Those days are finally past.

Zach Parise and Ryan Suter’s contracts are mostly off the books — their terminated deals will still count $1.7 million against the cap for the next three years — and that means Guerin is largely free of the financial shackles that impeded his ability to aggressively pursue free agents.

This doesn’t mean Guerin will throw money around on July 1 when free agency begins. The Wild plan on devoting a good chunk of cap space to winger Kirill Kaprizov in what will be a busy summer.

Here are three areas that will be addressed:

Locking up the franchise player
Wild owner Craig Leipold said last fall that no team would offer Kaprizov more money or a longer contract than the Wild. Kaprizov, who has one season left on his five-year, $45 million contract, is eligible to be offered an extension starting July 1.

With the Parise/Suter contracts off the books, signing Kaprizov to an eight-year deal this offseason should be a priority for the Wild. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The Wild can pay Kaprizov more because they have the ability to offer an eight-year contract. If Kaprizov elects to play out his contract and become a free agent after next season, teams can only offer him a seven-year deal.

The Wild have no intention of letting it get to that.

Kaprizov, 28, is the Wild’s first superstar and his importance to the franchise is clear to everyone. He was one of the leading candidates for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP this season before being sidelined by a lower body injury that required surgery just after Christmas.

Kaprizov only played 41 games and still finished second on the Wild with 25 goals and third with 56 points. He returned late in the regular season and had five goals and nine points in six playoff games.

Kaprizov’s new contract would not kick in until 2026-27.

The NHL salary cap will rise from $88 million this season to $95.5 million for 2025-26. The projections for the following two seasons are $104 million and $113.5 million.

Given the upcoming cap increases, Kaprizov’s reps likely will start by asking for $15 million to $16 million in average annual value over eight years. The Wild have little choice but to capitulate given the fact Kaprizov is holding all of the cards.

“I’m very confident that we’re going to get a deal done with Kirill,” Guerin said. “He really loves this market and this team. I think he feels that we’re going in the right direction.”

Center of attention
Anyone who watched the Wild’s first-round playoff loss could see the team’s lack of a true No. 1 center was a problem. That is nothing new and it’s an issue that Guerin wants to solve. He said the center position will be a focus in free agency, adding that he “wouldn’t be opposed to a scoring winger, either.”

Joel Eriksson Ek is a quality center, but ideally he would slot into the No. 2 or No. 3 slot and play on more of a grind-it-out line.

But here’s the issue: Finding a top-line center isn’t easy and they don’t often hit the open market.

That’s what makes this so interesting for Guerin.

The top centers set to become free agents this July include Toronto’s John Tavares, Florida’s Sam Bennett, Colorado’s Brock Nelson and Dallas’ Matt Duchene. Only Bennett is under age 30 from that group and he will turn 29 on June 20. There are reports that Tavares wants to return to the Maple Leafs and that the Panthers are going to make a push to re-sign Bennett.

Nelson is a Warroad native and there has been speculation that the Wild will bring him home. However, he will turn 34 on Oct. 15 and signing him to a multi-year contract with any type of no-trade protection (which everyone gets these days) comes with plenty of risk.

Guerin’s best option might be the trade market. This wouldn’t be cheap, but the Wild’s prospect pool was ranked second in the NHL by The Athletic this year. That gives Guerin some quality ammunition in trade talks.

Marco Rossi played in all 82 games with the Wild in each of the past two seasons. He scored 21 goals and 40 points in 2023-24 but jumped to 24 goals and 60 points in 2024-25. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

One player Guerin could offer is winger Liam Ohgren. Ohgren has played in 28 games for the Wild over the past two seasons but has spent the majority of that time in Iowa. The Wild brass claims to remain high on the 21-year-old, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he was the centerpiece of a package for a top-line center.

The Wild also could offer restricted free agent center Marco Rossi. The ninth-overall pick in the 2020 draft, Rossi finished second on the Wild with 60 points this season. His 24 goals were third on the team and he was one of only three Wild players to appear in all 82 games.

However, Rossi was demoted to the fourth line in the playoffs, and it seems likely the team and player could agree to a mutual parting of ways this offseason.

One thing the Wild don’t have to offer is their 2025 first-round pick — that went to Columbus in the trade for defenseman David Jiricek.

Centers who might be available on the trade market this summer could include Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson and the Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad. Both, however, are coming off disappointing seasons.

Another name to keep an eye on is Detroit captain Dylan Larkin.

