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Daemon Hunt has earned the right to start over David Jiricek for the Minnesota Wild because his current form, underlying profile, and fit with the team’s needs all point in the same direction. He helps them win right now in ways Jiricek has not yet consistently shown at the NHL level. Recent usage and transactions already hint at how the organization views both defensemen. Hunt has stepped into the Wild lineup this season, contributing two assists, 11 hits, 19 blocked shots, and a plus -3 rating in 13 games, while handling a depth role without the chaos that usually comes with a young defender learning on the job. Jiricek, meanwhile, has been sent down after a stint that featured decent minutes but little impact on the scoresheet and no offensive production in his first 10 to 12 games with Minnesota. Hunt’s offensive upside showed up last night against the Islanders in a tied 2-2 game. Quinn Hughes slid a pass down the left side to Hunt, who went cross-ice through the crease to Kaprizov, who slid the puck past Sorokin to take a 3-2 lead in the game. It was a beautiful tape-to-tape pass. If he can consistently make plays like this, he’s going to continue to earn himself more ice time with the Wild. That contrast matters for a team that cannot afford extended on-the-job training in the middle of a playoff race. Hunt's ability to come in cold and still tilt the basic results in the right direction gives the coaching staff a baseline of trust that Jiricek has not yet matched in a Wild sweater. Going back to his WHL and early pro days, Hunt's strength has been his smooth, powerful skating, paired with calm puck movement and solid defensive reads. Scouting reports consistently highlight his mobility, vision, and poise under pressure, describing him as an all-around blueliner who can move the puck efficiently and close plays with his stick and body positioning rather than desperation. For a Wild team that already leans heavily on high-end puck movers like Quinn Hughes and Jonas Brodin, a low-maintenance depth defender who can keep plays on schedule and avoid self-inflicted damage is hugely valuable. Hunt’s profile fits that template. He can advance the puck, survive forechecks, and eat defensive-zone shifts without the wild swings in decision-making that often show up in young high-ceiling defenders. None of this should take away from Jiricek’s potential. At 6-foot-3 and over 200 pounds, he has the size, reach, and a heavy shot that made him a top prospect, and the tools still project as a potential top-four, all-situations defender if the development curve hits. However, during his brief run in Minnesota, he has looked more like a player trying to survive than one dictating play. He has no goals, no assists, and limited shot volume across his early games. Minnesota’s coaches are sheltering him at five-on-five and keeping him away from special teams. The gap between tools and impact is exactly where the argument tilts toward Hunt. The Wild need reliability and mistake-free hockey from the bottom of their defense group, not a long runway for a high-variance player still figuring out reads against NHL pace. Jiricek’s ceiling is higher, but his game brings more risk than reward, and that is the opposite of what a contending lineup wants from its third pair. Look at how the depth chart stacks up. Minnesota already has premium puck-driving on the left side with Hughes and Brodin, plus size and snarl with Jacob Middleton further down. On the right, they need cost-controlled defenders who can hold the rope behind their stars, kill plays in the neutral zone, and handle second-wave matchups without demanding heavy puck-touches or power-play time. Hunt checks those boxes because his game scales to whatever minutes the staff gives him. He can slide next to a more offensive partner and play safety net, or pair with a stay-at-home veteran and be the one to transport the puck. Hunt’s recent usage and position-on-ice results show that he already fits within Minnesota’s current structure, which is not yet the case for Jiricek. There is also a development argument that actually favors both players but still supports starting Hunt over Jiricek. For Hunt, consistent NHL reps on a third pair and on the penalty kill accelerate the refinement of a game that already looks close to plug-and-play, especially after bouncing between organizations and being reclaimed on waivers. For Jiricek, big minutes and every-situation usage in the AHL (or a lower-leverage role elsewhere) are more valuable than sheltered, low-impact NHL shifts that neither build confidence nor showcase his strengths. In other words, starting Hunt helps the Wild win now, giving Jiricek the runway he needs to become the impact defender his pedigree suggests he can be. The franchise doesn’t have to choose between upside and long-term stability. However, in the short term, the lineup card should reflect who is ready to help most on a nightly basis. Right now, that is Daemon Hunt, and the Wild’s recent roster decisions are already starting to say the quiet part out loud.

There's no more ambiguity with the direction of the Minnesota Wild. They are buyers at the trade deadline because they should be buyers. Sure, the Colorado Avalanche are the superteam of the West, but the Wild entered Sunday tied for the second-most points in the NHL. They have Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and now Quinn Hughes, all in their primes. And for some bonus urgency: They're making a combined $24 million for the last season before Kaprizov's contract goes up to $17 million next year. A team like that buys. There will be no prospect hugging. There won't be patience. Bill Guerin is going to do his damndest to swing another trade to load up his team, and he should. But what does he have left to make a trade with? Over the past 14 months, Guerin has already surrendered... A consensus top-10 prospect in Zeev Buium (Hughes trade) Their best, young, movable NHL piece in Marco Rossi (Hughes) A first-round, NHL-ready player in Liam Öhgren (Hughes) 2026's first-round pick (Hughes) 2026's