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.

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 frequency of Kaprizov’s dazzling displays of skill left one wondering if there was another level to his game. Kaprizov’s start to this season has provided the answer: You ain’t seen nothing yet.

The 27-year-old and three-time All Star has played like a guy who wants to be mentioned in the same breath as McDavid, MacKinnon, Kucherov and Draisaitl. Not just a superstar, but a megastar.

“He’s the best player in the league right now,” Wild defenseman Brock Faber said on Friday after a 5-3 victory over Tampa Bay at Xcel Energy Center. “Actually, cut that out, I don’t want to jinx him. But, no, he deserves it all. Everything he’s doing right now, he’s been the leader of our team, no doubt.”

Kaprizov’s performance against the Lightning added to the early stages of what looks like a Hart Trophy campaign. He had two goals, including an empty-netter, and a gorgeous assist on Joel Eriksson Ek’s second-period goal to tie the score at 1. Kaprizov didn’t have a shot on goal until he got to the front of the net to knock in the rebound of Marco Rossi’s wrap-around shot at 14:37 of the third period.

Kirill Kaprizov has gotten off to a hot start in 2024-25, scoring multiple points in seven consecutive games. He’s one of the top players in the league. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Kaprizov seventh consecutive multi-point game — a franchise record — gave him 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) and has him in a tie with Florida’s Sam Reinhart and Colorado’s Cale Makar for the NHL lead. That is the fastest a Wild player has ever gotten to 20 points. Kaprizov has scored three goals into an empty net, but, so far, it’s his playmaking ability that has really stood out.

“I feel good,” said Kaprizov, who now does interviews without the assistance of an interpreter but is never going to run with the praise he deserves.

Kaprizov had only his second game of the season without a point in the Wild’s 2-1 overtime victory against visiting Toronto on Sunday as Minnesota improved to 8-1-2 on the season. The Wild’s 18 points put them in second place in the Central Division behind an even hotter team, the 11-1-0 Winnipeg Jets.

Kaprizov has been here before. He has had extended stretches of greatness, where he is the best player on the ice, mixing elite skill with the work ethic of a guy who looks as if he’s trying to stick on the fourth line.

The difference is Kaprizov has never started a season like this.

Putting slow starts behind him
Last season, the Wild were 3-5-2 after 10 games and 5-10-4 with seven consecutive losses in late November when coach Dean Evason was fired and replaced by John Hynes. Kaprizov had only six goals and 18 points and was a minus-10 when Evason was jettisoned following a 4-1 loss in Detroit. Those aren’t terrible numbers, but as Kaprizov’s start to this season shows, they aren’t close to what he’s capable of providing.

Kaprizov’s production has come playing on the Wild’s top line with center Rossi and his best friend, Mats Zuccarello. It was Hynes who split up Kaprizov and Zuccarello last season — moving Eriksson Ek and winger Matt Boldy to the No. 1 line — and it was Hynes who decided to put them back together this season.

Kaprizov did take off after Hynes’ arrival, scoring 40 goals and 78 points in 56 games. But that wasn’t enough to get the Wild into the playoffs, in large part because the team’s poor start made the entire season an uphill climb.

But this version of the Wild, led by Kaprizov, looks very different from a year ago, even though many of the names are the same. Hynes ran a tough training camp to prepare his players for the season and they rewarded him by not easing into things. Included was a 5-1-1 record on a seven-game trip that has created a confidence you rarely saw last fall.

That’s driven in large part by Kaprizov.

Kaprizov driving up his price?
“You can all see how good he is on the ice, how well he’s playing,” Faber said. “Such a complete game, too. He works his ass off day in, day out. And then the player he is off the ice, that’s the coolest part for me and, I think, the whole team. He’s such a good teammate, he’s such a good leader, such a good person.”

Kaprizov’s start is good news for the Wild and also himself. He’s eligible for a contract extension on July 1, 2025, and with each game is making a case for why he deserves to be among the top paid players in the NHL. What could the price tag be?

Kirill Kaprizov and Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews on the ice during the game at Xcel Energy Center on Nov 3, 2024. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Draisaitl signed an eight-year, $112 million extension with the Oilers in September that will pay him $14 million a season. McDavid, also eligible for an extension this coming July, will reset the market.