Larkin expressed his displeasure with the Red Wings’ lack of activity at the trade deadline in March, leading to speculation about his future in Detroit. Larkin’s frustration is understandable considering the Red Wings’ last playoff appearance came during his rookie season in 2015-16.

The Michigan native has a no-trade clause and five years remaining on the eight-year, $69.6 million contract he signed in 2023. Larkin’s cap hit is $8.7 million per season.

It appears a long shot Larkin would be dealt — or approve a trade — but he’s had four consecutive 30-goal seasons and even the hint that he might be available makes it worth Guerin’s time to put a call into Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman.

Liam Ohgren scored two goals and three assists in 24 games with the Minnesota Wild in 2024-25. He spent 41 games with the Iowa Wild this season, scoring 19 goals and 37 points. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

About that scoring winger
If Guerin acquired a center in a deal involving Ohgren, odds are he would turn to the free-agent market to pursue a scoring winger to fit into the top six. The Wild are projected to have $20.6 million in salary cap space for 2025-26, according to PuckPedia.

The top free agent on the market will be Toronto’s Mitch Marner, but he likely will end up in Toronto or getting a massive deal elsewhere.

Signing Nikolaj Ehlers away from the Winnipeg Jets would not only help the Wild but weaken a Central Division opponent. The 29-year-old winger has scored more than 20 goals in eight of his nine seasons with the Jets and had six power-play goals this season.

The Wild also could look to bring home right winger Brock Boeser after nine seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. The 28-year-old Burnsville native had his goal output drop from 40 to 25 this season, but it was a tumultuous year in Vancouver that impacted many players on the team.

The post Guerin’s To-Do List appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The post Wild Need A Thrilling Kirill appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Two days after watching his team record an impressive victory over the NHL-leading Washington Capitals, the Wild coach expected a repeat performance against the good, but not great, New Jersey Devils.

This would be the 11th and final home game for the Wild in March and a chance to keep the surging St. Louis Blues two points behind them in the wild card race. This version of the Wild — the one without superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov and top center Joel Eriksson Ek — are not talented enough to win on talent alone.

That means they have no choice but to work as hard as they did against the Caps. Everyone seemed to realize this except for one important group: Hynes’ players.

Nico Hischier scored the first of his three goals only 29 seconds into the first period, Paul Cotter made it 2-0 at the 5:46 mark and the Devils never trailed in a 5-2 victory on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center.

That left the Wild 6-4-1 in the 11 home games and tied with the Blues with 87 points. The Wild are technically in the seventh wild card spot because they have a game in hand on St. Louis, but the Blues have won nine in a row and Vancouver is six points behind both teams and has played one game fewer than Minnesota.

Saturday’s effort will be ‘addressed’
No wonder Hynes’ ire was raised by his team offering so little in such an important game.

“I just thought from the drop of the puck we weren’t mentally, physically where we needed to be, and it lasted throughout the game,” Hynes said. “You guys kind of saw the same thing I saw. I’m not going to mince words on it, but we weren’t mentally ready to play, focused (on) the details we need (to be). I think the competitive level that’s required to win wasn’t there. We beat ourselves in so many different ways tonight. It will be addressed, and we’ll be ready for Monday.”

In the remaining 1 minute, 54 seconds of Hynes’ press conference, he was asked four more questions and either said, “It will be addressed,” or, “We’ll address it,” six times.

How will it be addressed?

Hynes, who has been canceling late-season practices to keep his team fresh, kept Sunday’s practice on the books before his team departed for New Jersey to play the Devils for a second consecutive time on Monday.

This is about as close to a meltdown as you’re going to get from Hynes.

Justin Brazeau on the ice against Buffalo on March 22, 2025. He was part of one of the Wild’s best lines against New Jersey this past Saturday. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The fact that the line of Yakov Trenin, Devin Shore and Justin Brazeau might have been the most consistent trio for the Wild was more of an indictment on the other lines than it was a reason to praise the hard-working but not-skilled fourth line.

There is no question that what once looked like it could be a special season has been derailed by the losses of several players at different points, most notably Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek. The two have started skating, but it’s unknown when either might return. Kaprizov has missed the past 24 games and 36 of the past 39. Eriksson Ek, the Wild’s best center, has missed the past 17 games and 18 of the past 19.

However, the Wild’s performance against Washington confirmed that with the necessary effort they can be very competitive. Players talked about that after the Washington win, opening the door for Hynes and everyone else to point out that the loss to the Devils was based more on a lack of effort than anything else.