second-round pick (Gustav Nyquist trade) 2027's second-round pick (David Jiříček trade) That's what they call a war chest. So, what remains, and what can we expect to see Guerin put on the table for a splashy move? Here's our breakdown of what Minnesota can use to boost its team for the playoffs (and beyond?): S-Tier: Untouchable... Unless... Jesper Wallstedt, NHL The sound you're hearing is the Team of 18,001 suppressing their sudden urge to get sick, and it's understandable to be revolted by the idea of trading Wallstedt. He's a 23-year-old goalie whose .926 save percentage leads the NHL. It's arguable that without his emergence this year, the Wild would never have been in a position to land Hughes in the first place. At the same time, one can argue that Wallstedt is a luxury item. The Wild have a workhorse goalie in Filip Gustavsson, under contract for five more seasons. Gustavsson doesn't have Wallstedt's numbers, but his .910 save percentage is well above the league average, and his track record since arriving in Minnesota is strong. He's also shown up in the playoffs, with a .917 save percentage in 11 games. Luxury or not, though, Wallstedt has a great thing going, and the Wild are going to want to hold onto him as long as they can. He's under contract for $2.2 million next year, meaning there's no rush to move him, even if they're worried about paying two No. 1 goalies down the road. He's truly an "In Case of No. 1 Center, Break Glass" kind of asset. Unless the Wild are replacing Rossi's hole for the long haul, he's still in Minnesota. A-Tier: Splash Trade Centerpiece Danila Yurov, NHL Prying away Wallstedt feels like a pipe dream for other teams; Yurov feels like a more realistic trade target. Yurov's counting numbers as a rookie (six goals, 16 points in 39 games) rate more as "solid" than "Calder-worthy," but he's been solid on both sides of the puck. More offense is on the way. Still, the question for Minnesota is, will that offense come soon enough? Charlie Stramel, NCAA The Wild drafted Stramel after a disappointing freshman season in Wisconsin, and it got worse for him as a sophomore. But since moving to Michigan State, Stramel is back to "bona fide first-rounder" status. Stramel has 21 goals and 53 points in 57 games as a Spartan, and has found success centering top wingers Isaac Howard (in 2024-25) and Porter Malone (presently). In the meantime, Stramel's size (6-foot-3, 216 pounds) never went out of style, and a big, right-shot center who should be ready to sign as a pro this summer should be attractive to teams. While being in the same tier as Yurov sorta feels wrong, it's also not difficult to see Stramel be the primary piece that lands, say, a Ryan O'Reilly-type, so he's here. Minnesota's 2028 first-rounder (Unprotected) Normally, teams value a pick that comes sooner rather than later. After all, a GM who's selling might not be around to make a pick in two years, let alone three! But for a GM with job security, this should be the crown jewel of the Wild's pick stash. The Wild are gonna have Kaprizov, Hughes, and Boldy next year, at least to start the season. If a team picks up Minnesota's 2027 pick, that's going to be in the 20's. A 2028 pick is making a bet against the Wild having Hughes during the 2027-28 season. It's hard to imagine the Wild bottoming out next year, but if they lose Hughes and can't build a team around Kaprizov's contract? That 2028 first suddenly becomes a great asset. B-Tier: Prime Rental Fodder Minnesota's 2027 first-rounder The standard price of a good rental will include a pick like this. A lottery ticket in the 20s, maybe the high-teens if a team is lucky. David Jiříček, AHL It's hard to get a true gauge on Jiříček's trade value. In a vacuum, it probably should be here. Is it that way in reality? It's hard to be sure. The Wild went all-in on his potential, and cutting bait after a little more than a year would surely spark the question of why two teams would want to move him before turning 23. Regardless, the bloom is off the prospect rose, and his days as a prime asset are done until he establishes himself in the NHL. C-Tier: Decent Rental Fodder Adam Benák, OHL Benák is showing out as an 18-year-old rookie in the OHL, with the third-most points per game in the league. Having a strong World Junior tournament should have helped his stock, too. Still, he's seven months removed from 31 NHL teams (the Florida Panthers being the exception) passing on him at least once in the 2025 Draft. Benák is probably more valuable to the Wild than as a trade chip, at least now. David Spacek, AHL Spacek has been a lone bright spot on a bad AHL squad for the past two years. With some power play duty helping the cause, Spacek has 50 points in 107 games during that time. Despite his play, the 22-year-old, right-shot defenseman is buried on the depth chart behind Brock Faber, Jared Spurgeon, Zach Bogosian, and Jiříček. A strong Olympic stretch could get teams interested. Ryder Ritchie, NCAA Ritchie has skill, but his stint as an older freshman at Boston University is reading more as decent than a top prospect. A second-half surge could change that quickly, but for now, he's dwelling in this tier. Hunter Haight, AHL Haight looked NHL-ready in training camp, but a weak Iowa Wild squad probably holds him back. He's tied for fifth in scoring on the Baby Wild, but 12 points in 26 games isn't going to turn a ton of heads. D-Tier: Throw-Ins Apologies to, in alphabetical order, Riley Heidt, Aron Kiviharju, and Carson Lambos, who each merited a bit of consideration for the C-Tier. Any unnamed prospect is here. As for the remainder of the team's draft capital in 2026 and 2027, this tier includes: 2026: Their third-, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-rounders San Jose's fifth-rounder (Calen Addison trade) 2027: Their third-, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-rounders The Wild took two big bites out of their prospect capital with the Hughes and Jiříček trades, for sure. But there's a decent amount left over for another big swing. The assets are there, and the motivation is, too. The only question left is: Who's it gonna be?