Wild owner Craig Leipold said before the regular season began that “nobody will offer more money than us, or longer.” Because Kaprizov plays for the Wild, they can offer eight years as opposed to seven from an outside team, but the financial commitment figured to be a big one when Leipold said this and has only grown.

Kaprizov will have a year left on his contract entering next season, but the Wild isn’t going to want to deal with a year of wondering whether he will return, if it can be avoided. Especially when you consider his level of play and a level of commitment that goes way beyond the scoresheet.

“He’s proven that he’s committed to play both sides of the puck five-on-five, and he’s been very good in those situations,” Hynes said. “I think that’s what makes him special. We talk about a one-trick pony. He’s not a one-trick pony. He’s obviously a point guy and a highly talented offensive player, but his commitment to play for the team and his commitment to do the things necessary when he doesn’t have the puck is what’s really impressive to me.”

And, at the rate Kaprizov is going, it’s getting more impressive by the day.

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The post Kirill The Megastar appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Wild had 39 points and carried a 17-20-5 record into the game, putting them well outside of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Nonetheless, Guerin wasn’t giving up hope.

“There’s a lot of hockey to be played,” Guerin said. “So we’re definitely not ready to wave the white flag or anything like that. We just want to get healthy and move forward and see what we can do.”

Guerin’s optimism seemed to be delusional. The Wild had gotten off to a 5-10-4 start that got coach Dean Evason fired, rebounded to go 11-3-0 under new coach John Hynes, but then had a brutal nine-game stretch after an injury to star winger Kirill Kaprizov.

Hours after Guerin’s press conference, the Wild posted a 5-0 win over the New York Islanders that pulled them within six points of a playoff spot in the wild card race. That victory began an 11-4-1 run for the Wild that includes a 7-1-1 record since returning from the All-Star break.

The Wild entered Tuesday’s game against Carolina with a 28-24-6 record. However, they dug themselves such a large hole that they remain four points behind Nashville for the second wild card position. The Blues and Wild both have 62 points. Calgary is one point behind those teams and Seattle is three points back of the Blues and Wild.

The Wild, led by head coach John Hynes (right) are 7-1-1 since the All-Star Break. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

In other words, the Wild are right back in the playoff mix.

The resurgence undoubtedly has pleased owner Craig Leipold, Guerin and the team’s most ardent supporters, but it’s fair to wonder if the Wild’s latest roller-coaster season is for the best.

There are a few reasons for this:

1) The March 8 NHL trade deadline is quickly approaching and while there was a time when it looked as if Guerin would be in a position to be a seller, that almost certainly won’t happen now. You also have to hope that a team with limited salary cap space doesn’t make moves to add any pieces with the expectation that they can help. Because of all the no-move and no-trade clauses included in the contracts of various Wild veterans, there’s only so many moves Guerin could have made, but a willingness to shop goalie Filip Gustavsson could have resulted in a nice return of draft capital.

2) The Wild should be past the point of thinking that making the playoffs is any kind of accomplishment. If Minnesota does qualify for the postseason, does anyone have an appetite to watch another first-round exit? The Wild have made the playoffs in seven of the past eight seasons, but have never gotten past the opening round, so the real key is to figure out how to build a roster that can do that. This doesn’t look like the collection to pull that off.

3) The Wild’s winning window should come after next season when the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts are largely off the books and even more of the young talent in the pipeline has made it to St. Paul. A first-round playoff appearance this spring will mean extra money for Leipold, but it’s hard to believe this team would be able to get past the top of the Western Conference. That’s what would need to happen, considering the Wild almost certainly would be the eighth and final seed.

4) One of Hynes’ best moves was breaking up Kaprizov and winger Mats Zuccarello at 5-on-5 and putting Joel Eriksson Ek between Kaprizov and winger Matt Boldy. The Wild went 3-1 last week, beating Vancouver, Edmonton and Seattle and losing at Winnipeg. In those four games, Kaprizov had six goals and 12 points with 17 shots; Eriksson Ek had three goals and nine points with 14 shots; and Boldy had four goals and seven points with 18 shots. This trio has been fantastic, but in a seven-game playoff series they are going to become the primary focus of every opponent. That means the Wild is going to have to find scoring elsewhere, or break up the line. It’s very debatable whether the former would happen and the latter is what any opponent would want.

