Hockey Wilderness
A Minnesota Wild Blog that WON'T make you sick and kill you!
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The Wild Still Haven't Found Thier Mats Zuccarello Replacement
Mats Zuccarello was one of the Minnesota Wild’s most important offensive connectors, and losing him would ripple through both 5-on-5 play and the power play. He drove puck possession, helped Kirill Kaprizov get to dangerous areas, and is a major part of Minnesota’s top power-play unit. However, he s...
Olli Maatta Brings Dependability To the Wild Defense
Olli Maatta gives the Minnesota Wild something they’ve long valued on the blue line: calm, experienced, dependable defense. The veteran left-shot blueliner arrived in the Jacob Middleton trade with a reputation as a steady two-way presence. He won’t make too much noise offensively but can quietly ti...
Where Does Blake Coleman Fit Into the Wild Lineup?
Blake Coleman gives the Minnesota Wild a cleaner, heavier layer of offense without needing the puck to live on his stick. He’s the kind of middle-six forward who can chip in 20 goals, work the dirty areas, and make life easier for Minnesota’s top scorers by driving play in tough minutes. Colema...
Jonathan Drouin Could Be the Low-Risk Placeholder the Wild Need
The Minnesota Wild are on track to start the season with a projected top line featuring Danila Yurov and Max Shabanov alongside Kirill Kaprizov. For Yurov and Shabanov's skills, however, there's a major problem. Where are the minutes eaters? Yurov and Shabanov were both rookies last season, whi...
Patrick Kane Would Make Life Easier For the Wild's Best Scorers
The Minnesota Wild should actively pursue Patrick Kane because he still gives them something they lack among their top-6 forwards: high-end offensive creativity. Even at 37, Kane remains a dangerous playmaker who can tilt the ice, unlock defenses, and make life easier for the Wild’s best score...
Wild Projected to Lose Key Player in NHL Expansion Draft
The NHL is going to expand beyond 32 teams eventually, but what if that was going to happen for the 2027-28 season? It's certainly possible -- since Gary Bettman loves the idea of a team in Houston -- and that would mean an expansion draft would have to happen next summer to make that work. If...
Vladimir Tarasenko's Unresolved Market Creates An Opportunity For the Wild
The Minnesota Wild should strongly consider re-signing Vladimir Tarasenko, especially given he hasn’t signed a long-term contract. His unresolved market could work in Minnesota’s favor, giving them a chance to land a proven scorer at a lower price than expected. The Wild have often needed more finis...
Wild Reveal New TV Home With People We Know
That's Wild The Minnesota Wild are joining the St. Louis Blues, Carolina Hurricanes, and Columbus Blue Jackets as teams who are partnering with the NHL to produce their team's games on their own internal network. Instead of relying on another broadcaster to pick up their games, the NHL and t...
Did the Wild Improve Enough This Summer?
The Minnesota Wild made additions and subtractions to their roster this offseason, but appear to be stuck in neutral. In The Athletic’s recent piece ranking which teams have improved or declined the most according to net rating, Minnesota ranked 18th in the league with a net rating of -3. That...
How Long Will the Wild's Roster Purgatory Last?
Make no mistake, the Minnesota Wild are in roster purgatory. Not only is the State of Hockey waiting for resolution on the Quinn Hughes situation, but the top of their lineup feels mighty incomplete. Looking at their projected lineup on Daily Faceoff sort of says it all. There's nothing w...
John Hynes Believes Quinn Hughes Will Re-Sign With the Wild
While there is a lot of focus on improvement for the Minnesota Wild this summer and what moves they can make to take the step forward, there is even more on keeping this group of players together. More specifically, signing star defenseman Quinn Hughes to a new contract extension. The 26-year-o...
Danila Yurov Is Demanding A Larger Role With His Aggressive Play
Danila Yurov looks like the kind of young forward who can force his way into a bigger role, and the case for him getting first- or second-line duty is stronger than it might have seemed a few months ago. The key is that he is not just surviving in the NHL; he’s producing and showing he can handle to...