The Minnesota Wild spent much of the 2020s trying to keep their defense pipeline flowing. Preparing for the day when the team would move on from Jared Spurgeon, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, and Matt Dumba, they invested heavily in the position. In 2020, they used a second-round pick on Ryan O'Rourke and a third on Daemon Hunt. The following year, they drafted Carson Lambos and Jack Peart. Minnesota then traded for Brock Faber in 2022 and David Jiříček in 2024, months after drafting Zeev Buium. The Wild have had their successes. Faber is a no-doubter home run. Zeev Buium became the centerpiece of the Quinn Hughes trade. As for everyone else, politely, the jury is out. Well, except for O'Rourke, who's out of the organization. Part of the reason has been a numbers game on the roster. When healthy, the Wild are six-deep with veteran talent, firmly entrenching themselves in the lineup. Minnesota's top-four, in particular, have been healthy. Faber and Spurgeon have played all 48 games, with Buium/Hughes combining for 47, and Brodin playing 42. Not a lot of room for opportunities. But another big part is that this collection of players hasn't seized the opportunities that have been there. Jiříček has gotten the most run with 18 games, but his decision-making has caused defensive issues that have failed to earn John Hynes' trust. Hunt has been the designated No. 7 defenseman, but hasn't exactly dazzled in his 16 games. Beyond that? Lambos has played in one game, and the Wild just debuted David Spacek, a 2022 fifth-rounder who's led the Iowa blueline in points in each of the past two seasons. And now, there's a hole wide-open for... somebody. Brodin is now week-to-week, and with him out, there are over 21 minutes to fill in. Technically, Brodin's role is being filled by Jake Middleton, who is used to big minutes in Minnesota. Until the Wild tried transitioning to Buium, then Hughes, Middleton has been a top-four defenseman with the Wild since he arrived in 2022. Middleton's ideal role is as a third-pairing defenseman. Still, part of being good in that spot is the ability to slide up when needed, which is obviously the case now. It might not seem like "fill-in third-pair defenseman" is a crucial need, but a lot rides on whether or not someone can perform well there. Hughes leads the NHL in time on ice per game, averaging over 27-and-a-half minutes per night, and slightly more in his time with the Wild. And that's mostly with a healthy Brodin. Last night, Hughes played 28:28 in a game where Minnesota trailed 6-1 after 40 minutes. Think about how bizarre that is. Hynes leaned on Hughes to play 9:26 in the third period of an out-of-reach game. Special teams can skew those numbers sometimes, but the Wild had just one power play in the final 20 minutes. Hughes played over eight minutes of 5-on-5 ice time in the third, with Hunt getting less than half of that. That's a problem. If Hynes can't trust Hunt in garbage time of a blowout, when will he trust him? And while Hughes is one of the best skaters alive, he's surely human, no? Even he must have limits on how much work he can take on, especially with a trip to the Olympics on the horizon. We've seen Faber -- a brilliant skater in his own right -- see his play drop off from fatigue before. The Wild should learn from that and be cautious about pushing their new superstar to the absolute limit. The caveat is that these players are all pretty young. Hunt and Lambos are 23, while Jiříček and Spacek are both 22. None of them has played 30 games in a Wild uniform. At the same time, though, it's getting late early. The trade deadline is deceptively close, just 14 games away for the Wild. Minnesota may have to decide to bring in veteran help for their blueline, which more or less closes off the season for a youngster to get a foothold in the lineup. Then it's decision time. Hunt, Jiříček, Lambos, and Spacek are all RFAs at the end of the season. Only Hunt has arbitration rights, and none are likely to be in line for a significant raise. Still, the Wild can choose to non-tender any of them, as they did with O'Rourke last summer. Minnesota could decide to pursue a longer-term solution for the third pair, closing off its path to the NHL for the foreseeable future. Or perhaps, the team could make a decision on them much sooner, flipping them at the deadline. There are things to like about this group of developing defensemen, but it's crunch time. Are the Wild going to get a return on these investments this season? Or are we going to enter another summer in which the team wonders when these assets will pay off? The next few weeks can go a long way toward answering that.

Yakov Trenin and Marcus Foligno have brought back an edge to the Minnesota Wild, and they have made life much easier for their linemates. Their physicality doesn’t just fire up the crowd or pad the hit totals. It literally opens up ice, widens lanes, and buys time for Minnesota’s skill to take over. Defenders have to brace for contact first and worry about the puck second when Trenin and Foligno are on the ice. That slight shift in priorities is where their teammates find room to operate. When they are barreling in on the forecheck, defensemen stop playing as aggressively up in the neutral zone and start backing off. They know if they try to stand still at the blue line, they might get run through. Trenin is the league-leading hitter with over 225 hits to date, and stretches where he's sitting in the top tier for physical play, so opponents understand he’s coming every shift. Foligno has been one of the Wild’s best wall-players for years, turning harmless dumps into extended offensive-zone shifts just by winning battles and pinning defenders deep. Because those defenders are worried about getting hammered, they retreat a half-step earlier or peel off the wall sooner than they’d like. That creates a wider middle lane for a center to cut through, or for a trailing winger to arrive late into a soft spot in coverage. It’s often the difference between a rushed, outside shot and a clean look from a dangerous area. Trenin and Foligno don’t always make the highlight reel, but they meaningfully influence plays that lead to goals. When they ride shotgun with skilled players like Danilla Yurov or Ryan Hartman, they crash in, blow up the first battle, and the skill guy arrives second with the puck already loose. Trenin has enough touch to chip in double-digit goals, but his real offensive value is in winning races, knocking defenders off balance, and kicking pucks to the middle or up high once coverage collapses around him. That kind of shift-after-shift pressure means their lines often spend more time in the offensive zone than a typical checking unit. It also forces opposing coaches into uncomfortable decisions. If they use their top pair against Kirill Kaprizov’s line, they risk exposing a softer group of defensemen to Foligno and Trenin’s physical style. The value they bring without the puck is just as significant. Coaches lean on them whenever the game tightens up. Foligno draws tough defensive zone starts because he can close a cycle, seal the boards, and finish a hit without taking himself out of the play. Trenin’s mix of size, speed, and nastiness makes him a natural fit on the penalty kill and as a matchup forward against bigger, heavier lines. That style scales really well to playoff hockey. Over a seven-game series, defensemen start rushing their decisions because they don't want Foligno to bury them in the corner. Trenin’s repeated contact has the same effect. By Game 4 or 5, opponents are chipping pucks away earlier, which feeds right into Minnesota’s structure and keeps the puck out of their own net. There’s also the emotional and cultural side of what they do. Foligno has been a tone setter in the room for years, backing up his words with the way he plays, hard, honest, and willing to answer the bell for his teammates. Trenin arrived with a playoff reputation as the kind of power forward who can chip in depth offense, fight his own battles, and make every shift a miserable experience for the other team. Together, they give the Wild a clear identity. They can skate and score, but they can also grind out a physical game if that's what it takes. Their physicality allows the skill guys to stay on the puck instead of constantly fighting through tight gaps and taking clean hits. The stars get the space; Trenin and Foligno take the punishment that creates it.

