When the season started, Jordie Benn sat as a healthy scratch, Matt Boldy was on the mend and Connor Dewar played in the minors.
Look at them now.
"You never know how things are going to shake out," Wild coach Dean Evason said.
The Wild's marquee players continue to shine.
Kirill Kaprizov reached 100 career points in whirlwind fashion, matching phenom Connor McDavid's 92-game clip. Among active players, only Alex Ovechkin (77 games), Sidney Crosby (80) and Evgeni Malkin (89) hit the benchmark quicker.
Mats Zuccarello has already assembled his best season with the Wild, becoming just the second player in team history to rattle off multiple points in five consecutive games. He also shares the longest active point streak in the NHL at nine games with teammate Kevin Fiala, whose seven-goal burst during that span has him on pace to score at least 20 for a third straight season.
But the spotlight is also showcasing the likes of Benn, Boldy and Dewar, who went from standbys to standouts in the 8-2 dusting of the Canadiens on Monday at Xcel Energy Center that notched the Wild's third straight win and sixth in its past seven games overall.
"Our leadership in that room has allowed us to have that depth and have those depth guys contribute because they feel comfortable not only on the ice," Evason said, "but they feel comfortable off the ice in the locker room and away from the game."
Benn was the first to get a consistent chance to climb the ranks with the Wild this season. A free-agent pickup in the summer, the 34-year-old veteran debuted as an extra defenseman and stayed mostly in that role until captain Jared Spurgeon went down with injury in November.
Since then, Benn has been idle just once. He was even elevated to the top pairing next to Matt Dumba after Jonas Brodin suffered an upper-body injury and Alex Goligoski went on the COVID list. And when Spurgeon once again returned from injury last week, rookie Calen Addison — not Benn — was the one to exit the lineup.
"We got D-men that can play," said Benn, whose goal vs. Montreal was his first with the Wild. "Obviously we can't wait to have [Brodin] back in the lineup and if that means that I'm out, that means I'm out. Brodes is a special player. You want him in the lineup. It's kind of been my career to be called upon when and be ready, and I've done that and just got to keep going."
Boldy is the most recent arrival to stick in the lineup, getting beckoned from the minors just three weeks ago to make his NHL debut after starting in the American Hockey League once the broken ankle he suffered in training camp healed.
Although the 20-year-old winger said he still feels like a newcomer, his play suggests otherwise: three goals, including two game-winners, and three assists in seven games for the 2019 first-round pick drafted 12th overall.
"It makes it a little bit easier to get on the scoresheet, just confidence-wise, obviously," said Boldy, who is with the Kaprizov-Zuccarello tandem on the power play where he scored against the Canadiens. "The more confidence you play with, the better you're going to be. I think that's a big contribution to my play and feeling comfortable here."
Dewar is the only other prospect to parlay an in-season promotion from the AHL into a consistent gig in the Wild's forward group.
Not only has he filled out a gritty fourth line with fellow Iowa graduates Brandon Duhaime and Nico Sturm, but the winger also has begun to flash his offensive side. The 22-year-old's first career goal on Monday came after he swooped through the neutral zone and split two defenders with a rising shot, and he added an assist just 22 seconds later for his first multi-point game as an NHLer.
"Every game, I want to grow," said Dewar, a 2018 third-round pick by the Wild. "This is big for my development right now, and I just want to take advantage of it."
None of these players was in action for the Wild on Opening Night. Now, each has become a regular. That points to the unpredictability of the season but also their ability to capitalize on opportunity.
"Your first NHL game you might be in awe a little bit," Dewar said. "But now I'm here to help this team win a Stanley Cup."
