Hockey Wilderness
A Minnesota Wild Blog that WON'T make you sick and kill you!
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Nick Foligno Brings Stability To A Team With Postseason Ambitions
The Minnesota Wild re-signed Nick Foligno, giving them exactly the kind of veteran presence contenders lean on in the spring. Foligno will play on a one-year, $900,000 deal, returning for his 20th NHL season after the Wild acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks last March. The move signals they va...
Wild Are Trying to Pull Off Another Blockbuster Trade
The Minnesota Wild need to swing at something big this offseason to make it worth it. So far, all they've done is tinkered around the edges -- they haven't even re-signed Quinn Hughes to the extension that he more than deserves. The business Bill Guerin has done so far has largely been just shufflin...
It's Okay To Mourn the Wild's Losses In Free Agency
Free agency exposes the different ways that fans enjoy hockey each year. It’s something we also see at the trade deadline. Some fans watch the sport through the lens of stats. What matters is points, plus-minus, slot shots, penalty minutes. Some are so stringent that they prefer the numbers to any s...
The Wild Prioritized Size and Stability With Limited Draft Picks
Adam Andersson is a 6-foot-4, 218-pound Swedish center the Minnesota Wild selected with the 83rd overall pick in the 2026 NHL draft. It was a third-round selection they acquired by trading up for a prospect who projects as a physical, two-way middle-six forward with underrated offensive instincts....
The Wild's Old Core Took Them As Far As It Could Go
Imagine, if you will: It was a sunny morning at the Tarps Off Bar and Grill. Located on one of the 10,000 lakes in the state, the Minnesota Wild were enjoying their summer with plenty of beverages and pouches flying around. But there was also something in the distance. Wild general manager...
Mats Zuccarello Absence Leaves A Void That's Not Easily Measured
Mats Zuccarello’s departure from the Minnesota Wild leaves a gap that goes far beyond the stat sheet. While his production has been consistently strong, the deeper loss lies in his chemistry with Kirill Kaprizov and the stability he brought to the team’s offensive identity. For a franchise buil...
The Wild's Max Shabanov Signing Might Have Sneaky Upside
Entering free agency with the fourth-fewest dollars to spend against the salary cap, the Minnesota Wild needed to play Moneyball. The core of "Moneyball" was that GM Brad Pitt* had to find bargains, mostly through unearthing players with obvious warts and hidden upside. Guys who were old, played bad...
Wild Get Two Upgrades For the Price of One In Blake Coleman Deal
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday the Minnesota Wild were staring at a lineup that shed 53 goals between Vladimir Tarasenko, Mats Zuccarello, and Marcus Johansson, with no replacements in sight. That's a winger on each of the team's top-three lines they needed to replace. Having struck o...
Was Day 1 Of Wild Free Agency As Bad As It Felt?
I get it. July 1 came and went without much excitement for the Minnesota Wild, and many old friends are gone. Marcus Johansson has left for Sweden. Mats Zuccarello signed with the Los Angeles Kings. Vladimir Tarasenko remains a free agent and appears to have little interest in taking a disc...
Wild Were Way Too Quiet on Day 1 of Free Agency
That's Wild As we saw deal after deal get signed, you had to wonder if the Minnesota Wild were going to do anything on July 1 as free agency opened up across the NHL. Right now, it appears that the team is in a standstill. They brought in familiar faces like Nick Foligno and Zach Bogosian, and...
Did Craig Leipold Just Make Quinn Hughes More Expensive?
Quinn Hughes pending contract extension is the most pressing issue the Minnesota Wild face this offseason. Hughes transformed the Wild from a modestly successful team to a bona fide contender. Fortunately, Craig Leipold is confident that the deal will get done. The Wild’s owner recently made he...
The Wild Are Betting On Third-Round Pick Adam Andersson's Raw Potential
The Minnesota Wild only added three players in last weekend’s NHL draft because their stockpile of draft picks diminished considerably due to the David Jiricek and Quinn Hughes trades. That stockpile diminished a bit further when the team traded up twice to grab players their scouting staff had iden...
Are the Wild Just Giving Up on Bobby Brink?
