Minnesota Wild: Luke Kunin making the most of time in the NHL
Luke Kunin has shined in his time with the Minnesota Wild.
October hasn’t been too kind to the Minnesota Wild. Battling through an array of injuries to key players such as Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle and Zach Parise (until recently Mikael Granlund, and Marcus Foligno’s names were on this list) has dampened the high expectations leading up to this season.
The Wild felt the absence of these players early on, as the team skidded to win in the first five games. They often looked out-of-sync and incomplete defensively, but injuries always provide a chance for the next man up. Luckily for the Wild, one of those next men up was 2016 first round pick Luke Kunin.
Originally, Kunin was slotted to spend most of his time in the AHL this season. General Manager Chuck Fletcher and coach Brluce Boudreau felt Kunin would develop more quickly by playing top minutes in the AHL rather than as a fourth line winger on the big league club.
All that changed when the Wild lost three forwards in the same game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 12th. Kunin’s development would have to take place on the big stage.
Kunin debuted against Columbus on Oct. 14, and it did not take long for him to gain the trust of Bruce Boudreau. The following game, Kunin logged 15:23 of ice time against a talented Winnipeg team, and even saw himself playing with veteran center Eric Staal.
With two games under his belt, Kunin notched two assists against Calgary. Next up, against the Islanders, he played in key situations on the penalty kill and scored his first NHL goal on a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush with Staal.
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Kunin now has a goal and two assists in five games, mostly splitting time between the second and third line, but he is making a compelling case for even more ice time.
On top of producing on the score sheet, Kunin is making himself noticeable all over the ice by doing the little things. Kunin has a complete skill-set, with front-end speed, physicality, and a wicked hard shot, one that set him a step ahead from many of his collegiate teammates at the University of Wisconsin.
Against Vancouver for example, Kunin came out of the penalty box, received a pass near the offensive-zone blue line and tried passing it cross ice. The pass was picked off and went the other way, in what appeared to be a 2 on 1 rush for the Canucks. However, Kunin hustled back, and caught the Canucks player and shouldered him off the puck.
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These are the things that coaches – and fans – notice. We can expect Kunin to stay with the Wild for the foreseeable future if he continues to play his hard, skilled two-way game.