Hockey Wilderness
A Minnesota Wild Blog that WON'T make you sick and kill you!
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Rising Contracts Could Turn the Wild’s Biggest Weakness Into A Strength
A new era has begun in the NHL this offseason. With the rising salary cap, player contracts have exploded. All three of the top deals in NHL history by average annual value (Cale Makar, Macklin Celebrini, Leo Carlsson) were signed in July and August. More money is good for players and the leag...
Bill Guerin Is Confident Quinn Hughes Signs An Extension
That's Wild As we all pace around our living rooms waiting for Quinn Hughes to sign a contract extension with the Minnesota Wild before the season starts, or at least begging for it to happen, someone remains confident. Wild general manager Bill Guerin is expressing some quiet confidence tha...
The Wild Just Gave John Hynes A Contract He Still Has To Earn
After months of speculation, the Minnesota Wild finally closed the deal. We’re not talking about the contract negotiations with Quinn Hughes, who continues to gaze into the universe while mulling a contract extension. Instead, we’re talking about John Hynes, who agreed to a “multi-year” contract ext...
Blake Coleman Could Turn the Wild Into the Western Conference's Hurricanes
For most of the summer, most people assumed the Minnesota Wild would put Maxim Shabanov in Mats Zuccarello's role. Given that Shabanov's skill set mirrors Zuccarello's, it makes sense to pair him with Kirill Kaprizov and see if they can replicate some of that chemistry. Coach John Hynes seems to agr...
Wild Enter Training Camp With One Huge Looming Question
That's Wild The Minnesota Wild open training camp this week with aspirations to lift the Stanley Cup in several months. But, there is also one massive looming question that needs to be answered. It's about Quinn Hughes and whether he's going to commit more than just next year to the Wild. [S...
The Wild Are Banking On Hynes Being More Than Average
An NHL head coach's tenure with one team is often no more than three seasons. Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes is entering his third full season for the Wild, fresh off the success of a second-round appearance in the NHL playoffs - the best season of his coaching career. This is also the fi...
Can Charlie Stramel Make the Wild Right Away?
That's Wild What will it take for Charlie Stramel to crack the Minnesota Wild's roster? There is so much in Stramel's game that the Wild like and want on their current roster, but is he good enough and ready enough to be thrown into the NHL right away? [The Athletic] The U.S. Hockey Ha...
Will Michael McCarron Establish He Was Worth His Extension This Season?
Michael McCarron signed a six-year, $20 million contract with the Minnesota Wild in June, carrying a $3.33 million AAV through 2031-32. He will be 37 years old when it expires. The deal includes a full no-movement clause (NMC) in the first three years and a 15-team no-trade list in the final three,...
The Wild's Defensive Identity Can Lead Them To 50 Wins This Season
The Minnesota Wild have the ingredients to make a real run at 50 victories this season. It would be an ambitious benchmark, one that requires consistency over six months, health from key players, and better execution in the games that often decide playoff seeding, but the foundation is there....
A Gustavsson Rebound Gives the Wild Plenty Of Options
One of the Minnesota Wild’s biggest developments last season was Jesper Wallstedt’s arrival. The rookie goaltender put up a sensational .916 save percentage during the regular season and ultimately claimed the starting spot in net for the Wild’s playoff run. Wallstedt’s rise was fascinating, bu...
Why Shouldn't Wild Fans Take Quinn Hughes At His Word?
After weeks of speculation about Quinn Hughes' future in a Minnesota Wild uniform, we finally got to hear the superstar defenseman comment at the NHL Media Tour on Wednesday. Speaking about the possibility of an extension, Hughes said, "As we get going here, I'm sure it'll heat up, but I don't feel...
Quinn Hughes Explains Why He Hasn't Signed Extension With the Wild Yet
That's Wild It was the first day of the NHL Media Tour on Wednesday and the first time a bunch of reporters actually got to speak with the stars of the league since their seasons have ended. Most importantly, Quinn Hughes spoke with the media and had a lot to say about how he has not yet sig...