Marcus Johansson made headlines recently when he stated his desire to play for Team Sweden at the 2026 Olympic Games. Of course, most players have the ultimate goal of representing their country in best-on-best international competition. That isn't news. What made Johansson's bid for Team Sweden noteworthy is that it underscored a huge bounce-back season for the veteran forward. Johansson's efforts to crack Sweden's initial roster ultimately came up short, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be recognized for his work this season. He’s the kind of player who, rightfully, has received a lot of criticism for his streaky play during his Wild tenure. However, none of those issues have manifested this season. Instead, Johansson has been one of Minnesota's most valuable depth scorers. In 44 games this season, Johansson has recorded 12 goals, a high mark for his time in Minnesota, and 20 assists for 30 points. The numbers speak for themselves, but they’re even more impressive given that the Wild haven’t given him substantial ice time. The forward is averaging 15:57 of time on ice per game, or just 26% share of possible ice time, the lowest number of his career since his rookie season. Less responsibility has paid dividends for Johansson. His 2.74 points per 60 minutes is the highest total of his career and places third on the team behind star players Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov. It's evident to anyone who watches the Wild that Johansson is having his best regular season since the Wild traded for him in 2022-23, but let's take a deeper dive into what's made him so successful in 2025-26. Johansson is scoring more efficiently this year. He’s scoring on 18.2% of his shots after shooting below 10% in each of his previous two seasons. A high shooting percentage can sometimes indicate that a player is having some luck with the puck. However, in Johansson's case, it should be seen as a sign of efficiency. He's earned his shooting percentage through generating solid scoring chances. That improvement is evident in his shot selection this season compared to last year's. (Source: NHL EDGE) This season, roughly 67% of Johansson's shots on goal are coming from either high-danger or mid-range chances. Last season, that number was about 62%. An even starker contrast is how much less Johansson is deferring to long-range shots this year. Only 6% of his shots come from long range, compared to about 13% last year. His shooting percentage is high, and it's likely to regress to the mean a bit. Still, it shouldn't fall drastically, given Johansson's efficiency this season. Another impressive part of Johansson's game has been his ability to maintain his skating speed throughout his career. Speed has always been a part of Johansson's game. However, it'd be understandable to see that take a dip now that he's entering his late 30s. That dip hasn't manifested yet, with NHL EDGE tracking Johansson in the 91st percentile league-wide with a max speed of 23.06 miles per hour. The top-end speed is impressive, but even more remarkable has been his ability to consistently reach high speeds. Johansson has reached 20 miles per hour or faster 110 times this season, one of the best marks in the league. (Source: NHL EDGE) Johansson playing a fast, direct, and highly efficient game is an obvious blueprint for success. It’s produced some incredible results this year, and that seems sustainable as long as he can continue using his speed to reach good scoring areas. While Johansson has played well individually, he must find his role on the team. That’s another area where the Swede has excelled this season. He’s found great chemistry with Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy. The Johansson-Eriksson Ek-Boldy unit has played 256 minutes together this season, more than any other three-man unit for Minnesota. “Playing with those two is a lot of fun and easy for the most part, too,” Johansson recently said of the trio. “We’ve been clicking. I think we all like playing with each other, and we work hard. Just try and help each other out. I don’t think we make it too complicated most of the time. We work hard and try to do the right things, and, like I said, we help each other. We all want the puck and give each other outs, and that makes it easier as well. It’s fun when it’s working.” The numbers back up the trio’s effectiveness. Boldy is having a career season, Eriksson Ek is steady as always, and the line has excelled offensively and defensively. Among Wild lines that have played more than 50 minutes together, Johansson’s line ranks second-highest in expected goals percentage (55%) and second-lowest in expected goals against per 60 minutes (2.13). (Source: Moneypuck) Of course, Johansson isn’t the straw that stirs the drink on that line. Boldy and Eriksson Ek are two of the Wild’s most vital talents. Still, Johansson is a great complement to the two stars, and it’s difficult to ask much more out of a 35-year-old who makes $800,000. For a player who has often been defined by his inconsistency, this season represents a meaningful course correction for Johansson. He’s using the strengths of his game better than in the past few seasons to drive meaningful results for a team that often struggles to find scoring beyond its top talent. When the Wild re-signed Marcus Johansson over the summer, it was unlikely that most thought he’d play a vital role on the team. Yet, here Johansson is, playing a key role for a team that has become a contender.

The Minnesota Wild are back on their "Everyone Is Injured" bulls*** again. After a plague of devastating injuries in the 2024-25 season, the Wild managed to get through about half the season relatively unscathed. But the specter of missed time comes for everyone, eventually, and it's Minnesota's turn to get bit. In the span of a week, Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Matt Boldy have all landed on injured reserve. Marcus Johansson is also on the shelf, not traveling on the Wild's current road trip. If you're keeping score at home, that's four of Minnesota's eight best players in terms of Standings Points Above Replacement. SPAR Leaders, Minnesota Wild, 2025-26 (Injured players in bold): Jonas Brodin: 3.8 Matt Boldy: 3.5 Marcus Johansson: 2.8 Kirill Kaprizov: 2.6 Quinn Hughes: 2.5 Brock Faber: 2.4 Yakov Trenin: 2.4 Joel Eriksson Ek: 2.2 Ouch. It's hard to get much more dire than that. Fortunately, the Wild showed on Saturday what kind of mileage a decimated team can get with two MVP-caliber players. The Wild's 5-4 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres was ugly, for sure. Minnesota turned a 3-1 lead into a 3-4 deficit in the span of six minutes in the second period. On the road against a team as