A Minnesota Wild Blog that WON'T make you sick and kill you!
Marc-Andre Fleury’s retirement tour never really felt like a goodbye, and the way he has been hanging around the Minnesota Wild lately is only driving that point home. With the organization now openly listening to trade offers on Jesper Wallstedt in pursuit of a true No. 1 center, a path is suddenly...
about 10 hours ago | 0 reads
Let’s establish right away: A problem on the fourth line in January is not a crippling weakness. NHL teams don’t live and die by their fourth line. That’s very good for everybody, because nobody has a good fourth line. The fourth line’s primary goal is to take up the five or ten minutes of ice...
about 12 hours ago | 0 reads
The Minnesota Wild are still looking to add to their roster as the NHL trade deadline nears. The team needs center or forward depth in general and has been linked to several big-ticket players, such as Nico Hischier, Ryan O'Reilly, Vincent Trocheck, and Artemi Panarin. The only problem with the...
about 16 hours ago | 0 reads
That's Wild After the Minnesota Wild suffered a loss in Montreal last month, they now get some revenge as they have a nice and tidy comeback for Kirill Kaprizov to win it in overtime Monday night. [StarTribune] During the game though, defenseman Daemon Hunt had to exit with what looks...
about 20 hours ago | 0 reads
Ryan Hartman has proven to be a perfectly capable, if imperfect, placeholder at first-line center for the Minnesota Wild. He has provided Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello with a reliable partner while the organization continues to search for a true No. 1 pivot. When Dean Evanson first moved...
1 day ago | 1 read
When Kirill Kaprizov inked his contract extension for $17 million annually, it looked like someone would soon take his crown as the NHL's highest-paid player away. That Kaprizov was merely the first through the door of a new era of big-money contracts. It quickly turned out not to be the case....
1 day ago | 0 reads
Playing team sports can be a great way for kids to develop lifelong skills like teamwork, dependability, and perseverance. Team sports can also be a hotbed of inner drama and competition, hierarchical cliques, and harassment. Pointing kids toward the workings of a team like the Minnesota Wild could...
2 days ago | 2 reads
That's Wild We've already seen Quinn Hughes compare his current team to his old one, mentioning how much better the Minnesota Wild are at hockey than the Vancouver Canucks. Now, following the Wild's massive 7-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers, Hughes repeated that same feeling and mentioned how he...
2 days ago | 1 read
The Minnesota Wild have picked up points in five of their past six games, a reminder that patience with this group might be the smartest path forward. As tempting as it may be to shake up the roster, the way this team has handled adversity, leaned on its core, and integrated new pieces suggests that...
5 days ago | 1 read
Things did not look good for Minnesota Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt at the end of the first period on Tuesday night. He had given up three goals, and the Wild were down 3-0 against the lowly Chicago Blackhawks. A save on a Connor Bedard shot in the second period that almost trickled past h...
6 days ago | 3 reads
The Minnesota Wild should target Robert Thomas from the St. Louis Blues to improve their center position. Also, they should target Jordan Kyrou, who hasn’t taken a step forward after scoring 70 points last season. He has only 24 points in 42 games, which puts him on pace for just 41 points. That dro...
6 days ago | 1 read
Carson Lambos’ transition into a bigger role with the Iowa Wild has been more of a steady climb than a sudden leap, and that’s what the organization wanted from one of its most important young defensive prospects. After a brief taste of NHL action and another half-season of AHL work, Lambos, 2...
7 days ago | 0 reads
That's Wild After he has had a somewhat unexpected surge in production this season with 35 points in 49 games, winger Marcus Johansson is able to make his Olympic dream come true. As Team Sweden suffer a boatload of injuries to almost every position, Johansson, along with Bruins blueliner Ha...
7 days ago | 1 read
Jesper Wallstedt is exactly the kind of goaltender you keep and build around, not the kind you move for a short-term fix, and the Minnesota Wild are in a rare position where having two legitimate starters could be the backbone of a deep playoff run. The Minnesota Wild didn’t draft Wallstedt to...
7 days ago | 3 reads
At the beginning of the NHL season, the hockey world looks at the teams destined to be bad and starts watching the big names who might be moved later. For Minnesota Wild fans desperate to see their team land a center, the speculation seemed to focus on Dylan Larkin and Tage Thompson. The proble...
8 days ago | 5 reads
When Joel Eriksson Ek went down with an injury in the Minnesota Wild’s January 8 game against the Seattle Kraken, it was cause for significant concern. The Wild already need center depth, and that issue becomes even worse without Eriksson Ek on the ice. To add to the distress, Eriksson Ek has...
8 days ago | 5 reads
That's Wild The Minnesota Wild are looking to make their first trade after acquiring Quinn Hughes and there is loads of pressure to get this right. They need a top-six forward and have been actively shopping for one even more since moving Marco Rossi to the Canucks in the blockbuster trade -...
8 days ago | 2 reads
I’m going to talk about Thanksgiving a little bit here, which is a very strange thing to write about in January. Not only is the holiday ten months away, but there’s very little to be thankful for at this time in Minnesota. The weather sucks. It’s so cold that dogs go unwalked for days in a ro...
10 days ago | 2 reads
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...
11 days ago | 3 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....
12 days ago | 2 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...
12 days ago | 5 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?...
12 days ago | 3 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...
12 days ago | 2 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...
13 days ago | 5 reads
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,...
13 days ago | 4 reads