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Hockey Wilderness

A Minnesota Wild Blog that WON'T make you sick and kill you!

Latest Entries

Brock Faber Can Shape His Narrative At the Olympics

The Minnesota Wild are entering the Olympic break on a tear. They’ve won 5 straight games and are going 8-1-1 in their last ten. While it’s unfortunate the break is coming during Minnesota’s hot streak, the Wild faithful won’t have to wait the entire break to see their stars compete. Minnesota’...

Zach Whitecloud Is Worth A Look For the Wild

The Minnesota Wild have made no secret of their trade deadline shopping list. Speaking to Joe Smith of The Athletic, Bill Guerin revealed the thing everyone pretty much already knew: “I’d like to add a forward at some point in time if it makes sense.... Of course, we'd love to add a center.... If yo...

Devils Awkwardly Edited Quinn Hughes Out Of Olympic Picture

That's Wild Teams around the NHL are posting pictures and videos of their star players all taking part in practices as they get ready for the Olympic action to start Wednesday. Because, what else would they do during this break? But the New Jersey Devils took it a step further. As we all k...

Will the Wild and Ottawa Senators Be Trade Partners Again?

A renewed trade connection between the Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators makes real sense in 2026, especially around a framework that sends Jesper Wallstedt to Ottawa and brings a center like Dylan Cozens to Minnesota. Minnesota has shifted from Wallstedt is the goalie of the future to we’re...

Wild Well-Represented at Winter Olympics

That's Wild A total of eight Wild players and even two AHLers in the minor leagues, have headed out to Italy to take part in the 2026 Winter Olympics for their respective countries. This makes the Wild one of the most well-represented teams at the best-on-best tournament -- and their best pl...

There's No Reason To Worry About A Parise/Suter Repeat For the Wild

The Minnesota Wild's plan is pretty clear by now. They've got Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes, two superstars at the peak of their powers. The Wild paid a steep price to keep Kaprizov around and will presumably try to retain Hughes by any means necessary. After that, they'll have two highly-paid co...

Matt Boldy Can Stake His Claim To Being the USA's Best Winger

Matt Boldy put himself on the map last season. Sure, he scored 30 goals before, and was a reliable 60 points in the bank during his young career. Still, it was a surprise to see him make Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off over established stars like Tage Thompson, Jason Robertson, and Clayton Kelle...

NHL

Vincent Trocheck Might Be Ideal Trade Candidate for Wild

Vincent Trocheck checks a lot of boxes that make him an intriguing and arguably ideal trade target for the Minnesota Wild, especially considering his age, cap hit, and position. Trocheck is in his age-32 season, making him intriguing for the Wild. He’s still in his prime. Still, he’s old enough...

Shane Wright Would Be A Creative Solution To Minnesota's Center Problem

The NHL is in a trade freeze, which probably suits Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin just fine. He's got Olympian-sized fish to fry, watching Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy, and Brock Faber compete for a gold medal. That break won't last long, though, and before you know it, Minnesota will be hit...

Yakov Trenin Is Making More Than One Type Of Impact

Every team wants to be "Tough To Play Against." Everyone knows that hockey comes down to scoring more goals than the other team, but front offices also want their teams to be able to win in the physical aspect of the game. Every year, we see teams target grinders in free agency and at the trade...

The Wild's Deadline Goal Should Be To Pick Up Two Rentals

The Minnesota Wild are really good. It’s debatable exactly how good they are, but it’s all but certain they’ll make the playoffs. There are four games left to play (and an entire Olympic break) before the trade deadline, but the A-topic for the next month will be trade deadline strategy. Most...

The Wild Must Find Kirill Kaprizov's Hockey Soulmate

It’s February, and anyone who’s socially active knows what that means. Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and while this article isn’t meant to be a reminder to order flowers and chocolates, it may be one for Bill Guerin, who is looking for that special someone ahead of the trade deadline. G...

Danila Yurov Is Growing More Untouchable By the Day

Bill Guerin has made the Minnesota Wild into a contender with one simple trick. He channelled his inner Michael Jordan and said, "F*** them kids." Instead of stockpiling them and holding onto dear life, he made the bold decision to flip Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, and Liam Öhgren to land Quinn Hughes....

An Optimist, A Pessimist and A Rationalist Talk Wild and Olympics

As of 11:59 pm tomorrow, the NHL will be on an extended hiatus as it sends nearly 150 of its players to Italy to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics. Eight of those players belong to the Minnesota Wild, who, after Wednesday’s game against the Nashville Predators, won’t play again until February 26....

The Kaprizov-Hughes Chemistry Has Arrived

When the Minnesota Wild swung a trade for Quinn Hughes, the NHL world immediately drooled at the possibility of him and superstar Kirill Kaprizov elevating each other's games. Hughes did a lot of heavy lifting for the Vancouver Canucks, while Kaprizov was the main offensive engine in Minnesota. Now...

NHL

Kirill Kaprizov Is Close To Making History

That's Wild Kirill Kaprizov has already set some Minnesota Wild franchise records but very soon he could put his name at the very top of the all-time goals record. He needs just three more goals to pass Marian Gaborik as the Wild's all-time goals leader. Could he do it this week, with the Wi...

The Stars Have Aligned For A Marc-Andre Fleury Return

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...

Minnesota's Fourth Line Must Improve Before the Playoffs

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...

Ryan Hartman Is Holding His Own While the Wild Explore the Trade Market

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...

Quinn Hughes Is Gonna Shatter the Market, Isn't He?

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....

The Minnesota Wild's System Is A Great Model For Younger Players

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...

NHL

Quinn Hughes Is Enjoying His Time In Minnesota

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...

NHL