hot as the Sabres, who had won 15 of their past 17 contests heading into the game, the Wild's losing skid could easily have hit four games. But MVPs don't let their teams lose easily. Better yet, they elevate their club into winning games they shouldn't. That's what happened. First, Quinn Hughes knotted the game at 4-4 near the end of the second period. But while Hughes dazzled with his fourth multi-point game in 17 outings with the Wild, Kaprizov did his part in putting the team on his back. He logged over 24 minutes and registered three assists, including the primary on Hughes' tying goal, and finding Mats Zuccarello across Royal Road to ice the game in overtime in the dying seconds of a power play. The weirdest thing about Minnesota's season is how infrequently Kaprizov has felt like the Face of the Franchise. It's not because the soon-to-be $17 million man isn't putting up the requisite numbers. Kaprizov is tied for seventh in goals alongside big names like Leon Draisaitl and Tage Thompson. He's 13th in the NHL with 55 points. He leads the team with 168 shots, putting him in sixth-place league-wide. So what is it? Maybe it's a rising tide in Minnesota? Matt Boldy has come out strong this season, surpassing Kaprizov in goals (27 to 25) and nearly equalling him with 51 points. And of course, Hughes was seen around the league as at Kaprizov's level, and he's shown early on that he might have just been better all along. Boldy and Hughes's emergence added star power, but it's only part of the equation. The real reason Kaprizov felt somewhat underwhelming is that we've yet to see him at his best. Right now, Kaprizov's on pace for a 42-goal, 92-point season. That's awesome. If Boldy gets there, it'll be taken as a sign that Boldy has truly arrived as a superstar. But for Kaprizov? Well, that's below the 47 goals and 98 points he's averaged for his career. No one can really complain about Kaprizov's consistency. Every month, he has posted a point-per-game or better. But the magic of Kaprizov isn't getting a point-per-game like clockwork; it's his ability to get stupid-hot for a month or two. His October and November last season (17 goals, 31 points in 26 games) were so blistering that they single-handedly kept Minnesota afloat for the half-season he was out with injury. He's often powered the Wild down the stretch by scoring at a goal-per-game pace. With no Boldy, no Eriksson Ek, no Johansson, and after trading Marco Rossi, there aren't many people left to carry on a secondary scoring role. Ryan Hartman played over 22 minutes on Saturday. Zuccarello played an astounding 25:35. When the second line is Vladimir Tarasenko, rookie Danila Yurov, and Yakov Trenin, Kaprizov has to assert himself as the straw that stirs the Wild's drink. Maybe some of it is just simply waiting for Kaprizov's luck to change. That sounds kind of nuts for a player who's shooting 14.9% on the season. Still, that's pretty low for someone with Kaprizov's scoring talent. Kaprizov is a career 16.2% shooter, which would give him two more goals if he'd kept that up through his first 49 games. Again, it's not like Kaprizov isn't getting scoring chances. His 26.36 expected goals on the season are fifth in the NHL, behind just Connor McDavid, Dylan Larkin, Jake Guentzel, and Sam Reinhart. On a per-hour basis, that's the highest xG rate Kaprizov has ever generated. The thing is, he usually blows way past his xG figures, as you'll see from his year-by-year stats: Kirill Kaprizov Goals (vs. Expected Goals), by year: 2020-21: 27 (18.95) 2021-22: 47 (29.59) 2022-23: 40 (35.42) 2023-24: 46 (38.95) 2024-25: 25 (21.97) 2025-26: 25 (26.36) Until this season, Kaprizov has outperformed his xG in every year, scoring an average of 1.28 actual goals per expected goal. If he kept in line with his career average this season, he'd have 34 goals (rounded up from 33.65), putting him just two behind Nathan MacKinnon in the Rocket Richard Trophy race. We'd absolutely be looking at his season as an MVP-type campaign, worthy of even a $17 million price tag. Everyone knows that Kaprizov has an insane run in him at some point; we just haven't seen it yet this season. With just him and Hughes as Twin Atlases holding the team up in the wake of all these injuries, they sure could use that hot streak at this exact moment.

Before the overtime winner in Buffalo, the Minnesota Wild have been a tough watch for the past week. Weak plays, stupid mistakes, lack of finish, bad goals going in, all of the hallmarks of a terrible team made the Wild borderline unwatchable. What happened to one of the best teams in the league? Why the sudden slump? Look no further than the top of the Injured Reserve list, where Joel Eriksson Ek unfortunately resides for now. It’s tempting to assume that the highest-paid superstars are the most important players on the team. But on the Wild, Eriksson Ek is the most important player because he does it all. He takes the hard faceoffs. He plays in the dirty areas, and he always takes the brutal physical punishment that comes with it. Ek plays on the top power play unit and on the penalty kill. He takes the all-important faceoffs during overtime. He does it all. When Ek is out, it takes more than just one person to fill in for everything he does. When Eriksson Ek is out, the Wild's linchpin on the wagon has been removed. A linchpin is a fastener that keeps a wheel on the axle. Take that away, and the wagon is suddenly out of control. As evidenced by the last few games, the wagon was careening toward a cliff that could lead to certain demise. Thankfully, someone took the reins and steered the wagon onto a better path (looking at you, Quinn Hughes and Kirill Kaprizov). Still, it took a few games and tweaks to figure out the path forward without Ek. Now, as an eldest daughter, I can recognize a fellow eldest daughter from a mile away, and Ek fits the stereotype. He’s unappreciated for doing the toughest jobs. He does everything because someone has to do it, so he just does. And when he isn’t able to do something, everyone freaks out and tries to do it, but Ek is just so good at his job that it takes an entire team to make up for his absence. Joel Eriksson Ek isn’t the only eldest daughter on the team. He is joined by the likes of Quinn Hughes. It’s probably why they share the blank expression of someone fighting a demon that only they can see. They sacrifice everything to get the job done, and if that takes being haunted by the Ghost of Hockey Yet to Come, they will accept it. Overall, we should be happy to have a few eldest daughter types to hold the team together. Now, hopefully, we can get Ek back in the lineup instead of worrying about who will keep trying to take on the excessive amount of work he constantly shoulders.

