Wild Warmup: Minnesota at St. Louis

The essentials

The Wild Warmup is presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling
Just three days into training camp, the Wild will hit the ice for its first exhibition game on Saturday night when it takes on the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the Wild is expected to bring a relatively young lineup to St. Louis.
Upfront, Minnesota will be led by veteran forwards Jordan Greenway, Nick Bjugstad, Victor Rask and Nico Sturm. Jordie Benn is the only defenseman with significant NHL experience, while both goaltenders - Kaapo Kahkonen and Andrew Hammond - have seen significant time in the League.

Early in training camp, Greenway has skated with Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman, while Rask has been with Freddy Gaudreau and Kevin Fiala.
Sturm and Bjugstad were common linemates last season and have started that way again this year in camp.
In addition to those veterans, the Wild will also get a look at forwards Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi, who were the club's best players at the recent Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase.
Both Boldy and Rossi are aiming to make the NHL club and the game Saturday marks their first opportunities to stake their claims.
Adam Beckman will also skate for the Wild on Saturday.

Joining Benn on the back end will be Calen Addison and 2021 first-round pick Carson Lambos, two of the team's top defensive prospects.
Benn opened camp on the club's third defensive pairing with Dmitry Kulikov and is locked in a battle with Addison and Jon Merrill for a spot in the Opening Night lineup.
The Wild lineup will also have plenty of expected regulars from the Iowa Wild, including Dominic Turgeon, Joe Hicketts, Joseph Cramarossa, Dakota Mermis, Damien Giroux and Will Bitten.
Defensemen Ryan O'Rourke and Daemon Hunt, as well as forward Pavel Novak are other 2020 draft picks who will make their exhibition debuts in Minnesota sweaters on Saturday.
Kahkonen will draw the start. He went 16-8-0 in 24 games (23 starts) last season, with a .902 save percentage and a 2.88 goals-against average. Kahkonen allowed 16 goals in two starts at Enterprise Center, so Saturday's game could help the second-year netminder exorcise some demons in that building.
Hammond hasn't seen regular season or playoff action in the NHL since the 2017-18 season, but served as the Wild's taxi squad goaltender last season. He was one of the top goaltenders in the AHL in both 2018-19 and 2019-20.
The game Saturday marks the Wild's firs foray into the preseason. Minnesota will play at Colorado on Thursday before returning home for three consecutive exhibition contests at Xcel Energy Center: Oct. 4 against Colorado, Oct. 6 versus St. Louis and Oct. 7 against Chicago.
The WIld concludes the exhibition campaign at the United Center against the Blackhawks on Oct. 9 before opening the regular season six nights later against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 15 at the Honda Center.