Homegrown players populate Wild's opening night lineup

For the first time in three years, the Wild didn't have anyone making an NHL debut on opening night.

But that doesn't mean the youth movement has stalled.

In fact, the transformation from pick to prospect to pro — all within the Wild's pipeline — was on display throughout the lineup that squared off against the New York Rangers on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.

"We're patient," coach Dean Evason said. "But we're excited about the steps that these guys are making."

Marco Rossi is the latest graduate, the ninth overall selection in 2020 making the team out of training camp, and the center filled out the Wild's lone homegrown line alongside Connor Dewar (2018 draft) and Brandon Duhaime (2016).

Duhaime was in Rossi's position a year ago, cracking the roster out of camp, and the rugged winger went on to skate in all but two games. Dewar was an early-season call-up and after another stint in the new year, the winger permanently joined the Wild in April and signed a two-year, one-way $1.6 million contract in June.

"I think I just came in and didn't try to play like someone else," Dewar said. "Just did what I do. I think it suits this team well, and I can fit in and there's a spot for me here when I play like that. I'm very proud of myself and how I did it last year. Came up in the middle of the season and tried to earn a spot.

"I still think I'm going to continue to get better and be a better player every day in this league."

Add in Jonas Brodin (2011), Matt Dumba (2012), Joel Eriksson Ek (2015), Kirill Kaprizov (2015) and Matt Boldy (2019), and the Wild had eight draft picks in action for Game No. 1. Last season, that number was at seven; same in the abbreviated 2021 schedule. Not since 2019 have the Wild had eight picks in their initial lineup.

"I knew my time was going to come," Rossi said. "The most important thing for me was to stay patient and just work on these things what I have to improve. Just stay patient was probably the hardest thing."

The season opener kicked off a challenging four-game homestand for the Wild based on last season's results.

After hosting the Rangers, who are coming off a run to the Eastern Conference finals, the Wild face the Kings, Avalanche and Canucks before departing for their first road trip.

Los Angeles made it to the playoffs last season and boosted its offense by acquiring Kevin Fiala from the Wild. Colorado won the Stanley Cup and is a contender to repeat, while Vancouver fell just short of a playoff berth.

"These are three teams we're starting off with that are all playoff teams," Tyson Jost said. "That's what we want. We're a playoff team, too, and we want to push ourselves and gauge ourselves against the league's best because we believe we should be there."

Jordan Greenway and Jon Merrill have been cleared for contact.

Both are starting the season as injured non-roster players after they underwent offseason surgery on upper-body injuries.

"They're progressing, both of them, extremely well," Evason said. "Probably ahead of schedule a little bit."

At the beginning of training camp, Wild General Manager Bill Guerin anticipated their return five to 10 games into the season.