Wilderness Walk: Change might be coming

Our favorite hockey team is playing like crap right now. It’s undeniable. But luckily there is hope on the horizon and that might be coming in the form of a hungry young player from Iowa.

The Athletic’s Joe Smith is hypothesizing that Adam Beckman will be the player that is going to be called up, but it could also be Sammy Walker after the rookie made a sensational impression in his first few NHL games earlier this season. Either way, the Wild are hoping to get a jolt of energy on the wing and someone who can score goals — both wingers fit this criteria.

While it would be nice theoretically for the Wild to give top prospect Marco Rossi another chance after earning just one point in meaningless minutes through the first 16 games this season, it does seem like management want to avoid the risk of depending on him to “save” the season. Nevertheless, we’re getting some lineup changes.

That’s Wild

• The Wild might be involved during the NHL trade deadline in two weeks, or maybe they will just be completely out of it. Well, we’re thinking of reasons why Minnesota will not acquire some of these top talents available. [Hockey Wilderness]
• We mention it in the article above, but maybe the Wild should focus on adding some draft picks or future assets at the deadline, since this roster still needs to fill some holes. [10K Rinks]

Off the trail...

• Trailblazer and former Calgary Flames assistant coach Paul Jerrard passed away yesterday at the age of 57 after a battle with cancer. [AP]
• A bunch of NHL personnel voted on the league’s top-10 defensemen. We know some names missing from this list. [ESPN]
• Are the Calgary Flames thinking of trading defenseman MacKenzie Weegar before his eight-year extension kicks in? [Yahoo Sports]
• The Ottawa Senators are playing spoiler to some teams across the NHL. [Defector]