Mason Shaw in, Ryan Reaves out as Wild make wholesale lineup changes

Mason Shaw suited up, Ryan Reaves didn't and the "GREEF" reunion ended.

Those were just some of the changes the Wild made Saturday after losing six times in an eight-game span, including three in a row ahead of puck drop against New Jersey at Xcel Energy Center.

"Our combinations certainly haven't worked, so they need to be put in a blender [and] hopefully intelligently put together," coach Dean Evason said.

For Shaw, this was his first game in more than two weeks: He was a healthy scratch four straight after last subbing in Jan. 26 vs. Philadelphia when Ryan Hartman was benched for penalty trouble.

"We're hockey players. We want to play games," said Shaw, who skated alongside Connor Dewar and Sam Steel. "The last month I haven't played a whole bunch of games, and you want to be in there and help any way you can.

"But just trying to stay ready, be a good teammate around the guys, and I'm excited to get back in and try to make a difference here."

Evason said the decision to sideline the veteran Reaves, who is one game shy of 800 in his NHL career, was "100 percent" about giving Shaw an opportunity and not reflective of Reaves' performance.

This was the first time the team scratched Reaves since he arrived in Minnesota via a Nov. 23 trade from the New York Rangers for a 2025 fifth-round draft pick. Through 32 games with the Wild, the 36-year-old Reaves has six assists.

"Ryan Reaves has not hurt our hockey club," Evason explained. "It's just a situation we had to pick a forward, and he was the person that we picked. He's provided us with energy, leadership, drive, commitment, physicality. He's done everything.

"There's no reason for him to be out. There's no reason for Shaw to be out, but we wanted to get Shawzy back in there. He'll give us some energy obviously the way that he plays the game. But yeah, nothing to do with Ryan Reaves' play."

The only line the Wild kept intact from the 5-1 meltdown to Vegas on Thursday was the Hartman, Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello trio that came together Wednesday in the 4-1 letdown at Dallas.

Joel Eriksson Ek centered Brandon Duhaime and Matt Boldy, while Frederick Gaudreau joined Jordan Greenway and Marcus Foligno for a nearly top-to-bottom shuffle indicative of the team's scoring struggles.

"We have been real good in our defensive zone coverage," Evason said. "We've been good in the neutral zone, but in the offensive zone when you're squeezing it, you haven't scored … you're pushing. You're anticipating. You're cheating on the offensive side, and we've given up 2-on-1s and breakaways from their hashmarks.

"That's a long way to have a breakaway or a 2-on-1, right? So, clearly, we're not on the right side of things. Hopefully we correct that."

Jonas Brodin's absence lasted only two games.

The defenseman was back in action Saturday after suffering a lower-body injury late in the 3-2 loss at Arizona on Monday that kept him out vs. the Stars and Golden Knights. Brodin resumed his usual post alongside Matt Dumba, while Alex Goligoski was the odd man out on the blue line.

The Wild recognized retired radio play-by-play announcer Bob Kurtz during a pregame ceremony.

Kurtz was the franchise's first radio voice and was with the team for parts of 22 seasons. The Detroit native was previously the lead television announcer for the North Stars on KMSP and KXLI, and Kurtz also handled play-by-play duties for the Twins on KMSP and on KSTP radio.