesday, before home games against the L.A. Kings on Thursday and Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
Here's the most important news you may have missed from the week:
• Wild 2023-24 projection: Keys to the season and worst case scenario. Read more here
• Wild name Kirill Kaprizov alternate captain. The 26-year-old has 236 points in 205 career games. Read more here
• The first edition of The Hockey News' weekly Wild prospect report includes updates on how some of the Wild's top prospects are doing. Read more here to find out who earned the prospect of the week award.
• The Wild need their blueline to step up in Jared Spurgeon's absence. Alex Goligoski, Calen Addison and Jon Merrill have a good opportunity in front of them to silence the critics. Read more here
• Storylines from the Wild and Maple Leafs' game: Ryan Reaves faced Minnesota for the first time since signing a three-year deal with Toronto this summer. And rookies Brock Faber and Matthew Knies, who were teammates at the University of Minnesota, played against each other for the first time in the NHL. Read more here
• A former Wild defender who recorded eight points in 39 games while averaging roughly 15 minutes of ice time a night in Minnesota during the 2021-22 season signed with Brynas IF in Sweden. Read more here
• Injury news: Wild forward Marcus Johansson played in Toronto after leaving Thursday's season opener in the third period. Meanwhile, Spurgeon remains in the "week-to-week" category. Read more here
• The Iowa Wild, Minnesota's American Hockey League affiliate, announced their opening night roster for the 2023-24 season. Iowa dropped its first two games against the Henderson Silver Knights this weekend after going 2-0 in preseason action. Read more here
• Iowa also announced its captains for the 2023-24 season. Dakota Mermis is keeping the 'C', while two veterans and a youngster are named alternate captains. Read more here
• The Wild called up Mermis Thursday from Iowa for an extra body due to Spurgeon's absence. Mermis is with the Wild in Montreal as Minnesota finishes its first road trip on Tuesday. Read more here
• 5 observations from the Wild's 2-0 season-opening win at home over the Panthers on Thursday. Brock Faber scored his first NHL goal, while Marco Rossi (who scored Saturday) had his taken off the board. Read more here
• Wild top center prospect Marat Khusnutdinov was traded to HC Sochi. He scored 41 points in 63 games with SKA St. Petersburg last season. Read more here
• Why the Wild's new third line composed of Marcus Foligno, Rossi and Freddy Gaudreau could do damage this season. Read more here
• 5 Wild preseason observations, everything from Sammy Walker to Pat Maroon. Read more here