2023-24 IOWA WILD SEASON PREVIEW
Oct 12, 2023After earning the team’s second-ever playoff berth in 2022-23, the Iowa Wild enter the 2023-24 season with the goal of making another run at the postseason. While this year’s lineup features several new faces, many returning players are expected to figure prominently into the team’s success. This season preview covers everything Iowa Wild fans need to know, from the coaching staff through the goaltenders.
COACHING STAFF
On May 30, Minnesota Wild General Manager Bill Guerin announced that Brett McLean would take over head coaching duties for the Iowa Wild. McLean helped steer Minnesota to three consecutive Stanley Cup Playoff berths as an assistant coach for the club from 2020-23 and previously served as Iowa’s assistant coach from 2017-20.
McLean also brings extensive professional playing experience to the table, having played 1,111 games across seven leagues (NHL, AHL, IHL, ECHL, SEL, Swiss-A and the Austrian League) in 18 seasons (1999-2007). McLean’s playing history, combined with his understanding of Minnesota’s system and expectations, enable him to speak directly to his players’ challenges and prepare them for the NHL.
Iowa’s new bench boss is joined by new assistant coaches Ben Simon and Patrick Dwyer. Simon spent the previous eight seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins, including five as the team’s head coach. He served as an assistant coach for Grand Rapids from 2015-18 and won a Calder Cup in 2017 before being promoted to head coach for the 2018-19 season. Dwyer began his coaching career in 2019-20 as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Checkers. He served as an assistant coach for the Chicago Wolves from 2020-23 and was a member of the Calder Cup-winning team in 2021-22. Like McLean, both Simon and Dwyer bring sizeable professional playing experience to the table, and each should be able to communicate to players what it takes to deliver postseason success.
OFFENSE
Iowa brought back several scoring threats for 2023-24, but also upgraded offensively in the offseason. Nic Petan, the team’s leading scorer (23-39=62) in 2022-23, is back in the fold along with Adam Beckman, Steven Fogarty, Nick Swaney, and Sammy Walker.
The Wild picked up several scoring threats over the summer, including Vinni Lettieri, who averaged over a point per game (48 GP, 23-26=49) with Providence in 2022-23. Jujhar Khaira, who spent the last six seasons in the NHL with Edmonton and Chicago, will also be on Iowa’s opening night roster.
The team’s forward depth will allow McLean to field a lineup with three scoring lines on many nights. New additions Jake Lucchini, Joël Teasdale, and Greg Meireles bring crucial AHL experience to the table, while Mike O’Leary and Kevin Conley will look to build on the success they had in Des Moines in 2022-23.
The forward group also includes rookies Caedan Bankier, who was drafted by Minnesota in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft, and Casey Dornbach, who will seek to make a splash at the professional level after a successful college career. Kale Kessy, who played for Hershey and Colorado in 2022-23, will help protect Iowa's stars as they look to light up the scoreboard. The Wild will pick up reinforcements during the season in the form of Michael Milne and Mason Shaw, who are both recovering from injuries.
DEFENSE
The Minnesota Wild have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, and much has been made of the club’s upcoming defensemen. Daemon Hunt enters the 2023-24 campaign as an emerging star who will be expected to eat up top pairing minutes. He will be joined on the blue line by Carson Lambos, Kyle Masters, and David Spacek, three of Minnesota’s recent draft picks.
Iowa will rely on experienced defensemen like Dakota Mermis and Brenden Miller to guide the young guns, along with returning blueliners Simon Johansson and Ryan O’Rourke, who each enter their second full seasons of AHL hockey in 2023-24.
GOALTENDERS
Iowa enters the season with, arguably, one of the top goalie pairings in the league in the form of Zane McIntyre and Jesper Wallstedt. The two netminders combined to start 71 of 72 games in 2022-23 and formed a solid backbone for the team as it pursued a playoff berth.
With a young defensive corps still acclimating to professional hockey, Iowa may rely on the duo more heavily this season. While there will be a heavy focus on Wallstedt’s development toward a future starting spot with Minnesota during his second AHL season, McIntyre has the tools to put Iowa in a position to win any time he starts.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Iowa plays several familiar foes in 2023-24, including another 12 games against the Rockford IceHogs. The Wild take on Henderson and Tucson after not seeing either team in 2022-23 and face off against the Hershey Bears for the first time in franchise history.
In his opening remarks to the media after being hired, McLean promised that the 2023-24 Iowa Wild would play fast, disciplined, and relentless hockey. The team appears to have adopted that mentality quickly in training camp and preseason hockey, and fans can get their first glimpse of this new-look Iowa Wild team on Friday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.