Wilderness Walk: Oops, the Wild are back in the West

That’s Wild

• With the 2021 World Junior Championship just a couple of weeks away, we’re starting to see some nations finalize their roster. Unfortunately, that means some Wild prospects will be left on the sidelines and won’t get the opportunity to represent their country at the tournament in Edmonton.

Adam Beckman, 19, is the reigning WHL Player of the Year, but was not up to snuff for Team Canada’s coaches, as he was cut from the camp roster on Thursday. This leaves defenseman and 2020 second-rounder Ryan O’Rourke as the only Minnesota prospect for the host country.

Elsewhere, Team Russia is taking shape and starting to formulate some lines that will hopefully carry them through the tournament. Wild 2020 second-round pick Marat Khusnutdinov is centering the top line between fellow Russian wonderkids Vancouver Canucks prospect Vasili Podkolzin and Toronto Maple Leafs first-rounder Rodion Amirov.

• I’m getting dizzy. After the first report of the Wild joining some other Western Conference team in the new “Pacific/West” division, there was a report yesterday by Pierre Lebrun that put Minnesota in with more eastern teams in the new “Central” division — with the likes of Florida, Nashville, Detroit, etc. Well now, that’s all out the window and we’re back to the original plan, according to Michael Russo.

We will see how it all shakes down, but it looks like we’ll be staying up later and watching worse hockey teams. Oh joy.

• The Vegas Golden Knights are selling off everything, should the Wild get involved? [Hockey Wilderness]

Off the trail...

• Speaking of the Golden Knights, would Jonathan Marchessault be the better trade candidate than Max Pacioretty? It’s very close. [ProHockeyTalk]
• According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the NHL is exploring the option of selling ads on the player’s helmets. There is no definitive timeline, but it was brought up in the most recent Board of Governors meeting as a new way to create more revenue for the league. [Sportsnet]
• An interesting little tidbit for how next season is going to work; there will not be trade restrictions between the Canadian and American teams. While they won’t be able to face each other until the conference finals, players will still be able to get swapped across the border, with some quarantining involved most likely. [TSN]