Wilderness Walk: Wild thought about Marco Rossi

When Kirill Kaprizov got injured, a whole lot of Minnesota Wild fans that are in-tune with their prospect pool was wondering about a potential callup of Marco Rossi, to inject some other level of top-end talent. Unfortunately for them, Sammy Walker was the one that got the call to be with the Wild on this roadtrip.

But, according to Michael Russo’s latest, the Wild did ponder the idea of recalling Rossi instead of Walker, but thought it would be best to just keep him down in the minors because he’s doing well there (a little bit of a weird conclusion).

The Wild did talk about Marco Rossi, who is fourth on the Iowa Wild with 40 points in 41 games and has eight points and 15 shots in his past four games, when it came to a call-up due to Kaprizov’s injury.

But the team really likes the progress the prized prospect has made since returning to AHL Iowa and feels it’s better for him to play there than sit in the NHL.

Once the Wild decided they’d put Sam Steel back in the lineup — someone with experience on that top line with Ryan Hartman and Mats Zuccarello — and knew they needed a winger, Walker got the call to be the extra forward for this road trip.

Walker, linemates with Rossi in Iowa, has seen his friend’s game take a jump.

“He’s incredible,” Walker said. “He does everything right. He’s good in the D-zone. He holds onto pucks in the offensive zone. He’s always trying to make a play. I just try to get open for him, and he’s pretty good at getting me the puck.” — The Athletic

That’s Wild

• The whole article includes some tidbits about Filip Gustavsson’s first season with the Wild, John Klingberg driving a bus, and the team watching the Minnesota high school tournament. [The Athletic]
• We still haven’t seen all of the Wild’s trade deadline acquisitions! Don’t forgot about Gustav Nyquist returning from injury hopefully within the next month and bringing some much-needed skill. [10K Rinks]

Off the trail...

• Connor McDavid is from a different planet and just decided to score loads of goals this season. [NBC Sports]
• The New Jersey Devils are stealing every puck that isn’t nailed down. [Defector]
• Leafland isn’t waking up happy. The always-anxious fan base of the Toronto Maple Leafs just experienced a 4-3 defeat by the hands of the Buffalo Sabres, just across the border. [Yahoo Sports]
• After a battle with long COVID derailed his career, former Vancouver Canucks center Brandon Sutter has hope that he can play hockey again. [Sportsnet]