Luke Kunin passes skate test but unlikely to…
Luke Kunin passes skate test but unlikely to start season with Wild
Minnesota Wild's Luke Kunin talks to the press after the first day of training camp at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (Jean Pieri / Pioneer Press)
By John Shipley | jshipley@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
PUBLISHED: October 6, 2018 at 12:06 p.m. | UPDATED: October 6, 2018 at 5:56 p.m.
Promising young forward Luke Kunin continues inching closer to being medically cleared to play in a game.
Cleared for contact this week, Kunin took and passed Wild coach Bruce Boudreau's infamous skate test on Saturday morning. The question is whether he will stay with the NHL team when he is or be sent to AHL Iowa to get ready.
"That's not my call," Boudreau said.
Kunin, 20, had two goals and two assists in 19 games as a rookie last season and seemed to be carving himself a niche in Boudreau's lineup before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a 4-1 victory over Detroit on March 4. He's been in camp all fall but didn't play in a preseason game.
On Friday, Kunin practiced on the third line with center Jordan Greenway and wing Charlie Coyle.
"Common sense says he's going to go down (to Des Moines) and play some games," Boudreau said. "But the biggest thing is to get him healthy. He's what we need in this organization, a good young player that can play. So, to get him playing at top speed would be the ideal thing rather than just throwing him into the fire up here right away."
THIRD LINE, SECOND CHANCE
Boudreau said he was sticking with the lines from Thursday's 4-1 loss at Colorado for Saturday's home opener against the Vegas Knights. That includes the third line of Coyle, Greenway and Joel Eriksson Ek, who had a rough go against the Avalanche.
The young line — Greenway and Ek are 21, Coyle 26 — failed to get a shot on goal in a combined 31 minutes, 51 seconds in Denver. Boudreau said there's something to be said for being quick-triggered but added that after just one game isn't the time.
"We have to let them play with a little bit of confidence, so that if they make a mistake they're still going to be fine," Boudreau said.
Asked if the trio worked on what they didn't do on Thursday — make good passes, protect the puck in their own zone and support on the forecheck — Boudreau said, "I think they got the message."
Vegas defenseman Nate Schmidt started his season this week — in Austria.
According to the Las Vegas Journal Review, the former Gophers standout from St. Cloud left this week to play for the Vienna Capitals while he serves a 20-game NHL suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. He is eligible to return Nov. 18.
Such suspensions are rare in the NHL. Sean Hill was the first player ever suspended for testing positive for a performance enhancer, in 2007. He signed with the Wild the next season, played 35 games and retired. Forward Sean Horcoff was suspended 20 games in January 2016 when he played for Boudreau in Anaheim.
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"Sometimes you make a mistake, you take something you don't read the label for and you're tested at the wrong time and bad things happen," the coach said. "But I'm sure that will never happen to (Schmidt) again."
NHL players are educated each season on what they can and cannot ingest. The biggest lesson, Boudreau said, "is read (the label) if you're taking something and you don't know what's in it."
Defenseman Ryan Suter, returning from a broken ankle that ended his season in April, played more than 25 minutes on Thursday. Boudreau said that's optimal. "If he can play 25 minutes, that means the rest of the D is very reliable, and that's where you'd like to see him play," the coach said. "But we'll use him as much as we have to be successful."
John Shipley | Deputy sports editor
Twenty-seven years in newspapers, 16 with the Pioneer Press. NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA, NCAA, Olympics. American mongrel: Bay Area, Chicago, Milwaukee, Iowa City, St. Paul.
jshipley@pioneerpress.com
Follow John Shipley	@ShipleyMN
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