The Minnesota Wild have lost seven of their last eleven games and five of their previous seven. Their depth at center has been the main culprit of this recent skid. Joel Eriksson Ek has been out over the last two games, and the stretch has only reinforced the argument that this team needs another NHL-caliber center to be more than a one-line threat in the Western Conference. In Eriksson Ek’s absence, the Wild have looked easier to play against, less reliable defensively, and far more matchup-dependent. The recent skid underscores that internal options alone are not enough. Over the last ten games, Minnesota has slid from one of the league’s hottest teams into a group fighting to stabilize its form. After a long run of banking points, the Wild have dropped four of their last five (1-2-2), including back-to-back home losses capped by a 5-2 defeat to the New Jersey Devils on Monday. Minnesota generated some chances against the Devils but wasn’t as sharp as usual. That has become a common occurrence recently. In this ten-game window, Minnesota has too often chased games instead of dictating them, struggling to lock down the middle of the ice late in periods and late in games. As a result, overtime and one-goal losses have piled up, turning what could have been a solid stretch into a worrying sign of how thin the margins are when the lineup is not at full strength. The turning point came when Eriksson Ek left last Thursday’s win over Seattle with a lower-body injury after a collision near the bench. He has been listed as day-to-day since, but his absence has already reshaped the Wild’s identity over these last few games. Eriksson Ek had been playing well before the injury, posting four goals and four assists over his previous 11 games. He was averaging more than 18 minutes a night and anchoring both top-six minutes and power-play duties. His absence has affected the rest of the roster. The Wild have asked Ryan Hartman to shoulder more of the heavy lifting at center. Meanwhile, they’ve pushed younger players like Danila Yurov into tougher matchups, and call-ups like Ben Jones are pressed into NHL minutes that are no longer sheltered or situational. Minnesota is compensating by committee. Still, there’s a difference between the Wild patching a hole for a night and trying to play playoff-caliber hockey when its best two-way center is not available. It has become clear in this ten-game snapshot that Eriksson Ek’s presence typically stabilizes Minnesota’s five-on-five game. He takes hard defensive-zone starts, faces top lines, and allows Hynes to deploy Hartman and others in more offensive situations, balancing the forward group. With that safety valve missing, the Wild have looked a step slow closing on shooters in the slot and more vulnerable off the rush. On Monday, New Jersey broke things open with rapid-fire third-period goals. When one center must take on more defensive responsibility and tougher minutes, the strain shows not just on one line but across the entire lineup, especially in compressed parts of the schedule. If there’s a lesson from this stretch, it’s that the Wild cannot afford to have one injury throw off their game. Eriksson Ek’s day-to-day designation is encouraging, but his brief absence has highlighted a structural issue. Minnesota lacks proven depth at center behind him, particularly players who can handle tough defensive assignments and still contribute offensively. Adding another legitimate NHL center would give Hynes a second trusted matchup option, easing Eriksson Ek’s burden and allowing more favorable offensive usage for other forwards. It would push fringe centers and natural wingers playing in the middle back into roles that better suit their skill sets, while insulating the team against injury. As a result, a short absence for Eriksson Ek would not immediately force a full line-shuffle and a cascading loss of chemistry. The Wild’s core is good enough to compete, but this ten-game stretch has shown how thin the margin is when one player's two-way excellence holds together in the middle of the ice. With Eriksson Ek out, even briefly, Minnesota has looked more like a bubble team than a contender. That reality should sharpen the front office’s focus on finding another center who can stabilize this group for the grind ahead.

Joe Thornton is a one-of-a-kind figure in NHL history. It isn't just because of his work-of-art beard, unique status as a playmaking power forward, or his creative goal celebration ideas. (On a related note: congrats on your recent Rooster Trick, old friend Marat Khusnutdinov.) When Thornton lifted the Hart Trophy in 2006, he secured his own page in the history books. He is the only NHL MVP to win the award in a year he was traded. The San Jose Sharks were 8-12-4 when they pulled off one of the biggest trades of the century. Thornton's presence transformed the team, which went 36-15-7 with him in the lineup. Jumbo Joe led the league with 125 points, propelling the Sharks to the playoffs. Two decades later, the Minnesota Wild made the biggest mid-season trade the NHL has seen since Thornton, landing Quinn Hughes. The impact has been immediate, even if it's not quite reflected in the team's 8-3-4 record with Hughes in the lineup. Minnesota is a faster, more potent offensive team, controlling play at 5-on-5 in a way it simply wasn't without the superstar defenseman. Hughes has been at the center of this new-look squad. John Hynes is giving him Prime Ryan Suter minutes; he's averaging 27 minutes, 45 seconds a night. Only Kirill Kaprizov has more points on the team than Hughes' 16 since his arrival, and Hughes is fourth among defensemen in scoring during that time. He's single-handedly fixed the Wild's transition problems. It's been 15 games, but Hughes has played MVP-level hockey to start his Wild tenure. Evolving-Hockey has Hughes being worth 2.5 Standings Points Above Replacement to the Wild already. That's not just the difference between the Wild being 12 points above the playoff bubble and 9 or 10 points above it. It's tied for 27th in the NHL among defensemen. Again, in just 15 games! Hughes isn't likely to keep that pace up for the final 35 games, but it's easy to see a world where he's able to double his full-season SPAR (3.3) and end the season around 7.0 SPAR. That would put him in the running for the best at his position in most years. And if he puts up about six points of value in 50 games for the Wild, is that enough to merit MVP consideration? It'd be fun as hell, but the odds are stacked against Hughes by virtue of his position. The last time the Hart Trophy went to a defenseman was in the 1999-2000 season, when Chris Pronger won the award. We don't have SPAR data for that season. Still, since Pronger was second among NHL defensemen with 62 points and finished the year a ridiculous plus-52 on the President's Trophy-winning St. Louis Blues, we'll assume it was an exceptional year. Even that factoid doesn't fully communicate how tough it is for a defenseman to win MVP. No defenseman has even been a finalist (that is, in the top three in voting) since Pronger won. The award typically goes to forwards having an insane scoring season, and there is a pretty obvious front-runner. Nathan MacKinnon is on a 66-goal, 148-point pace for the President's Trophy lock Colorado Avalanche. Another big issue is one of timing. The Wild may have started the season slowly, but they were playing at a 105-point pace by the time Hughes joined the team. Since then, the team has 20 points in 15 games, a 109-point pace. It's a boost, but not the night-and-day shift that Thornton gave the Sharks in 2005-06. It's a fun scenario to contemplate, and there's time for it to build hype, but it's going to take Hughes a lot to muster an MVP campaign. They'll have to make a move on MacKinnon and the Avalanche to make it a real conversation, and that's a tall, tall order. The Wild have actually lost ground to the Avs since the trade, being 13 points behind the Central Division leaders, instead of 12 on December 14. But whether or not Hughes can get an MVP campaign off the ground is secondary to the fact that he's playing like an MVP for Minnesota. He's fundamentally changing the team dynamic and raising their ceiling to heights the franchise has never seen. Joe Thornton's page in the history books is probably safe, but Quinn Hughes is at least looking capable of making this a conversation going forward.