This doesn’t mean Hynes shouldn’t get credit for what he has accomplished since taking over and it looks as if Guerin made a good hire when he fired Evason. It’s just that this run seems like the Wild’s latest act of futility and an attempt to save a season that isn’t worth saving.

This franchise has spent too long in hockey purgatory and comfortably missing the playoffs would have been a step toward getting out of it. Who knows? Maybe Guerin will surprise us by making a few moves with an eye to the future at the trade deadline. That would be nice, but we have a feeling the odds of that happening are as low as the Wild’s odds of making the playoffs were back in mid-January.

The post Back In The Mix appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Wild’s 5-10-4 start had gotten coach Dean Evason fired and now Minnesota was in a 1-7-1 slide that dropped it from being on the verge of a playoff spot to again looking like a team that could begin booking tee times for April.

Guerin, though, claimed he wasn’t giving up hope.

“If you look at our roster like when we are healthy,” he said, “I think it’s a good team. I want to keep the expectations high. … I expect us to compete for a playoff spot.”

Guerin’s competitive nature certainly played a role in his continued confidence, but you had to wonder if his real motivation was making sure the guys in his locker room wouldn’t feel as if he was punting on the season.

That’s exactly what he should do.

The word associated with this is tanking, but that’s such an ugly term. It insinuates an entire team is giving up and, as we know, most coaches and players are too competitive to do this. A more palatable word would be acceptance.

Accepting that even if you sneak into the playoffs, you aren’t getting out of the first round and accepting that an already bright future could get brighter by adding draft picks before the March 8 trade deadline, while also potentially putting yourself in the NHL draft lottery. (Eleven of the 16 teams that miss the playoffs are eligible for the first pick in the draft.)

The two things that should influence Guerin’s thinking are:

1) The depth this team has built up through the draft in recent years. Jesper Wallstedt, the team’s top goalie prospect, has been up a few times this season but is likely to take over as the Wild’s top goalie in 2024-25. Russian Marat Khusnutdinov, a speedy two-way center and forwards Liam Ohgren (Sweden) and Danila Yurov (Russia) are included in a prospect pool that has been replenished in recent years. That doesn’t include rookies Marco Rossi and Brock Faber, the latter of whom is a candidate for the Calder Trophy.

2) Next season will be the final one in which the Wild will carry a combined $14.7 million in dead salary-cap money because of the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. That figure will drop to $1.7 million in 2025-26, meaning that team will have plenty of space to pursue a free agent as well as offer star winger Kirill Kaprizov a long-term extension.

Marco Rossi is part of the Wild’s bright future, and he’s already left a positive mark on the NHL club. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

This plan might not appeal to owner Craig Leipold, who lives and dies with every game and wants his team to be competitive, in part because of the extra cash generated by even a few home playoff games, but Guerin has an opportunity he should embrace.

Wild has plenty no-move, no-trade protection players
The elephant in the room when it comes to the Wild’s potential trade candidates is the fact that in today’s NHL far too many players are afforded either no-move or no-trade protection that gives them a say in whether they want to uproot themselves and their families and go elsewhere to chase a Stanley Cup.

The Wild’s roster has nine players with some type of no-trade protection: Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Foligno, Frederick Gaudreau, Marcus Johansson, Ryan Hartman, Pat Maroon, Jonas Brodin, Alex Goligoski and Zach Bogosian. Foligno, Johansson, Hartman, Brodin and Goligoski have complete protection.

There are some guys who aren’t going to be shopped, even though they don’t have no-trade clauses, including Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek. Perhaps the most interesting chip on whom Guerin could take bids is goalie Filip Gustavsson.

Gustavsson has had an up-and-down season, but the 25-year-old could be very appealing to a contender. He’s in the first season of a three-year, $11.25 million contract he signed in July, meaning his average annual salary is a very reasonable $3.75 million per. Teams that could be in the market for a goaltender include Carolina, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles and New Jersey.

Guerin’s ability to create a bidding war among those teams could make what seems like a difficult decision (trading Gustavsson) too lucrative not to do. If there’s internal confidence that Wallstedt will be ready to take over as the Wild’s top goalie next season, getting a first-round pick and needing to find another goalie for next season could be the prudent plan. And that’s assuming Marc-Andre Fleury does not return.