Bobby Brink was the lone offensive player that the Minnesota Wild added at last season's trade deadline in a one-for-one deal with the Philadelphia Flyers, as they sent once highly touted prospect David Jiricek the other way. And now, just months later, as Brink heads into restricted free agency, th...
Bill Guerin Gives A Quinn Hughes Contract Extension Update
Sure, the 2026 NHL Draft just happened and the Minnesota Wild were able to grab some cool prospects that might be something in a few years. But what is the most pressing thing in this organization and to fans is keeping one of their star players around. Quinn Hughes is eligible to sign a contra...
What Did the Wild Add In Their Smallest Draft Class Ever?
The Minnesota Wild entered the 2026 NHL Draft with five picks and left Buffalo with three players selected. Per Michael Russo of The Athletic, it is the smallest draft class in franchise history, consisting of two forwards and a goaltender. The Wild went into the draft without a first or second...
Patrik Laine Could Be the Finishing Piece In Minnesota
The Minnesota Wild should consider an offer to Patrik Laine, even after Laine rebuffed them in 2024, because his skill set matches a clear need: more high-end shot creation on the wing. Even in a team-first structure, Minnesota could use another player who can tilt a game with one release, and Laine...
Rasmus Andersson Would Balance Out the Wild's Blueline
The Minnesota Wild should consider signing free agent defenseman Rasmus Andersson because he addresses a major need. He’s a right-shot defenseman who can handle tough minutes, move the puck cleanly, and add some offense from the blue line. In a league where reliable right-shot defenders are always i...
A Young Center Could Help the Wild In Their Big-Game Hunting
Right now, it seems like the Minnesota Wild have their eyes on the prize of Dylan Larkin. Why wouldn't they? For one, he actually wants to come to Minnesota, and he's an established scoring center. His speed down the middle would give the Wild a new and needed element. It makes a ton of sense for th...
Bill Guerin's Mid-Term Grades
NHL Draft Day is here, and the die-hard hockey fans across Minnesota are watching with bated breath. Has nobody told them that they don’t pick until Day 2? No, dear reader, they are painfully aware that that pick is gone. But Wild fans don’t care which 18-year-old they might select with that p...
Mason Shaw Has "Nothing But Good Things to Say" About Minnesota
Mason Shaw is still an easy guy to root for. In a world where goals, assists, accomplishments, and championships tend to define players, a select few transcend those tangible markers of success to become an embodiment of the innate desire to participate in or witness something special; that thing th...
Wild Waiting For Their Turn After A Flurry of Moves
It turns out, the Brady Tkachuk trade was just an appetizer to kick off the week of the NHL Draft. We're not even 48 hours from the Draft, but Tuesday saw eight NHL players, four prospects, and seven picks change hands. That includes the fourth, ninth, and 16th overall picks for Friday night. W...
Kaprizov's Cap Hit Is Far From the Wild's Biggest Problem
The Minnesota Wild are urgently attempting to build on the momentum they gained by swinging the Quinn Hughes trade last season. Bill Guerin is big-game hunting, having made an aggressive offer for Brady Tkachuk, and presumably having another pending for Dylan Larkin. "We're in a window where we have...
Pavel Zacha Could Be the Wild's Plan B
The Minnesota Wild seem to be in on every conversation for the big-ticket items of this offseason. They made an offer for Brady Tkachuk; Minnesota is on Dylan Larkin’s approved trade list, etc. Still, they may not have enough assets to compete with other contenders for top talent. Therefore, they sh...
A Tryout With the Wild Launched Joel Ward's Improbable Career
It wouldn't be fair to categorize the Minnesota Wild's state at this year's NHL Draft as dormant. Still, they are without their first- and second-round picks, which puts them in an odd spot. History has shown that selecting high in any draft can be a pivotal step in quickly changing a team's p...
Are the Wild's Prospects Good Enough to Trade?
That's Wild We all know the Minnesota Wild and Bill Guerin are looking to make that big swing this summer. In addition to getting Quinn Hughes last season (and probably re-signing him this summer), they need to add some sort of top-six forward to the group. To do that, they need to trade. An...
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