Reintroducing winger Zach Parise to the Wild lineup immediately upgrades the team's top-nine look — even if it will take time for the 33-year-old to get up to speed after missing the season's first 39 games because of a herniated disc and subsequent back surgery.
But Parise's return Tuesday against the Panthers could have another effect — on the other forwards vying for opportunity.
"The inner competition that's going to be had for ice time should be a lot better," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "By that time, we should have an extra forward. So guys want to play; they don't want to sit out. Obviously we want to go with the best team we've got, so it's going to be good competition."
After the team's health up front was decimated early in the season because of injury, dressing based on merit seemed like a pipe dream when it was a scramble to have enough available forwards on the roster.
Now, though, with winger Nino Niederreiter — the lone injured player — getting closer to being able to suit up, someone will have to be the 13th forward who watches.
And with the offense thirsty for consistent production, perhaps this is just the catalyst to get better contributions.
"I think it never hurts," goalie Devan Dubnyk said. "We got a deep group in here, and that's what's allowed us to compete when we lost guys. But it's never a bad thing to feel like you have to go out there and play your best every single night in order to keep your spot. Everybody's a professional in here and done it throughout their career so if it pushes us to be better, then that's certainly a good thing."
Taking turns
Defenseman Gustav Olofsson remained in the lineup Tuesday, the first time he's played for back-to-back games since Dec. 10-12.