"He's a guy with good speed. The reports are, he's playing good down there," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "We're big on the reward system up here; if you're playing good and you deserve it you're going to get a chance."
With all of the injury problems Minnesota has had early this season, it's had a domino effect in Iowa as well. With guys shuffling in and out of the lineup -- and in and out of town -- Iowa has been experiencing some of the same inconsistencies as the parent club.
The uncertainty down there has offered Kloos a chance at plenty of early ice time and a chance to build his game.
"It's been scrambling with calling guys up from different leagues, scrambling lines, just trying to put a team on the ice kind of thing," Kloos said. "It's been good. I've been able to get a lot of ice and build some confidence."
In addition to Kloos, Mikael Granlund's return to the lineup will also boost Minnesota.
The Wild's leading scorer last season with 69 points, Granlund has missed five of the first six games with a groin injury. He's been back on the ice for more than a week, slowly getting himself back into game shape.
"Like any team in the NHL, they get their best player back, it's going to impact them, and he's our best player," Boudreau said. "So hopefully he's not rusty, and he's in pure game form, and if he is, then we're a better team."
Here are the projected lineups:
WILD
Jason Zucker - Mikko Koivu - Mikael Granlund
Marcus Foligno - Eric Staal - Chris Stewart
Daniel Winnik - Matt Cullen - Luke Kunin
Tyler Ennis - Joel Eriksson Ek - Justin Kloos
Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon
Mike Reilly - Jonas Brodin
Kyle Quincey - Matt Dumba
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
CANUCKS
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Jake Virtanen
Sven Baertschi - Bo Horvat - Brock Boeser
Sam Gagner - Alex Burmistrov - Thomas Vanek
Markus Granlund - Brandon Sutter - Derek Dorsett
Ben Hutton - Chris Tanev
Michael Del Zotto - Troy Stetcher
Derrick Pouliot - Erik Gudbranson
Anders Nilsson
Jacob Markstrom