It was interesting that before the game against the Islanders — one the Wild won 5-0 en route to going on a 4-1 run — Guerin did not close the door on making moves at the deadline, if things were not on the right track.

The fact the Wild then lost back-to-back home games against Western Conference rivals Nashville and Anaheim, the latter of which is a bottom feeder, should have given Guerin a push in the right direction entering a 10-day break for the bye and the All-Star Game.

“I don’t think I can sit here right now and say, ‘If it goes sideways, we’re going to do X, Y and Z,'” Guerin said in mid-January. “But we could.”

Actually, the word “could” needs to be amended to “should” because while there is hope for the future of the Wild, the present isn’t worth preserving.

The post Time To Punt appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

The Wild’s latest lifeless performance resulted in a 4-1 defeat and had coach Dean Evason searching for answers he didn’t have. In what had been a mostly disastrous season, the Wild had tried everything to jump start a team that was struggling from top to bottom.

Players-only meetings, individual meetings between team leaders and Evason, a meeting in which Guerin chewed out the players. Nothing had worked and the Wild were sitting only two points ahead of Chicago and San Jose at the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

There was only one thing left to do.

Evason’s dismissal was announced late Monday afternoon and his successor, former Devils and Predators coach John Hynes, was introduced on Tuesday morning as the Wild’s new (not interim) coach.

Evason’s supporters had been quick to point out that the Wild isn’t that good of team and that Guerin had plenty to do with the problems, given he was the guy who put the roster together and the guy who put the team in salary-cap hell with his decision to buy out the contracts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in 2021.

That is true, but there is a difference between being a bad team and being a disinterested team and the Wild appeared to be guilty of the latter offense on far too many nights this season.

New head coach John Hynes (left) and Wild general manager Bill Guerin (right) meet with the media at Hynes’ introductory news conference on Nov. 28, 2023. (MHM Photo / Heather Rule)

Odds are good the move to the 48-year-old Hynes will provide a spark for the Wild. At least a short-term one. That’s the way the NHL works. A different voice with a new message gets the type of attention that often isn’t given to the bench boss who has been around for a few years.

In Evason’s case, his tenure in Minnesota dated to when he joined former coach Bruce Boudreau’s staff in 2018. Boudreau was fired in February 2020 and Guerin replaced him with Evason. Evason had regular-season success — he went 147-77-27 (the last figure is overtime and shootout losses) and back-to-back 100-plus point seasons — but he went 0-4 in playoff series.

That might have been a concern for the Wild, but it wasn’t enough to question Evason’s job security. But a 5-10-4 start to the season was more than owner Craig Leipold and Guerin could stomach.

Some thought the Wild’s putrid start presented a perfect opportunity for the team to take its lumps and focus on the draft lottery, but anyone who has been around Leipold or Guerin knew that wasn’t going to happen.

Guerin has made it clear that he expects to win, even with his team’s salary-cap issues. Guerin and Hynes have a history from their time in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization when the former was a player development coach and assistant general manager and the latter coached the Penguins’ affiliate in the American Hockey League.

This hiring will be considered underwhelming by many. Hynes coached New Jersey for four-plus seasons before being fired during the 2019-20 season and then spent three-plus years behind the bench in Nashville before his dismissal after last season.

His teams have made four playoff appearances but, like Evason’s clubs, have never gotten past the first round. Hynes is 4-15 in the postseason; Evason was 8-15.

The guy who now will be feeling the heat is Guerin. The discouraging thing about the Wild’s meltdown under Evason was how much it resembled the work, or lack of work, put forth by the players that Guerin inherited and began moving after taking the general manager’s job.

Guerin’s purpose in buying out Parise and Sutter, and trading away other familiar names, was to reset the culture of an organization that had too many guys who worried about themselves more than the team.

So how did the Wild end up right back in this spot?

The current roster isn’t filled with top-level players, but the guys who are supposed to carry the team aren’t coming close. Kirill Kaprizov had been a no-show for much of the season before emerging a bit in recent games. Mats Zuccarello, Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson have underwhelmed since getting new contracts.

Ryan Hartman, Marcus Foligno and struggling goalie Filip Gustavsson also have gotten extensions since the end of last season. All of this is why Guerin isn’t going to admit his team’s fate is sealed. Not when he’s the one who handed out the extensions.