Charlie Stramel Is Looking Like the Center the Wild Have Been Waiting For
The Minnesota Wild have spent years searching for the kind of center who can grow into a long-term answer down the middle. Charlie Stramel may already be that player. The 21st overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft has gone from intriguing first-round project to one of the organization’s most promising...
Mason Shaw's Return To the Wild Is A Full-Circle Moment
On April 1, 2023, Mason Shaw suffered the fourth ACL tear of his career 59 games into what had become his first full NHL season. It was another devastating setback for a player whose path to the NHL had already been sidetracked by the same injury. "I felt like I took a bullet to the knee," Shaw...
Wild Nearly Landed 2 Scoring Wingers — Here’s Why They Didn’t
The Minnesota Wild have not had the busiest offseason, or even one involving transactions you can feel good about going forward, but that's not for the lack of trying. General manager Bill Guerin has explored the free agent market, looking into a couple of wingers that could have certainly made a di...
The Wild's Patience With Dylan Larkin May Pay Off No Matter What
For the second straight summer, the Minnesota Wild’s offseason has felt like a disappointment. While the Wild promised "Christmas morning" a year ago, fans had to wait to open their gifts as Kirill Kaprizov signed a massive extension, and they traded for Quinn Hughes a few weeks before Christmas....
The Wild's Asset Pool Is Better Than You Think
There is no doubt that if Dylan Larkin had asked out of the Detroit Red Wings organization last summer, the Minnesota Wild would have had the ability to pull off a deal for the 30-goal-scoring center. Marco Rossi would have fit the bill as a young, proven center who could fill the Larkin void. A swe...
Steve Yzerman Was An Emperor With No Clothes
Steve Yzerman has spent the last months failing Red Wings fans. The rebuild in Detroit hasn’t been an abject failure, but it’s certainly not on track to deliver a championship-caliber roster -- even if the Red Wings force Dylan Larkin’s hand by denying his trade request. The Athletic’s a...
Wild's Pursuit of Dylan Larkin Is At A Standstill
Don't worry, the Minnesota Wild are still trying to get Dylan Larkin. While a trade has not happened yet and everything is extremely quiet around the potential sweepstakes to get an actual No. 1 center, that just means that negotiations are what they are and right now no one is really budging....
The Wild's Offseason Signals a Vote of Confidence in Bobby Brink
The Minnesota Wild’s offseason has been defined by moves that haven’t been made yet — re-signing Quinn Hughes and trading for a center. Still, that doesn’t mean the team hasn’t undergone an overhaul. Blake Coleman and Max Shabanov will join the lineup as Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson and others...
Wild Sign First Prospect of Their 2026 NHL Draft Haul
The Minnesota Wild have signed their first of the three prospects that they selected in the 2026 NHL Draft. It wasn't a big haul or anything, but they got some value and clearly wanted to already lock up a piece. According to PuckPedia, the Wild have signed fifth-round pick goaltender Filip Ruz...
What Is the Sticking Point With the Quinn Hughes Extension?
The Minnesota Wild’s most critical task this summer isn’t chasing free agents or tinkering with the depth chart. It’s locking up star defenseman Quinn Hughes to a long-term contract extension. After trading significant assets to acquire him midseason, the franchise has too much invested, competitive...
Re-Signing Daemon Hunt Provides Crucial Blue Line Depth
The Minnesota Wild’s re-signing of defenseman Daemon Hunt to a one-year, $900,000 contract is a low-cost, high-upside move that bolsters their blue line depth and provides crucial insurance for a crowded defensive corps. After recording six assists and 43 blocked shots in 32 NHL games last sea...
The NHL Is Catching Up To Kirill Kaprizov's Salary
When Kirill Kaprizov signed his eight-year, $136 million mega-contract last September, the sticker shock hit everyone. The total value of the contract was the largest in NHL history, breaking the record set by Alex Ovechkin's 13-year deal in 2008. Kaprizov's $17 million AAV was the largest in the ca...
The Wild May Have Just Lost the Dylan Larkin Sweepstakes
That's Wild Dylan Larkin has reportedly added the Dallas Stars to his trade list. A list that previously only had the Minnesota Wild, Florida Panthers, and Vegas Golden Knights on it, now have a team that might actually make a trade work. But as we know -- since Detroit GM Steve Yzerman want...
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