Hockey Wilderness
A Minnesota Wild Blog that WON'T make you sick and kill you!
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Danila Yurov Is Earning A Bigger Role in the Wild Offense
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...
Artemi Panarin Isn’t the Rangers Player the Wild Should Be Targeting
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...
The Wild's Goalies Puckhandle So Well They're Starting To Generate Offense
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...
Marcus Foligno's First Hat Trick Pushes Wild Past Maple Leafs
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...
Wild's Injuries Require Kaprizov To Return To MVP Form
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...
Joel Eriksson Ek Is the Wild’s Eldest Daughter and They Can’t Function Without Him
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...
Wild Linked To Rangers' Vincent Trocheck As Trade Market Heats Up
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...
It's Time For the Wild's Defense Pipeline To Start Shining
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...
The Wild’s Jenga Tower Is Starting To Sway
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,...
Joel Eriksson Ek's Injury Has Exposed the Wild's Lack of Depth
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...
Wild Now On Disheartening Losing Streak After Hosting Jets
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...
Can Quinn Hughes Pull Off the "Joe Thornton"?
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...
Wild Have Chance to Bounce Back Against Division Rivals
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...
Trenin and Foligno's Physicality Is Opening Things Up For the Wild
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....
Is the Wild’s Solution For A Top Six Center Already On the Team?
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...
Can the Wild Get Marcus Foligno Back to Form in the Second Half?
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...
Fewer Minutes Have Meant More Productivity For Marcus Johansson
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 Swed...
The Wild Should Start Prioritizing Daemon Hunt Over David Jiricek Right Now
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 us...
Wild Drop Their First "Hughes Bowl" In Minnesota
That's Wild For the first time, Minnesota Wild fans got to experience the "Hughes Bowl" on Monday night. Quinn Hughes played host in St. Paul to his brothers Jack and Luke coming up with the rest of the New Jersey Devils to face one another for the first time since the blockbuster trade. How...
Minnesota Wild Asset Tierlist: 2026 Trade Deadline Edition
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...
Ryder Ritchie Is Going Through Growing Pains As He Adjusts To College Hockey
Ryder Ritchie’s transition from junior hockey to Boston University has been anything but simple, forcing him to confront shortcomings in his game that the WHL never really exposed. He must sharpen and test the same instincts that made him a productive player in Medicine Hat, and rebuild them against...
Doing The Wave at a Hockey Game Isn’t Worth It
“The Wave” is a fun, crowd participation, bonding experience at a professional sports event, right? Everyone is watching to make sure they time it right. When it gets to your section, you stand up, put your arms in the air, and usually yell “woo!” Sometimes it dies, and sometimes it gets going,...
When Will Kirill Kaprizov Catch Fire Again?
Kirill Kaprizov went from driving an early Hart-caliber pace last season before his lower-body injury to opening this year below his usual scoring clip. The contrast between those stretches tells a story about expectations, health, and how much weight rests on his shoulders in Minnesota. The u...
Aron Kiviharju’s Outlook Becoming Clearer After Strong World Juniors
Aron Kiviharju, a 2024 fourth-round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild, was in the Twin Cities for the past few weeks as he captained Team Finland to a third consecutive appearance in the medal round. It was Kiviharju’s second year as captain of the Finnish squad. While they were disappointed wi...
The Wild Shouldn't Move Charlie Stramel At the Deadline
The Minnesota Wild should be extremely careful about moving on from Charlie Stramel, because big, right-shot centers with his blend of size, physical edge, and growing offensive game are exactly the kind of premium asset this organization has struggled to find and develop. The Wild could move on fro...
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