Guerin’s next move is turning to Hynes in hope that he can stop the bleeding and save the season. If that doesn’t happen, Guerin will be the next guy left searching for answers.

The post Zulgad: Guerin Feels The Heat appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

It was no surprise that Foligno took the lead and the next night the Wild rallied from a 3-0 deficit against the visiting New York Rangers for a 5-4 victory in a shootout. The Wild then opened a three-game East Coast swing on Nov. 7 with a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders.

Folgino, and by extension Evason’s message, had been received or, at least, that was the hope.

But after losing the next two games of the trip, against the Rangers and Buffalo Sabres, the Wild put on an embarrassing display in an 8-3 loss Sunday to the Dallas Stars. The team deserved every boo it received from its dissatisfied fan base.

The Stars scored five power-play goals on eight opportunities against the Wild’s atrocious penalty kill, and from top to bottom the Wild played like a checked-out group that had quit listening to its coach. 

“I’m not going to call out a lot of guys in front of you guys, but there’s some guys that sucked tonight,” said Evason, who rarely criticizes his team.

He wasn’t talking about the fourth line either. Among those on Evason’s unnamed list was superstar winger Kaprizov, who hasn’t looked like himself all season.

There had been some thought that the return of standout defenseman Jared Spurgeon would help stabilize things, but the captain has been back for two games and the Wild have lost both of them.

So what’s next?

Matt Boldy on the ice against the Dallas Stars during last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Boldy has one goal and seven assists in eight games this season. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The Wild departed Monday night for a trip to Sweden and a nearly week-long break from games. They will play Ottawa and Toronto on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, before returning home and not playing again until Nov. 24 against Colorado. It’s exactly what the Wild doesn’t need.

The break between games will give other teams a chance to widen their lead in the standings, and it’s no secret that teams that aren’t in a playoff position at Thanksgiving often struggle to make the playoffs. The Wild also need to get their act together and sitting around a hotel room, touring Sweden and having a few practices isn’t the way to do it. It would be better for the Wild to get back into action and put the Dallas debacle behind them.

The other interesting thing about the Wild’s 5-8-2 start — their second consecutive slow start to a season — is how much patience owner Craig Leipold and general manager Bill Guerin will show with Evason.

Evason was a hard-working player during his NHL career and always has prided himself on having a team that is willing to do the necessary work to win games. But in his fourth full season in Minnesota, Evason isn’t getting the necessary buy-in from his players.

That’s a major concern because the reason the Wild find themselves in salary-cap hell is because of Guerin’s desire to get Zach Parise and Ryan Suter out of the locker room. Guerin wanted to establish a new culture and yet this team is showing many of the same signs that Guerin thought he had eliminated.

As far as Kaprizov, he has five goals and 15 points in 15 games but has become a turnover machine and is a team-worst minus-11. He was given practice off Monday morning for a maintenance day and Evason said he’s “a little banged up.”

Filip Gustavsson is 2-4-1 this season. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

That might explain some of why Kaprizov hasn’t looked like himself, but it doesn’t explain why wingers Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson have only one goal apiece.

The Wild’s goaltending duo of Filip Gustavsson (4.64 goals-against average in eight games) and Marc-Andre Fleury (3.41 GAA in eight games) also has performed below expectations.

The list of underachievers is a lengthy one and Guerin has made a few moves, including dealing defenseman Calen Addison and acquiring veteran defenseman Zach Bogosian, in hopes of sparking his team. But only so many players can be moved and it’s unlikely there are any major trades coming.

That makes Evason the easy target if Leipold and Guerin decide a significant shakeup is needed. Both the owner and GM have made it clear they don’t see the Wild’s salary-cap issues as a reason to give up hope on a playoff berth or even a postseason run.

If that’s the case, you have to wonder how much longer they will tolerate watching losses and lifeless performances. Could two losses in Sweden spell the end for Evason?

In a season that is circling the drain, it has to be considered a possibility.

The post The End For Evason? appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

What’s important to Kaprizov is important to the Wild, and Zuccarello remaining a teammate of the superstar from Russia clearly ranked very high. The two have been wingers on the same line for multiple seasons and, just as importantly, are very good friends. Zuccarello had 24 goals and 79 points in 70 games two seasons ago and 22 goals and 67 points in 78 games last year.

