Wilderness Walk: NHL on NBC swaps idiots

That’s Wild

• The Minnesota Wild trimmed down their training camp roster to 31 players yesterday, but even with the excess amount, we have a pretty good idea of what the final roster is going to look like. [Hockey Wilderness]
• Yesterday saw more than 100 players hit the waiver wire and we will find where they all end up in just hours after publishing this, but should the Wild put a claim in on any of these dudes? [Hockey Wilderness]
• In the NWHL bubble that will take place later this month, the Wild will have their own fan section, full of cardboard cutouts of the active roster and coaching staff. Those cutouts will later be auctioned off and the entire proceeds will go to an all-girls Little Wild Learn to Play Program. [Hockey Wilderness]
• Instead of listening to some weirdo talk about what the Wild are going to do this season, read the opinions coming from the projection models from a few brainiacs. [Hockey Wilderness]
• The Athletic talked to some Hockey People and also took some advice from a math equation and came up with the Top 100 NHL Players list, sectioned off into tiers. [The Athletic]
• Russo goes deep into what he saw during the Wild’s couple of intrasquad scrimmages. [The Athletic]
• Minnesota native Nick Bjugstad was welcomed back into his home state with open arms and right into the top forward line. [StarTribune]

Off the trail...

• NBC Sports appeared to come into the realisation that Mike Milbury — a man who recently said just this summer that the lack of women in the playoff bubble would help the players’ concentration — is too much of an old buffoon to be on the national broadcast, but that was for a fleeting moment. Shortly after, the full broadcasting team was announced and one old head coach that was outed as a serial bully after being fired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019, reared his ugly head.

• San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane has filed for bankruptcy with a $26.8-million debt, which could see him sit out for the entirety of the 2020-21 season. [The Athletic]

• The NHL announced on Monday that there will be a helmet decal for the entire league to pay tribute to Hockey Hall of Famer Willie O’Ree, to celebrate equality. It will be displayed from Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, Jan. 16 through Black History Month, until Feb. 28.