ST. PAUL - The Wild have been known to have two solid scoring lines with Ryan Hartman centering Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, and Joel Eriksson Ek centering Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson.
But this year the Wild could add a scoring third line to the mix to round out their top nine with Marco Rossi centering Marcus Foligno and Freddy Gaudreau.
Last year Gaudreau spent 33 games playing with Kaprizov and Zuccarello, 14 with Hartman and Boldy, 11 with Boldy and Sam Steel, and some games with Foligno, Nic Petan, Oskar Sundqvist, and Brandon Duhaime. The point is he played on almost every line and still scored 19 goals last season.
This year Gaudreau will start on a line with Foligno and Rossi on what will be called the third line. But it won't be a typical third line this year. Most third lines in the NHL are tasked with shutting down the opposing team's top line or one of the top lines.
But this line has the ability to do that and more. It won't just be a defensive line, this line should chip in offensively and produce at a very friendly rate.
Two seasons ago Foligno scored 23 goals for the Wild on a line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway, two really effective defensive forwards who have an offensive side to their games. This year Foligno will play with Gaudreau who is known one of the more complete two-way forwards on the Wild outside of Eriksson Ek.
Despite the struggles Rossi had last year, he has come into camp a completely different player. He got a lot stronger and has shown he is more comfortable playing a harder game.
"What I’ve seen, I think he’s got a lot thicker," Foligno said. "He’s definitely had a great summer. I know he spent quite a bit of time here in Minnesota, which has been great for his development and sometimes it’s needed."
In fact, Rossi finished at the top of Minnesota's strength testings they conduct every year in training camp and in his first preseason game for the Wild, Rossi impressed.
"One of the best games we've seen," Wild head coach Dean Evason said on Rossi's game against the Avalanche. "He carried the puck and had pace to his game. Was strong down there defensively and didn't look out of place physically."
In the last preseason game of the year Foligno connected with Rossi who fired home a shot, which ended up being the final goal of the Wild's 4-0 win over the Dallas Stars.
But for Gaudreau this year seems more exciting than last. There is a buzz in the locker room that is different.
"It feels like everybody keeps stepping up year after year," Gaudreau told The Hockey News. "Everybody is more mature, just better physically and better on the ice.
But overall, it's the same group in a way that it's so much fun coming to the rink together. Everybody does it for the right reason, which is for the love of the game and to compete and go win out there. So yeah, it's just always fun to be here."
The best thing about both Foligno and Gaudreau is they are defensive guys at heart and know how to play defensively night in and night out. There is a reason why Foligno has been a top defensive forward in the league for the last five or so years.
Over the last two seasons, both Gaudreau and Foligno have ranked in the top five for team defense and have provided Evason with steady defensive play in every game.
For Rossi, the former 2020 ninth overall pick is considered to be an offensive center but should mold into a solid two-way center. Last year Rossi struggled defensively but he also struggled offensively. This year, the signs don't point to the same results.
"I think if you look at stats and stuff, it's easy to say that but I still believe he did a lot of good things," Gaudreau said on Rossi's struggles last season. "He's got the skill set to be a really good player in this league. He's always dialed, always in the moment, strong in the moment and playing the right way.
Gaudreau continued: I played with Moose a little bit last year, which I love and Marco from practices and stuff it's just really fun to play with him because he's so smart. He makes all the right plays. So I'm really looking forward to just hopefully building and playing with them."
Final thoughts
With Foligno and Gaudreau's defensive mindsets and Rossi high end offensive potential, watch out for the Wild's third line to do some damage this year.
If that is the case, the Wild will have established themselves as not a one line team, but rather a team with three potential scoring threat lines.
Required Reading
• Wild announce opening night roster