The Wild kick off their preseason where it all ended this past April, in Winnipeg.

This is a new season for the Wild and things will most certainly be different than seasons past, despite the fact that there were few significant changes with the roster over the offseason.

This is the third season fro Bruce Boudreau behind the Wild bench and the team knows what he expects of them and how they are communicated with by his coaching staff.

Paul Fenton is now in charge of retooling the personnel to give the Wild their best chance to improve and become a more relevant playoff performer.

So the battles in camp this year take on more significance especially for the young players looking to make their mark even if they do not make the club initially out of camp.

Jordan Greenway has been working on the third line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Charlie Coyle, with Greenway centering the trio. That is a bit of a surprise but as we all are well aware big centers with skill are very hard to come by. So giving Greenway a good look in the preseason is a smart move on Boudreau's part.

He can always fall back on JEE at center, but if this move pans out the Wild have an entirely different dynamic with Greenway at center.

Andrew Hammond will get the nod tonight in goal for the Wild as he begins his quest to unseat Alex Stalock as Devan Dubnyk's backup this season.

Nick Seeler and Greg Pateryn will form the defense pair this evening and Ryan Murphy, Gustav Olofsson, Matt Bartkowski, and Louie Belpedio will also dress as the competition heats up for the 7th and 8th defense position on the Wild blueline.

Tonight'sWildtopline will be the aforementioned Greenway-Eriksson Ek-Coyle line, while Nino Niederreiter will also play tonight but not with his linemates Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu.

The new look fourth line battle also begins tonight as free agent signees Erc Fehr, Matt Hendricks, and JT Brown will allbe in the lineup along with Kyle Rau, Justin Kloos, Sam Anas, Ivan Lodnia, and Connor Dewar.

The position battles will be won on the ice, according to Boudreau, the players will make the team based on their own merit.

Tonight's game will be broadcast on KFAN and will be joined in progress on the NHL network.

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