Kirill Kaprizov Can Be A 50 Goal, 100 Point Player In 2026-27
Kirill Kaprizov has played like a superstar for years. Last season, he put up 45 goals and 89 points in just 78 games, and he did it while missing time and playing through the kind of nagging injuries that quietly chip away at a scoring line. For most wingers, that's a career year. For Kaprizov...
The Quinn Hughes Speculation Might Mean Nothing
Welcome to hockey’s national media spotlight. The Minnesota Wild are out of the cornfields and into the headlines. After last year’s blockbuster trade for Quinn Hughes, your favorite hockey team is no longer the Little Brother of the Central Division. Having the eldest Hughes brother on the ro...
I Watched 84 Maxim Shabanov Goals To See If He Can Be An X-Factor
The Minnesota Wild, as constructed, have a very high floor entering the 2026-27 season. Quinn Hughes, Kirill Kaprizov, and Matt Boldy at the top of the lineup give them the star power they need. Defensive stalwarts like Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon, and their goalie tandem make for...
Wild Got Worst News Possible About Quinn Hughes Extension
We are inching closer to the Minnesota Wild opening training camp and star defenseman Quinn Hughes officially starting the final season on his current contract. No promise to stay in Minnesota beyond the next several months and the pressure and panic are ramping up. So, naturally, it's a perfec...
The Juice May Not Be Worth the Squeeze With Dylan Larkin
It’s easy to fall in love with the idea of Dylan Larkin in a Minnesota Wild sweater. He’s a proven top-line center, a former 30-goal man, and the kind of battle-tested leader every contender covets at the deadline. But before Bill Guerin manages the future to bring the Detroit Red Wings captain West...
Panic Trading Quinn Hughes Is the Worst Mistake the Wild Could Make
On paper, the deadline for the Minnesota Wild to extend Quinn Hughes is June 30. But realistically, no one believes that. The common-sense deadline is probably September 30, the day before Minnesota's season opener. If it goes any longer, the questions about what the Wild will do with the superstar...
Can Brock Faber Have 20 Goals and 40 Assists Playing With Quinn Hughes?
Last year, Brock Faber showed that he has the offensive foundation to become a true top-pair scoring threat. After posting 15 goals and 51 points, a jump to 20 goals and 40 assists (60 points) is an aggressive but realistic next step if he spends a full season alongside Quinn Hughes. The bigge...
What Does the Move To Prime Video Mean For Wild Fans?
With the puck dropping on the 2026-27 season in just under a month, Minnesota Wild fans finally have an idea of how they’re going to watch their team – and what it’s going to cost them. On Wednesday, the Wild announced a multi-year local streaming agreement with Prime Video called Wild+, makin...
Cale Makar's Signing Removes One Quinn Hughes Obstacle
Cale Makar’s blockbuster extension should indicate that Quinn Hughes’ deal is coming soon. But it will not make it cheap: Hughes controls nearly every meaningful lever in these negotiations, and Makar just gave his camp the clearest possible benchmark. Colorado’s eight-year, $163.2 million ext...
The Wild Can Overcome Losing Veterans This Offseason
This offseason, the Minnesota Wild said goodbye to three veteran members of their forward group. Mats Zuccarello signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings, Marcus Johansson is on his way to play back home in Sweden, and Vladimir Tarasenko is still a free agent. Between the three, the Wild lo...
The Wild's Top-Heavy Roster Could Be A Boon During Expansion
We’re hearing a lot of big numbers thrown around these days. A $136 million contract for Kirill Kaprizov. $17 million per year. And, in light of Cale Makar’s $20.4 million AAV, Quinn Hughes is likely in line to make even more than Kaprizov. It makes you look down the lineup and wonder: How can...
We've Gone Back To Underrating Ryan Hartman Again
When Ryan Hartman first arrived in St. Paul, he was absolutely underrated. In 2019, the Minnesota Wild became his fifth club in three years, despite decent bottom-six production. He only got to the Wild because the Dallas Stars traded for him as a restricted free agent, then immediately decided to l...
Wild Earn Terrible Position In Very Important NHL Ranking
Famously, each press box in the NHL is loaded with some sort of snacks for the beat reporters in attendance. It's things we sometimes see pictures of online from said beat reporters, if they choose to post it, but for the well-traveled beats, they know the landscape very well. Pittsburgh Penguins re...
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