Which Minnesota Wild Players Might Take A Fashion Risk?

The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association signed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement into place this summer. While it doesn’t actually start until the 2026-27 season, there is one exciting thing that fans can look forward to: a new dress code.

Currently, players are required to wear “jackets, ties, and dress pants to all Club games and while traveling to and from such games unless otherwise specified by the Head Coach or General Manager.”

The Wild have adhered to this policy with only a few exceptions, such as the transatlantic flight to Sweden. The team hasn’t really had a full-on fashionista of any sort, but has flown close to the sun with 2023 Trade Deadline acquisition Oskar Sundqvist and Jake Middleton’s affinity for plaid. 

That could change next season, when players will only be required to “dress in a manner that is consistent with contemporary fashion norms,” and clubs will not be allowed to make any rules about the dress code. What does that mean for the Minnesota Wild? Will anyone show up wearing something interesting, or will we be doomed to boring walk-in fashion choices for eternity?

Perhaps we can examine some of the fashion choices currently allowed for players to gauge what we can expect in the future.

A Few Players Are Pretty Buttoned-Up

The Wild Off the Tee golf event was a few days before training camp, and while all of the players are issued a standard polo to wear during the day, there were a few interesting choices made within that framework. The shirt had a pretty standard three buttons at the collar, and most of the players went the “two-button done, top undone” route that seems to be the standard way to wear a polo. But not everyone.

Exactly three players buttoned their shirts all the way to the tippy top, and while two of them were completely foreseeable buttoned-up guys, one was a bit of a wild card.

Danila Yurov chose to button all three buttons, and this seems to match the very serious personality he has shown us. Joel Eriksson Ek also went for the buttoned-up look and gave a bit of Civil War Union Soldier style swag in the official team photo. (Shoutout to fellow Hockey Wilderness writer Justin Hein for that observation.)

The wild card in this is Marcus Foligno. For such a silly billy man who is willing to submerge himself in a lake wearing full hockey gear for the team, the idea that he’s a “buttoned to the top” polo wearer doesn’t line up. Maybe one of his daughters is learning to button and helped him that morning? Or perhaps there’s more to our beloved Mama Moose than meets the eye from a fashion standpoint. Time will tell.

Loosey Goosey Collars

On the other hand, there were a few players who only buttoned the bottom button, leaving the collar to flop open in a foppish style. Does this mean the player is fashion conscious or simply a fly by the seat of their pants type of man? To be determined.

The two most noticeable relaxed collar players are Brock Faber and Jonas Brodin. For Faber, this open style doesn’t surprise. He’s a golden retriever among men, and I'm sure he had to have his focus redirected to the camera a few times because he’s just too gosh darn busy having fun all the time. Not bothering to button more than one button of his polo showcases his free-spirited attitude off the ice.

Brodin, however, is a bit of a surprise. He’s normally a bit more tailored and put together. Was he simply letting loose a bit more than normal since he won’t be seeing ice time right away? Or may he be a fashion surprise in the opposite way that Mama Moose might be? To be fair, it’s anyone’s guess because he’s also wearing a pair of athletic slides in the team photo. Maybe he was just done golfing and letting loose before they called him over for a pic.

Shoes Are the Windows To the Sole, Or Something Like That

One way that players have been able to subtly show their personality is through their shoes, although, unlike other sports, most players are happy to simply put on a (hopefully) tailored black suit and call it good.

In the golf picture, Jared Spurgeon and Nico Sturm are the only guys wearing shoes that aren’t white (except for Brodin and his aforementioned athletic slides that appear to be somewhere around sage green in color). Sturm is wearing black shoes while Spurgeon has a pair of gray shoes (extra points for the unexpected choice of neutral colored shoes).

And while he is wearing boring white shoes in the golf picture, Filip Gustavsson has been seen multiple times at training camp and media day wearing bright orange sneakers. A bold choice, but if anyone can pull it off, a goalie gunning to be one of the best in the league is a good choice for it.

Miscellaneous Fashion Critiques

Jake Middleton is known for his anti-fashion choices, famously revealing that besides his game day suits, he only owned black and white t-shirts. He also has no problems with the “less is more” motto around the locker room. Might he bear a little more skin on the walk-in? Maybe some high-waisted pants and a crop top? Just some food for thought.

Russians in general are known for liking their designer labels, but the Russian players on the Wild seem to show that in a more subdued way. No expectation for anything completely out of the norm from them.

Ryan Hartman and Zach Bogosian are both big hunters. Given that last year there was a giveaway of bright orange baseball hats, perhaps some hints of high-visibility orange or camouflage might be in their future. 

One thing that I would love to see is some of our Scandinavian players wearing a nicely fitted sweater with a fun pattern. A solid chunky sweater with a fisherman’s toggle is probably in our future. Still, I want to see a Nordic pattern, perhaps even something lovingly handmade by a player’s mother or grandmother.

NHL Players Are Creatures Of Comfort

Ultimately, it is highly unlikely that 99% of NHL players wear anything besides business casual for their walk-ins.

They are creatures of comfort and, outside of a few Maple Leafs and some fun one-off players like Sundqvist, most don't seem to push the fashion envelope. Most of them tuck the envelope in further, opting for continual jeans/t-shirt combos or maybe some Lululemon if they’re feeling sporty on their off time.

So, while I don’t expect any major fashion moments to happen at the newly branded Grand Casino Arena, I can still hope to be pleasantly surprised. Who knows, maybe Mats Zuccarello will sign for one more year and have a year-long social experiment concerning his fashionable outfits and how they affect his on-ice performance during his swan song. We can only hope.