Wild look to integrate their four new Swedish additions into team

CALGARY, Alberta – Wild coach Dean Evason doesn't know any Swedish words, but he could be hearing the language quite a bit more.

"I got lots of texts saying that we coaches need to learn," Evason said.

All four additions the Wild made before the NHL trade deadline are Swedish, with the team picking up forwards Marcus Johansson and Gustav Nyquist last Tuesday before acquiring forward Oskar Sundqvist and defenseman John Klingberg on Friday.

"I'm going to learn very soon," Marcus Foligno said.

Klingberg, whom the team landed from Anaheim for minor leaguer Andrej Sustr, the rights to prospect Nikita Nesterenko and a 2025 fourth-round draft pick, was to make his Wild debut on Saturday at Calgary after getting to the team's hotel around midnight, but Sundqvist couldn't arrive in time and will meet the group back in Minnesota.

Earlier in the week, Klingberg found out the Wild were interested in trading for him, and this is where he wanted to go.

"I think my role fits good within the team, and the defensive structure is going to help me as well," said Klingberg, who was to wear No. 3 and pair up with Jon Merrill. "I'm very excited."

A mainstay with Dallas for eight seasons, Klingberg signed a one-year deal to join the rebuilding Ducks and left a minus-28.

He said he was "probably trying to do too much" at the beginning of the season and that's usually when he struggles. Since the Christmas break, though, Klingberg has felt better about his performance, which ignites offense when he's rolling. The 24 points he brought with him are the third-most on the Wild among defensemen.

"It has been kind of a tough year," said Klingberg, who took reps with the first power-play unit before the game. "I'm very excited to get kind of a fresh start here. I'm excited. Just go in and try to play my game and not try to chase offense too much. Instead, I'm going to try to let the game come to me and take it from there."

With Sundqvist unavailable and Jordan Greenway gone after the Wild moved him to Buffalo on Friday, Foligno returned against the Flames after missing the previous game with a hip flexor issue, and Sam Steel suited up for the first time since Feb. 15; he was a healthy scratch for eight in a row.

Brandon Duhaime (upper-body injury) did not play after leaving the 2-1 win at Vancouver on Thursday early following a fight. He'll be re-evaluated when the team is back in Minnesota.

As for what the Wild anticipates Sundqvist will bring to their lineup after adding him from Detroit for a 2023 fourth-rounder, "he goes to the net," Evason said. "He's a net-front presence. He's played on the power play. He's a playoff type of performer."

The Wild traded mostly draft picks to secure Johansson, Nyquist, Sundqvist and Klingberg, but they did make one subtraction from their roster when they dealt Greenway to the Sabres for a second-round pick this year and fifth-rounder in 2024.

This ended Greenway's six-season tenure with the Wild, who drafted the winger during the second round in 2015.

"Talking to him, I think he's excited and I think going to a team that needs that type of player, too, it's exciting for him," said Foligno, who was Greenway's longtime linemate along with Joel Eriksson Ek. "Sometimes change is good. But, yeah, we're definitely going to miss him. Great guy in the room, got along with everyone, big part of the GREEF line for many years. Yeah, it's tough to see a guy like that go when you had some good years with him.

"It is what it is, though. It's a part of the business. Gotta move on, but we obviously hope that he does really well in Buffalo."

Overall, the Wild were in stock-up-for-the-playoffs mode.

Matt Dumba said the team had some "honest" meetings in which the message was the group knows what it has to do for management to bring in more help.

"That's what they did," Dumba said. "They backed us. I think we've been one of the hottest teams in the NHL this past month. That's a credit to us and the guys in this room willing it into existence."

"It's on us now to move it forward and keep things going the way it's been," Foligno said. "But we're excited with what we have added and we're really looking forward to these last 20 [or] so games and fine-tuning some things and getting ready for playoffs."

Despite being a fixture in trade rumors, Dumba didn't change NHL addresses before the deadline.

"It feels good," said Dumba, who is still facing an uncertain future since he's on an expiring contract and the Wild will be in a budget crunch. "This is where I want to be. I want to help this team. I definitely want to win. I want to go further than I ever have. This is one of the best teams I've ever been a part of here in Minnesota. I'm excited."

General Manager Bill Guerin said he didn't come close to trading Dumba nor would he have.

"Matt is playing too well right now, and he's helping us too much," Guerin said. "I think the last month he's been fantastic."