Juggling lines in a feisty game
The Wild played pretty well in the second period, but they no-showed much of the first and were outscored 3-1 in a mostly lifeless third period. Goalie Filip Gustavsson has been outstanding of late, but at some point he needs help from his teammates.

Hynes juggled the first and third lines, moving Ryan Hartman to the top line to center Matt Boldy and Marcus Foligno. Marco Rossi was demoted to play with Gus Nyquist and Vinnie Hinostroza on the third line. Hinostroza had been so good against the Capitals that he started Saturday as the first-line right winger, but he didn’t stay there.

Hartman and Foligno accounted for the Wild’s two goals, so it wasn’t a surprise that Hynes moved them up from the third line. Boldy, who entered Saturday with three goals and seven points in his past six games, took a dumb slashing penalty with the Wild trailing 3-2 in the third period. Hischier scored 1:02 into the power play to give the Devils a two-goal lead.

In what had been an intense and feisty game, that was the exact type of penalty the Wild can’t take and the fact it came from one of their best players made it even more disturbing.

The Wild have eight games remaining, including a three-game road trip to play the Devils, Rangers and Islanders this week. The Blues’ phenomenal play since returning from the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off means they can’t be counted on to cool off and the Canucks and Flames remain dangerous. The Wild will play in Calgary on April 11 and Vancouver on April 12 in what could be huge games.

Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek might be back by then, but that can’t be counted on. Saturday proved that Hynes also can’t count on his team to show up when it matters most. Will his attempt to “address” this issue work? If it doesn’t, the Wild could be sitting outside of the playoff picture for a second consecutive season.

The post Fired-Up Hynes Addresses Wild Loss appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

It was a bit of a surprise when Kaprizov didn’t make the trip to Dallas for the Wild’s first game after the break because of a lower-body injury but the word was it was a day-to-day situation. He would be fine and back before long.

More than two months later, Kaprizov has played in only three games since exiting the lineup. He has been seen a few times in the bowels of Xcel Energy Center catching up with fellow Russian players after games but that’s been it.

Those last three appearances by Kaprizov came in late January and were followed by the announcement that he would undergo surgery. The original timeline for his absence was four to six weeks. In late February, Wild general manager Bill Guerin said Kaprizov would be out for an undetermined amount of time.

So what’s wrong with Kaprizov? The Wild have declined to provide specifics other than Guerin saying he expects Kaprizov back before the end of the regular season. Given how the situation has unfolded it’s probably best to assume any timetable put on Kaprizov’s return is nothing more than a hopeful guess.

Kaprizov’s importance to the Wild never has been in question, but his absence has enabled the team, its fans and Kaprizov’s representatives to see just how futile the Wild are in the goal-scoring department without him.

That has been on full display since the team’s return from the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off. The Wild have averaged two goals per game in going 5-6-1 since Feb. 22. They scored four goals in victories over Detroit and Seattle but have been held to one goal five times.

Minnesota rallied for a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night at Xcel Energy Center, but two of the goals came on the power play and the last one was into an empty net.

He was the Wild’s offense
How bad is it?

Kaprizov’s 23 goals in 37 games still lead the Wild and are two more than Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi have produced in 68 games apiece. Kaprizov’s 52 points trail Rossi by one and Boldy’s team-leading total by four.

Kaprizov wasn’t just an important part of the Wild’s offense, he was the offense. It doesn’t help that the Wild have battled injuries all season — just as they did a year ago. Joel Eriksson Ek, the team’s best center, has missed the past 11 games and 25 overall, and defenseman Jonas Brodin has missed the past eight games and 30 overall.

The Wild’s 19-5-4 start helped to catapult them to the top of the NHL standings in early December and likely created such a cushion that they are going to make the playoffs as a wild card.

But this has become a grind and, John Hynes’ relentless positivity aside, it’s difficult to believe the Wild are going to accomplish anything without No. 97.

What makes this situation even more interesting is that Kaprizov is eligible for a contract extension on July 1. He will enter the final season of his five-year, $45 million contract in 2025-26 and can sign for a maximum of eight years with the Wild this summer. If he plays out his contract, he will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2026.

Kaprizov’s timing could not be better. The NHL informed clubs in late January that its salary cap would rise by $7.5 million to $95.5 million in 2025-26 before increasing to a projected $104 million in 2026-27 and $113.5 million the following season. These are substantial increases for a cap that remained flat for several years after the pandemic.