Last spring, the Minnesota Wild may have had their best chance to advance past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2014-15. The Wild seized momentum early in the series, jumping out to a 2-1 lead. While they lost three straight games to book their early tee times, there were several positive developments to take from it, including Marcus Foligno's play. Foligno was a wrecking ball during that playoff series, scoring three goals and an assist. He was a physical presence that temporarily threw the Golden Knights off their game. He made it feel like this was a different Wild team, if only for three games. After turning 34 last August, Foligno’s performance was always going to be a year-to-year thing. However, few saw the decline he’s experienced this season. Entering Thursday’s game against the Seattle Kraken, Foligno had just two goal and six points through his first 37 games. His minus-9 rating is tied for the worst on the team with Zeev Buium, who the Wild traded in the Quinn Hughes deal, and it doesn’t feel like Minnesota is getting the value out of his $4 million AAV contract. So what happened to Foligno? And can the Wild get him back in time for the second half? It’s a storyline that could play a key role in how this year’s team pans out. Foligno signed a four-year, $16 million contract extension before the 2023-24 season, and the price tag may have raised some eyebrows. He had posted a career year during the 2021-22 campaign, scoring 23 goals and recording 42 points. However, it came with the caveat of a league-leading 23.5% shooting percentage. That percentage should have been a warning. Foligno crashed back to earth the following year, scoring seven goals, recording 21 points, and posting a 8.4% shooting percentage over 65 games. But general manager Bill Guerin pulled the trigger anyway, extending him into his mid-30s. There were two reasons for this. The first is that Guerin doesn’t mind the price tag if it brings intangibles to the team. While Foligno is best suited as a bottom-six player, Guerin covets his leadership and presence in the locker room. In his mind, paying a little more or giving a no-movement clause is better than not having the player at all, which explains why Foligno is still in Minnesota. But the other is that Foligno is one of the NHL's best defensive forwards. Evolving Hockey’s player card shows the difference between both sides of Foligno’s game. While he’s ranked in the seventh percentile of offensive production, he’s still in the 89th percentile defensively. At this point, the Wild may need to take the good with the bad. But while the defense has done wonders for Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt, the offense has become a significant issue for the bottom six. Basically, if top guys like Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov aren’t scoring, the Wild typically aren't scoring enough goals to keep up with top-tier teams like the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche, especially during a seven-game series. It's also possible that injuries are having a cumulative effect on Foligno, who led the Wild with 253 hits last season. He could also just be hitting the age cliff, which many believed would happen as he entered the midpoint of his contract. It also paints a grim picture. The Wild may have an untradeable asset in the bottom six. Still, it could also be that Foligno knows when to turn it on. That’s why his performance in last year’s playoffs is an important data point. The statistical production was a nice surprise, but few were blown away by how physical Foligno was in that series. With the Wild virtually locked into a playoff spot, Foligno could be biding his time and knowing that the final stretch of the regular season and the playoffs are the time to turn it on. But it becomes a bigger problem when the Wild needs production from its bottom six immediately. Ryan Hartman has done his part with 12 goals and 19 points over 43 games. Still, the rest of the group has been unproductive, with Yakov Trenin scoring three goals with 14 points over 46 games and Vinnie Hinostroza scoring three times with seven points and a minus-5 rating in 32 games this season. It’s also something that could be fixed at the trade deadline. While Foligno is unlikely to be moved, a trade for an offensively gifted bottom-six forward could breathe life into the group. That could put Foligno in more advantageous situations and help him provide enough offense to raise his overall value. If Foligno can find his previous form, he could be a physical force that adds just enough offense to help Minnesota get over the top. If he can’t, it invites long-term questions about the final two years of his contract and could also send the Wild to another first-round exit.

