A Minnesota Wild Blog that WON'T make you sick and kill you!
Vladimir Tarasenko has recently turned a difficult stretch marred by injuries around him into a personal surge. He has rediscovered his finishing touch and is reminding everyone that the Wild brought him in to stabilize their scoring on the wing. With key forwards sidelined, Tarasenko has responded...
about 5 hours ago | 0 reads
There will be no articles on Hockey Wilderness about the Minnesota Wild today. We are partaking in the economic blackout of the Twin Cities on January 23. We are standing in solidarity with our writers, editors, and commenters who are currently under ICE occupation in the Twin Cities....
1 day ago | 0 reads
As the Minnesota Wild have found themselves once again ravaged by injuries this season, the “next man up” mentality that has characterized their locker room over the past several seasons has recently turned into “next four men up,” as the team’s game rosters have become increasingly populated with A...
1 day ago | 0 reads
The Minnesota Wild must improve their center depth at the trade deadline. Vincent Trocheck is one of general manager Bill Guerin‘s options. Still, he’s over 30, and many fans are tired of adding older players. That concern makes sense. Could the St. Louis Blues trade Robert Thomas to the Wild?...
2 days ago | 0 reads
Of all the debates of what the Minnesota Wild should target, might land, or will give up at the March 6 trade deadline, the talk boils down to one fundamental question. What, exactly, is the Wild's window? Bill Guerin has said the organization is in the third year of its five-year plan, a...
2 days ago | 0 reads
The Minnesota Wild are in a tough spot. They clearly upgraded their team earlier when they traded for world-class defenseman Quinn Hughes -- but now we're all left wondering if it was actually enough for them to make a decent run in the playoffs. One way that they could have that possibility be...
2 days ago | 1 read
The Minnesota Wild have faced their share of challenges over the years. While getting out of the first round of the playoffs remains their largest hurdle, they also haven't been able to stay healthy or put together a full season recently. The Wild ran into that roadblock this week. Matt Boldy,...
3 days ago | 0 reads
Marcus Foligno’s long-awaited first NHL hat trick was more than a scoring outburst. It was a moment that captured who he is as a leader and a teammate. It was also a night that showcased Vladimir Tarasenko’s unselfishness and the culture this Wild group is trying to build. After 915 games with...
3 days ago | 0 reads
The Minnesota Wild are expressing interest in hard-nosed, two-way New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck. Last summer, I wrote about Trocheck being a good fit for the Wild. Now it looks like general manager Bill Guerin wants to trade for him. Let's face it, the Wild aren't getting a fr...
3 days ago | 0 reads
While developing young players has been a bit rocky in the Minnesota Wild organization over the past few years, give them credit where it's due: They seem to have nailed it with Danila Yurov. One of the Wild's two first-rounders from the 2022 Draft, Yurov made the trek overseas this summer for...
4 days ago | 0 reads
As the NHL trade season approaches, we should start to see some clarity on which teams will be buyers, which will be sellers, and how they could fit together in trade discussions. The Minnesota Wild and the New York Rangers are two teams that already seem like a natural fit. Minnesota has gone...
4 days ago | 0 reads
The Minnesota Wild’s goaltenders have quietly become a big part of how the Wild get out of their zone cleanly, generate rush chances, and protect their own blue line. It’s all about how they handle the puck. Yesterday's overtime game against the Buffalo Sabres was a perfect example. Gustavsson...
4 days ago | 2 reads
At the age of 34 in the NHL, there's not many firsts left for most players. But veteran winger Marcus Foligno managed to score his first career hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday night as the Minnesota Wild topped them by a score of 6-3. It wasn't necessarily the most beautiful co...
4 days ago | 0 reads
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 tur...
5 days ago | 0 reads
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? Wh...
5 days ago | 0 reads
The NHL trade deadline is still well over a month away but there appears to be another soft deadline approaching with the Olympic break coming up in just a matter of weeks. With that league-wide pause, we get that roster freeze so now general managers are trying to get all their ducks in a row so th...
5 days ago | 0 reads
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'Rou...
8 days ago | 1 read
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,...
8 days ago | 1 read
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 NH...
8 days ago | 1 read
That's Wild The Minnesota Wild have a very crucial month. After bringing Quinn Hughes into the fold, the pressure has been on them to show that they truly are a Stanley Cup contender that is worthy of more investment before the NHL trade deadline. Unfortunately, now after a brutal 6-2 loss t...
8 days ago | 2 reads
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 li...
9 days ago | 0 reads
The Minnesota Wild suffered a little bit of a disheartening defeat against the New Jersey Devils, but now get the chance to reverse it against a massively underperforming Winnipeg Jets team Thursday. Somehow, the Wild have already faced this Jets team three times this season and in the middle o...
9 days ago | 2 reads
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....
9 days ago | 2 reads
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. Fr...
10 days ago | 1 read
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 sev...
10 days ago | 0 reads