The Wild will benefit from the fact that the dead cap hits from the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter will go from $14.8 million combined to $1.7 million next season, but a good chunk of that extra money will have to be used to keep Kaprizov.

At what price?

Wild owner Craig Leipold said before the regular season that, “nobody will offer (Kaprizov) more money than us, or longer,” before adding, “all we have to do is prove to him that we want to win.”

Kaprizov’s injury should be a concern
After missing the playoffs last season, that’s what the Wild were doing with Kaprizov, but he has had plenty of time to watch his teammates struggle to score goals without him. It’s fair to wonder if Kaprizov will question whether the Wild adding a free agent, such as Colorado’s Brock Nelson or Vancouver’s Brock Boeser, will be enough to give him a real chance at a Stanley Cup.

Despite his boyish looks, Kaprizov isn’t a kid. He didn’t arrive in Minnesota until his age 23 season and will turn 28 on April 26. If Kaprizov does sign an extension this summer, how much might his price have increased because of his absence?

The 31 games Kaprizov has missed are a career high. He sat out 15 games near the end of the regular season in 2022-23 after Winnipeg’s Logan Stanley crumpled him to the ice. In his three others seasons with the Wild, Kaprizov has missed a combined nine games.

Kaprizov’s unknown injury has to be a concern for the Wild brass that wants to make him a very rich man but they are in no position to balk. He is fourth in franchise history with 183 goals in 315 games, fifth with 382 points and second in power play goals with 61.

Kaprizov’s return undoubtedly would provide a significant boost to the Wild’s playoff hopes, not to mention the morale of a team whose confidence is shaken. But when might that happen — if it happens at all?

“You guys have been asking me nonstop about this,” Guerin said shortly before the March 7 trade deadline. “I just don’t know. … There’s no exact science. I can’t tell you because what I tell you today might be different tomorrow. Things change constantly. I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, he’s going to be back 17 days from now’ and he’s not back 17 days from now, you guys are going to be like ‘What happened?’ So, I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

What Guerin does know is that Kaprizov’s value increases with each game the Wild fail to bury the puck in the net.

The post Buzzkill Without Kirill appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The only team that didn’t make a trade that moved the needle was the third-place Minnesota Wild. Bottom six winger Justin Brazeau was acquired from Boston late Thursday after veteran winger Gustav Nyquist was obtained from Nashville last weekend.

Will Wild general manager Bill Guerin be criticized for not doing more? Probably. Should he be? Absolutely not.

If Guerin had really wanted to deal for a player such as Nelson, Buffalo’s Dylan Cozens, who was moved to Ottawa, or Vancouver’s Brock Boeser, who wasn’t moved, he could have put Joel Eriksson Ek on long-term injured reserve with Kirill Kaprizov and kept both out until the playoffs opened in order to circumvent the salary cap.

But Guerin wisely elected to keep his top prospects and focus on the opening of free agency on July 1. That’s when the NHL’s salary cap will rise from $88 million to $95.5 million and when the dead cap hits of $14.7 million for the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter will shrink to $1.7 million.

The Wild and Avalanche both have 76 points, but the Wild are in third place because they have a game in hand. The Avalanche almost certainly will pass the Wild in the coming days, but Minnesota still figures to make the playoffs. A fantastic start to the season that briefly put the Wild atop the NHL standings has helped to give them an eight-point lead on Calgary, the second wild card in the Western Conference, and a nine-point lead on Vancouver, the first team out of the postseason.

But there is no way Guerin could have looked at his roster on Friday — especially once the Jets, Avalanche and Stars started making moves — and thought he had a team that could emerge from the Western Conference. The Wild missed the playoffs last season, were expected to miss again this season and ended up being a pleasant surprise that right now is without two of their top forwards, Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek, and a top-four defenseman in Jonas Brodin.

The what-if? game
While Guerin says he expects Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek and Brodin to return before the regular season is finished, no one knows how effective they will be if they do play again. Let’s say the Wild had acquired Boeser for a 2026 first-round pick — their 2025 first-rounder was dealt to Columbus for promising young defenseman David Jiricek — along with winger Liam Ohgren and a third-round selection.

Would Boeser have joined a team that had a full-strength Kaprizov? The Wild forward has played in three games of 27 games since Dec. 23 after initially being considered day-to-day. Kaprizov underwent surgery for his lower-body injury in late January and still hasn’t started skating. He might return, but will he be his normal explosive self? Clearly, Guerin and the doctors have no idea.