There was a time, not so long ago, when the Minnesota Wild beat lousy hockey teams. In the halcyon days of mid-December, the Wild traded for Quinn Hughes and looked like they could compete with the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche in a seven-game series. They crushed the Boston Bruins 6-2, the Washington Capitals 5-0, and the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2. They exposed the Edmonton Oilers’ porous goaltending in a 5-2 win. Then, the Avalanche beat them 5-1, and reality set in. Minnesota’s desperate (and exciting!) trade for Hughes can only do so much. Bill Guerin was papering over the flawed roster he had built. Still, remove a piece or two from his Jenga tower, and it starts to sway. The Wild are a month removed from trading for Hughes, and they’re losing to bad teams again. On Thursday, the Winnipeg Jets routed them 6-2. The New Jersey Devils beat them 5-2. The New York Islanders beat them in overtime; the Seattle Kraken took them there. The Los Angeles Kings beat them in a shootout, then beat them again two days later. The San Jose Sharks beat them in a shootout earlier on that trip. Winnipeg has the second-worst record in the West. New Jersey has a -19 goal differential and is out of the playoff picture in the East. The Islanders’ +9 goal differential is worse than Boston (+9) and the Buffalo Sabres (+10), the East’s wild-card teams, and the Capitals (+17). Seattle is a 2021 expansion team with a -8 goal differential. The Kings are Western Conference bubble teams. A month removed from dominating the NHL during the Hughes sugar rush, the Wild have crashed. They’ve resorted to blaming bad bounces again. “Look at the goals,” Mats Zuccarello said after losing to Winnipeg. “All top, top corners, bouncing off the wall, and that. So, it’s one of those days where it’s really hard to lose like that, but you just have to brush it away.” Zuccarello is a 38-year-old, 16-year veteran. He knows that’s nonsense. The Wild played undisciplined hockey and left Jesper Wallstedt to fend for himself. John Hynes’ decision to leave him in throughout the second period risks killing his confidence again. Ultimately, the Jets outclassed Minnesota on Thursday. Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin are recovering from injuries. Still, the Wild shouldn’t topple over after losing a middle-six center and a second-pair defenseman. Eriksson Ek’s absence has highlighted Minnesota’s lack of center depth. They don’t have a 1C, which may prevent them from contending altogether, and they had to give up Rossi in the Hughes trade. More pertinently, the Wild previously had the league’s No. 2 prospect pool. However, their player development staff wasn’t able to translate enough of that talent into productive NHL players. Therefore, they used most of those resources on David Jiricek, who is toiling away in Iowa and has dropped down in their prospect hierarchy below David Spacek. They used the rest on Hughes, who is on an expiring contract. Turning prospects into NHL assets is a tried-and-true strategy for bona fide contenders. Stanley Cup windows are small, and teams must capitalize on their best players’ prime years. Still, even contenders must rely on their minor leagues to produce depth when impact players suffer injuries. There’s no Eriksson Ek or Brodin in Iowa, but the Wild should be able to create a facsimile of each player. However, they haven’t been able to do that, and as a result, they’ve become a lousy team. Trading for Hughes wasn’t supposed to get the Wild into the playoffs. They’ve been there before. It was supposed to turn Minnesota into a contender. If it didn’t, Hughes is as good as gone. He’s not going to sit around and hope a team with +2000 odds to win the Stanley Cup, and +4500 before they traded for him, miraculously figures it out. In trading for Hughes, Guerin removed three bricks from the bottom of Minnesota’s Jenga tower to place a star player on top. Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, and Liam Ohgren are foundational pieces if developed correctly, which is why the Vancouver Canucks coveted them. But Hughes is good right now [italics], and the Wild need to contend immediately after signing Kirill Kaprizov to a $136 million extension. Any general manager with good sense trades for Hughes and inherits the risk associated with trading for him. Still, there are consequences to this blockbuster trade. Hughes is only under contract for one more season. If he leaves, the Wild lose him, three players they took with first-round picks, and their first-round selection in the upcoming draft. In that case, the Wild are back to being the mediocre, backwater team they’ve always been in a hockey-obsessed state. Kaprizov can count his millions backward and forward, toiling away on a one-and-done playoff team until he gets bored with that and demands a trade. Minnesota will probably blame bad bounces. That’s every lousy team’s last resort.

Moving Matt Boldy to first-line center would be a swing for upside that fits both his evolving game and the Wild’s roster realities. It would also create an opportunity to exploit a trade market where impact wingers are far more prevalent and simply easier to find than true top-six centers. Framing Boldy as a 1C solution while targeting a high-end wing at the deadline could give Minnesota a more balanced, matchup-proof top six without paying the premium cost that centers usually demand. Matt Boldy has already established himself as one of the NHL’s better young offensive wingers, consistently producing between roughly 26 and 32 goals and 64 and 75 points at five-on-five and on the power play. At 6-foot-2 with strong edges, puck protection, and vision, his toolkit looks a lot like the modern play-driving center archetype rather than a pure finisher. There’s already evidence that the staff is willing to experiment with him down the middle. Boldy started as the first-line center against the Dallas Stars on November 16th, 2024, took 13 draws, and handled matchups before ceding some faceoffs later in the night. That look showed he can survive the responsibilities at center and hinted at upside if he gets a longer runway with consistent linemates. Shifting Boldy to 1C would help address Minnesota’s long-running issue of high-end center depth without having to win a bidding war for an established star down the middle. A top line built around Boldy, with Kirill Kaprizov and a proven scoring winger, would distribute playmaking, finishing, and puck transport across all three spots instead of forcing Kaprizov to carry the bulk of primary creation from the flank. Moving Boldy inside also has a cascade effect down the lineup. It allows Joel Eriksson Ek to anchor a hard-match second line in more defensive and penalty-kill heavy minutes, creating a powerful one-two punch that can tilt both shot share and expected goals in Minnesota’s favor at even strength. That kind of structure has become the standard for contenders, who almost all run at least two lines capable of driving play in tough usage. The trade market consistently shows a clear pattern: top six capable centers are scarce and extremely expensive, while impact wingers are more available in any given deadline season. Recent trade block boards are loaded with capable, scoring wingers. And middle-six wingers with term, while the few true centers who can play in a top-six role are treated as premium assets with big acquisition prices in picks, prospects, and cap space. For a cap-conscious team like Minnesota, that matters. Paying full freight for a 1C means sacrificing multiple futures, and often taking on serious salary, whereas landing a top-six wing rental or short-term fit usually costs less and comes with more options. If Boldy can give you “center time” impact in-house, it’s more efficient to spend assets in the scoring wingers, where supply is deepest, and prices are competitively softer. Reimagining Boldy as 1C allows the Wild to build a forward group that looks more like a modern contender without needing a franchise-altering trade. A plausible blueprint would be to have Boldy center the top line with Kaprizov and Zuccarello as his wings, and the second line run with Eriksson Ek, Johannson, and a top-six winger from the trade block. Someone like Alex Tuch or Jordan Kyrou comes to mind. That combination leverages Kaprizov’s elite shot and Boldy’s play-driving down the middle, while the new winger benefits from playing alongside two savvy veterans in Ek and Johannsson. It also gives the Wild more flexibility to spread the offense around, mixing and matching to provide different offensive looks. The bigger picture is philosophical: Using Boldy at center is a bet on internal development, while trading for a winger is a bet on market inefficiency. Minnesota can avoid overpaying for a scarce 1C, lean into Boldy’s growth curve, and still add a meaningful top-six piece from the deepest part of the deadline board. Suppose Boldy holds his offensive impact in the middle and becomes an above-average 1C. Then, the Wild would suddenly have a legitimate high-end center solution and a more dangerous, deeper top six, all without mortgaging the future for a single expensive center acquisition.