The biggest factor, at least for those who don’t understand this decision, is Zuccarello’s age.

He is 36, and had been set to enter the final season of the five-year free agent contract he signed with the Wild in 2019. But concern about his age wasn’t as important as the focus on keeping Kaprizov happy. Zuccarello’s new agreement will begin with the 2024-25 season and means he and Kaprizov have the same number of years left on their deals.

Leipold, whose team also agreed to a four-year, $16 million extension with veteran winger Marcus Foligno on Friday, tipped his hand a bit on Thursday between periods of the Wild’s preseason game against Colorado as he answered questions in his suite at Xcel Energy Center. Asked about keeping Kaprizov happy and giving him a sense of hope about the Wild’s future, Leipold said:

“I would be lying to you (if I said) it’s not on our minds. Kirill’s a special player and we want him to believe that we’re going to help field a Stanley Cup team. And he’s a huge part of our future, but only if he stays here. We have a great relationship with Kirill. I think he enjoys it here. … He’s a good kid, a really good kid. And we have to make sure that when his next contract comes up, it’s going to be a long-term contract that he signs here.”

Kaprizov already has signed one contract extension since arriving in Minnesota, agreeing to a five-year, $45 million in September 2021. The goal is for Kaprizov’s next contract to be in the eight-year range with much more money attached.

Despite what Leipold said, Kaprizov is no kid. He might still have a boyish look to him but he will turn 27 next April and has 114 goals and 234 points in 203 games over his first three seasons. That includes a franchise-record 47 goals and 108 points two seasons ago.

The Wild have made the playoffs in each of Kaprizov’s three seasons only to get bounced in the first round. He had seven goals and eight points two years ago in a six-game loss to the Blues, but contributed only one goal in a six-game loss to Dallas last spring. Kaprizov, who was coming off an injury, looks like a guy who is tired of successful regular seasons turning into playoff flops and this is where the Wild needs to give him reason to want to stay and not jump to a bigger market or a team that looks ready to win a Cup.

The Wild’s prospect pool offers encouragement, but the reality is the team still has two years left of $14.7 million in dead salary-cap hits because of the decision to buy out Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. That leaves general manager Bill Guerin with little cap space for this season and a big unknown for 2024-25.

The only certainty for Guerin from a cap standpoint is that in 2025-26 — the final year of Kaprizov and Zuccarello’s deals — business should return to normal. That creates the possibility that the Wild will have to do everything in their power to prove to Kaprizov that patience will pay off.

What better guy to help with that than his buddy, Zuccarello.

Leipold, knowing a Zuccarello extension was close, acknowledged the veteran’s importance to Kaprizov on Thursday, without tipping his hand about the upcoming news.

“Everything comes into play,” Leipold said. “Their chemistry is so good, they work hard at it, they trust each other. I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t tell you that’s an important part of why he’s important to our team, because they have a lot of chemistry together, and you want to keep those guys together.”

And if that helps keep Kaprizov in Minnesota long term, all the better.

The post Keep Kirill Happy appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

It didn’t come close to happening. The Wild made the NHL’s postseason tournament for the next six seasons, but only advanced to the second round twice.

Minnesota missed the playoffs in 2018-19 before making three more appearances, the final one after Parise and Suter had their contracts bought out. The general managers have changed, the coaches have changed and so have the players. The disappointment has not. Three more quick exits from the playoffs and no second-round appearance since 2015.

The Wild’s most recent postseason loss might have been the most disappointing. A franchise-record 113-point season and second-place finish in the Central Division was followed by a six-game loss to the St. Louis Blues in the opening round last spring. General manager Bill Guerin liked the team’s chances so much he acquired future Hall of Fame goalie Marc-Andre Fleury at the trade deadline.

The Wild were all in. And then they were out.

“I was not a nice person to be around for like the week,” Leipold said of his reaction to elimination. “We weren’t ready for it. I wasn’t ready for it. We had a better team than that. It didn’t happen. We didn’t win the games we needed to win. One of you guys said, everybody that didn’t have the name Kirill Kaprizov really needs to think about how they contribute in playoffs. Kirill was great. And other players, we need to step up and, you know, it’s gonna happen. The entire organization was just sick about that.”