Eriksson Ek, the Wild’s best center, has missed the past five games because of what The Athletic reported is a broken bone in his leg. Wild coach John Hynes told The Athletic it might be a “usage injury,” meaning there is no predicting if Eriksson Ek will be fully healthy again this season. Brodin has dealt with injuries all season and is now out with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot against Colorado late last month.

Add it up and the only thing a significant trade by Guerin would have done is add a player, likely on an expiring contract, to a mix of guys who might be back at some point but also could and should be shut down at the first sign of trouble. The Wild are better off pursuing Boeser when he becomes a free agent on July 1 and not giving up anything for him.

Given Guerin’s penchant for making deals, the guess here is that it pained him to mostly sit out this deadline. But he did the right thing. The Wild’s long-term future looks bright because the cupboard is filled with prospects. Not moving some of them in the name of trying to make a run against what now appears to be superior competition was the type of restraint for which Guerin should be applauded.

The post Less Is More appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Wild entered Thursday four points behind second-place Dallas in the Central Division, two points ahead of Colorado and eight points clear of the first team outside the playoff picture in the Western Conference. Minnesota had four games left before the deadline and 24 games remaining in the regular season.

The problem is that the Wild have been without superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov for all but three games since late December because of a lower-body injury, and now have lost center Joel Eriksson Ek to a lower-body injury that the team says will sideline him week-to-week.

Kaprizov, who still leads the Wild in goals (23) and points (52) despite missing 21 games, was originally supposed to miss four-to-six weeks after undergoing surgery in late January. Guerin recently said Kaprizov will miss more time than expected.

Eriksson Ek’s participation with Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off was questioned based on the fact he missed the Wild’s final game before the break because of a lower-body injury and that he already had missed 14 games this season because of injury. Eriksson Ek returned for the Wild’s first game after the 4 Nations but was placed on injured reserve before Tuesday’s loss to Detroit.

Kirill Kaprizov still leads the Wild in scoring, despite missing more than 20 games due to injury this season. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The refusal by NHL teams to divulge injury information leaves us with no idea of when Kaprizov or Eriksson Ek might be back. The reality is both could be lost for the rest of the regular season and even the playoffs. Kaprizov already is on long-term injured reserve — a player must be expected to miss at least 10 games and 24 days of the season to go on LTIR — and Eriksson Ek could join him.

The LTIR designation creates salary cap space, meaning the Wild would be able to add significant help at the deadline. But that would keep Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek on the shelf until the playoffs open, at which point the salary cap disappears. Teams, such as the Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning, have angered NHL fans and teams by using this to their advantage.

Do nothing at the deadline?
But if Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek aren’t going to return this season, or return at far less than 100%, there’s a case to be made that Guerin might be best served to do nothing. The Wild find themselves nearing the finish line of having $14.8 million in dead salary cap space caused by the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Those hits will decrease to a much more manageable $1.7 million next season and the salary cap will rise $7.5 million to $95.5 million.

That puts the Wild in an excellent position to be active when free agency opens on July 1. How wise it would be to acquire a Brock Nelson from the Islanders or Brock Boeser from the Canucks at the deadline for what almost certainly would be a steep price?

Nelson could help the Wild replace Eriksson Ek at center and Boeser could provide some scoring punch, but both are pending free agents. So unless Guerin was acquiring a player he liked with term left on his contract, why give up quality from your organization when that player can be signed this summer?

Guerin and coach John Hynes want to make the playoffs after missing them last season, but the Wild remain in good shape to do so. What Guerin shouldn’t do is give up a young player, such as winger Liam Ohgren, or one of his better prospects because he thinks a trade might be able to help the Wild win a playoff round.

The Athletic recently ranked the Wild prospect pool second in the NHL and you would think that top prospects such as forward Danila Yurov and defensemen Zeev Buium and David Jiricek are off limits. Jiricek, the sixth-overall pick by Columbus in the 2022 draft, was acquired earlier this season for the Wild’s 2025 first-round pick. That would be the selection to move in a trade, but Guerin knew that when he sent it to the Blue Jackets.

Guerin also knew he was adding a big, right-handed shot defenseman to his blue line for the future. And that’s where Guerin’ focus should remain — the future. An attempted quick fix might create excitement, but with major questions about Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek that enthusiasm is certain to be short-lived.

The post Deadline Dilemma appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

But even Faber’s biggest supporters had to be surprised by his performance with the U.S. team during the 4 Nations Face-Off, which came to an end on Thursday night with Canada beating the United States 3-2 in overtime of the championship game.

Faber spent the majority of the four games playing with Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin on the United States’ first defensive pairing. Slavin received well-earned praise for his play throughout Thursday’s game from ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro, but it was Faber whom U.S. coach Mike Sullivan trusted to log extensive ice time as Slavin’s partner.

Faber averaged 23 minutes, 20 seconds in the tournament’s four games; Slavin was at 23:16. In Thursday’s finale, Faber played 28:50, Slavin 26:50. Not bad considering U.S. coach Mike Sullivan had Faber playing with Noah Hanifin on the third pairing to open the tournament, but moved Faber to the top pair in the opening game against Finland.

Why the quick rise?

Because while Faber might not be flashy, the 22-year-old is one of the most reliable and smartest defensemen in the game. The 4 Nations not only put that on display for everyone to see, but also will leave no doubt in Faber’s mind about his game.

The highest compliment one can pay Faber is that he makes the difficult look effortless — especially in his own end. Faber finished the 4 Nations as a plus-3 and also had two assists, including a shot that was tipped in by Wild teammate Matt Boldy to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead against Finland.

“Brock Faber, in my mind, is an emerging star,” Sullivan, the Penguins coach, told The Athletic. “How old is he, 22? And the stage wasn’t too big for a guy like that. I was so impressed with his maturity.”

Brock Faber has six goals and 16 assists through 52 games with the Wild this season. He’s also averaging 24:55 time-on-ice per game. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Faber’s contributions were even more important because the U.S. lost star defenseman Quinn Hughes to injury before the 4 Nations and then lost Charlie McAvoy two games into the tournament.

Back to work with the Wild
Faber now will go from the intensity of the 4 Nations to rejoining the Wild as they resume play in the middle of a playoff race and with 26 games left in the regular season. The Wild are two points behind second-place Dallas in the Central Division and two points ahead of Colorado, which holds the top wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Faber isn’t going to have the luxury of taking a breath. With some players that might be a concern, but with Faber you expect him to make the type of seamless transition that he does when he’s skating the puck out of his own end.

Faber, who leads the Wild in average ice time with 24:54 a game, never seems to tire.

That was true in his rookie season when he played all 82 games and averaged three more seconds of ice time than he has this season. He had eight goals and 47 points in 2023-24 and six goals and 22 points in 52 games this season.

Watching Faber in the 4 Nations, it hammered home the point he should have won the Calder Trophy last season as the NHL’s rookie of the year. He finished second in voting to the Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard, the heralded first-overall pick in the 2023 draft. Bedard had led rookies in goal (22) and points (61) and tied Faber for first in assists (39) in 68 games.

Bedard might have a great career — he wasn’t on the Canadian team at the 4 Nations — but Faber was the more reliable and better player and that remains the case. That’s why he ended up being such a big part of the U.S. roster at the 4 Nations and why he’s a shoo-in to be on the Olympic roster next February in Italy.

We have a feeling he won’t be starting off on the third defensive pairing either.

The post Brock Star appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

What had been taken for granted in the 1990s and early 2000s is now appreciated given the work it has taken to get back to this point. A record crowd of 10,894 for the second game of the Badgers series on Feb. 1 brought total attendance for the sweep to 21,641.

Connor Kurth and Cal Thomas celebrate a goal against Wisconsin in front of the packed home crowd cheering them on. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletics)

“For all of us who work in the athletic department and on the external side, where we’re not on the ice every day, having a game-day environment like that is what we aspire to,” said Mike Wierzbicki, senior associate athletic director for the Gophers. “Providing an atmosphere that fans can enjoy and that gives you goosebumps.”

Telling the story of attendance and fan interest at what is now known as 3M at Mariucci Arena, isn’t as simple as throwing out a bunch of attendance figures.

That helps — the average of 9,769 tickets distributed this season is the highest it has been since 2015-16 and is up from 7,867 in 2021-22 — but it fails to address the most important thing: The electricity, as Motzko called it, that has returned to the 32-year-old building.

That is what so often had seemed to be missing until the last few seasons. A student section that wasn’t filled, or season tickets that had been sold to corporations or the general public, but weren’t used. The tickets might have been distributed, but that doesn’t mean sections were full or that the building had life.

The Dropoff
Motkzo was part of two NCAA championship teams during his time as an assistant on Gophers coach Don Lucia’s staff from 2001-05 and returned to replace Lucia in 2018 after spending 13 seasons at St. Cloud State. Motzko remembers the importance placed on getting fans back upon his return.

Bob Motzko has coached the Gophers men’s hockey team since 2018-19. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“It was a major discussion at the administrative level, and they did a lot of things behind the scenes, too, on students and ticket prices,” he said. “It was the perfect storm. I always call it the breakup of the WCHA. That took a decade for people to forgive. I think we’re through that.”

As members of the Big Ten, the Gophers were forced to make the move from the WCHA to the Big Ten when the conference began to sponsor men’s ice hockey in the 2013-14 season. This was triggered by Penn State’s decision to start playing Division I hockey and enabled the Big Ten to have a six-team conference. It resulted in major upheaval for college hockey.

The Gophers had long-established WCHA rivalries with North Dakota, Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State. Throw in Minnesota State Mankato and Wisconsin, and five of Minnesota’s nine conference opponents were within driving distance. The Civic Center and then the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul were the regular hosts of the WCHA Final Five.

Suddenly, all of that was gone, and while tickets were still being sold to Gophers games, the amount of nights on which Mariucci felt like the place to be dwindled. This despite the fact the Gophers finished in first place in the Big Ten each of the conference’s first four seasons and went to the championship game of the 2014 Frozen Four.

Mike Wierzbicki, University of Minnesota senior associate athletic director. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletics)

Wierzbicki, who grew up in Minnesota, arrived at the university as the assistant athletic director of marketing for the 2016-17 season. The Gophers won the Big Ten before losing in the NCAA regional semifinals to Notre Dame. There was an average of 9,595 tickets distributed as the Gophers qualified for the NCAA tournament for the fifth time in six seasons under Lucia.

The figure plummeted to 8,726 in 2017-18 as the Gophers finished fifth in the conference and did not make the NCAA tournament in Lucia’s final season. Motzko was hired to replace Lucia, but the work was just starting.

“There was a lack of WCHA rivalries and some changes there were not the most well-received things,” Wierzbicki said. “We also knew our team success wasn’t where we are nowadays and we didn’t perform on the ice the way we’re accustomed to.”

That wasn’t the only issue. The other was that a season-ticket waiting list that dated to the 1990s was “pretty much exhausted,” by Lucia’s penultimate season. That meant that when season-ticket holders didn’t renew for 2017-18, the athletic department was left with no built-in place to turn to replace them.

That wasn’t going to be easy, especially with the general public and corporations. The Gophers had the hockey market largely to themselves when the new Mariucci opened in 1993, the same year the NHL and North Stars left for Dallas. But by the time the season-ticket waiting list was gone, the NHL had returned with the Wild in St. Paul, the Twins were playing in a new stadium (Target Field) and the Vikings were opening U.S. Bank Stadium.

The sports dollar only goes so far and fans only want to attend so many events. Tickets to Gophers games weren’t cheap and there also was the issue of students no longer packing the place.

The road back
The low point came in March 2019. The Gophers played host to Michigan in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. Minnesota swept the Wolverines in two games, but the headline was the attendance.

The Gophers’ 3-2 overtime victory in the opener drew an announced crowd of 1,835 fans. Numerous photos from inside the building indicated that figure might have been generous. According to a 2023 Star Tribune story, the Gophers had an average of only 5,325 tickets scanned per game during Motzko’s first season.

The average number of tickets distributed in 2019-20 decreased to 8,100 during the season in which the COVID-19 pandemic caused the season to be canceled before the end of the Big Ten tournament. Fans were not allowed into games the following season, and the low point of 7,867 for ticket distribution came in 2021-22.

The general public season-ticket sales for that season was 3,991 and the student season-ticket figure was 1,498. The Gophers, however, won the Big Ten and made it to the Frozen Four before losing to Minnesota State in the semifinals.

As disappointing as the attendance figures might have been, things were about to get a lot better. Some of it was in the control of Wierzbicki and his team and some of it was timing.

“Once students got through Covid, there was an opportunity to springboard off that and we saw them more interested in coming to games across the board,” Wierzbicki said.

Ticket distribution has been on the upswing for the past three seasons. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletics)

The distribution of tickets has been on the rise the past three seasons: 9,129 in 2022-23 as the Gophers lost the NCAA title game after finishing first in the Big Ten; 9,221 in 2023-24 in which Motzko’s team lost to Boston University in the NCAA regional finals after finishing third in the conference; and 9,769 this season. The non-student season-ticket sales have been over 4,500 for two consecutive years and student season tickets have been over 1,500 for three years in a row.

“You have felt it ever since Covid with the students,” Motzko said. “If you remember, right before Covid, student attendance was falling all over the country in every sport. Then, the craziest thing is now we’ve got this uptick going on. For us, there’s no question. Our student section brings our building to life. We have such great diehard fans. They love that young energy. You can’t fool our fans, they want good hockey. But when you get that electricity in this building, I think it’s the greatest atmosphere in one of the greatest college sports.”

Wierzbicki points to the work done by the marketing, digital and social teams in the athletic department.

“We had to make it fun, right?” he said. “A cool and fun thing to do. So that played into giveaways, free food and creating demand and interest. All of those things need to come together. … But it all goes back to the post-Covid buzz and once there was reinvigorated energy to springboard off of that.”

Both season- and single-game ticket prices were dropped in different areas of the arena and a strategy was devised to get more fans into the building. One of those has been moving the faceoff time for Saturday home games to 5 p.m. That has helped the Gophers get more groups, such as youth hockey teams, and families to come to games and get home at a decent hour.

Giveaways also have helped.

“Our marketing team has done a good job of thinking outside the box,” Wierzbicki said. “We’ve done more unique things that students found value in. It might be a scarf giveaway or a unique stocking cap.”

Of course, “it doesn’t move the needle unless the team is successful,” Wierzbicki said.

The Gophers will enter their weekend series at Michigan in second place in the Big Ten, five points behind Michigan State with six games remaining. Their final regular-season home series will be Feb. 21-22 against Ohio State. The Gophers are a Big Ten-best 12-2-2 at home this season.

It feels like old times at Mariucci.

“You go back to (the Doug) Woog days and Lucia days, it’s been that before,” Motzko said. “We’re not creating anything new. Things go in cycles. We’ve always said, ‘Our fans haven’t gone anywhere, we’ve got to give them a reason to come back.’”

Both the team and the marketing department have done just that.

The post ‘Electric’ Crowds Are Back appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Columnist Judd Zulgad writes about the Minnesota Wild’s tough showing on home ice this season.

This story was originally published in the MHM February 2025 HDM Shakopee Recap.

The post Minnesota Wild: Longing For Home appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

This will provide a showcase for the NHL to put its talent on display in a highly competitive format that should have playoff-type intensity. So why do I feel conflicted about it?

The answer is simple. Timing.

The NHL season is in its fourth month and the Wild, for instance, will have played 56 of their 82-game schedule when their break starts on Sunday. The trade deadline is a month from Friday (March 7) and the postseason begins in mid-April.

So in the midst of all of this, the NHL is going to have a tournament that runs from Feb. 12 to Feb. 20, creating too long of a break for many players and insufficient rest for the top stars.

Wild sending 5 players to 4 Nations Face-Off
In the Wild’s case, they will be represented by Matt Boldy and Brock Faber on the U.S. team, and Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek and goalie Filip Gustavsson on Sweden. Each roster will be loaded with talent that includes guys such as Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid and Cale Makar on Team Canada and Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk on Team USA. That’s only a small sample.

This younger generation of players has been begging for a best-on-best tournament and will be going full speed. But that’s an issue, considering the intensity and pace of these games means it’s likely injuries will happen. Injuries that could sideline key players for extended periods, or cause nagging problems that don’t heal until the offseason.

If I’m an NHL general manager or coach, I wouldn’t be thrilled with the prospect of one of my best players taking part in games that will have a postseason feel, when the actual playoffs don’t start for another two months. That’s not even hitting on the risk of returning to NHL play with a key part of my team sidelined.

This same issue will come up next February as NHL players return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014. As a hockey fan, it will be fantastic to watch. But that doesn’t mean it will be good for the 2025-26 NHL season.

So what’s the solution? There’s a case to be made that best-on-best tournaments and sending NHL players to the Olympics is asking too much. Each team plays 82 regular-season games and last season Florida beat Edmonton in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals on June 24.

So tell me how shoehorning the 4 Nations or Olympics into the schedule best serves the pursuit of a Stanley Cup — arguably the most difficult trophy to win in pro sports. The Canada Cup featured teams from six countries and was held on five occasions from 1976 to 1991. But that was played before training camps opened in a very different era of hockey.

I’m guessing players wouldn’t want to give up time in their offseason to play in such a tournament now, and I can’t blame them. Therein lies the problem. There might be no good time to play a tournament like the 4 Nations — unless you decide the NHL season isn’t the most important thing.

The post Conflicted About The Break appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.