As great as Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov is, he’ll need teammates to step up in the spring for Minnesota to have any chance to avoid another Stanley Cup first-round exit. (MHM Photo / Jonathan Watkins)

The Wild will open their season on Thursday night against the New York Rangers looking to jettison the sour taste of their latest playoff ouster. They will do it without winger Kevin Fiala and his 33 goals. He was shipped to the to the Los Angeles Kings in a salary-cap related move that resulted from the $12.7 million the Wild doesn’t have because the Parise and Suter buyouts. That number will increase to $14.7 million the following two seasons, although the NHL’s cap ceiling is expected to increase. Cam Talbot, who was the Wild’s top goalie for much of last season, was traded to Ottawa after it became clear he wasn’t happy with the plan for him and Fleury.

Kaprizov and his 47 goals are back; 2020 first-round center Marco Rossi is expected to contribute; and a solid blueline returns. So what are Leipold’s expectations for his 15th season in charge of the Wild?

“Our expectation is to get out of the first round,” he said. “I think that’s a fair expectation to have. I think we have a team that can do it. You know, a lot of good things have to happen. We know that, and we have to work hard enough so those good things happen to us. … Let’s first all get out of the first round and then we’ll see what happens.”

It’s an underwhelming response for an owner who once declared it was Stanley Cup or bust for his team. But it’s also an indication of Leipold’s realization of how difficult it has been for his team — or teams if you include his time owning the Nashville Predators — to have success in the postseason. 

Guerin, who won two Stanley Cups as a player and was part of two more Cup winnings teams as an executive with the Pittsburgh Penguins, has made significant changes to the Wild roster, altering the makeup of the team both on the ice and in the locker room. He also has rebuilt the team’s prospect pool, giving the franchise hope that young talent can help them through two more seasons of salary cap issues.

“This is my 24th year, 14th here, 24 years owning a franchise,” Leipold said. “I’m getting a little itchy. I know how hard it is. … I look back at teams that have done it a number of times, including Chicago and Tampa Bay and all the teams that have done it recently. You’ve got to have a lot of respect for those teams because it’s a hard thing to win. It’s a hard thing to get out of the first round. But, yeah, I’d say I’m a little itchy. I think we’ve got a really good team with an open window that is pretty long right now. And I think we’ll have a lot of fun in the next couple years and it’s my hope that we’ll win it.”

Or, at the very least, be playing far deeper into the spring.

The post Itching To Advance appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Nine months after that game, Craig Leipold took over as owner of the Wild from Bob Naegele Jr. Leipold spent many years expressing his desire to play host to a Winter Classic. 

About to drop the puck on the 2016 Stadium Series game between the Wild and the Chicago Blackhawks at the then TCF Bank Stadium (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met Leipold halfway when he awarded the Wild a game as part of the Stadium Series that was played on Feb. 21, 2016 at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus.

The Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-1, before an announced crowd of 50,426 on a 35-degree day in an event that drew rave reviews. But it wasn’t what Leipold really wanted. 

That finally will come Saturday as the Wild gets to join the Winter Classic mix by playing the St. Louis Blues at Target Field in downtown Minneapolis. The Twins ballpark will be the seventh baseball stadium in which a Winter Classic will be played. Six football stadiums, including three college football venues, have housed the game.

There were many who expected Leipold and the Wild would get their Winter Classic wish after Zach Parise and Ryan Suter signed matching 13-year, $98 million free agent contracts on July 4, 2012. That would have happened if this game had been played as scheduled on Jan. 1, 2021 but the pandemic caused it to be moved back and Parise and Suter were bought out of their contracts last summer. 

The Wild’s marquee attraction now is dynamic winger Kirill Kaprizov, who already has established himself as the most talented player in franchise history.

“Craig always wanted the Winter Classic,” Bettman told reporters last September in announcing this game would be played in 2022. “Even though we did (the Stadium Series game in 2016), he wanted to save this place for the Winter Classic. I thought we’d placate him for a few years with the Stadium Series game, but I remember him saying to me at that game, ‘This is great, I love it, we’re having a great time, but when am I getting the Winter Classic?’

“He has been relentless, and I mean that in the best possible way, because he is so passionate about this team and about this community, and he’s so competitive. This is what he always envisioned and wanted, and he wasn’t going to give up until he got it.”

Leipold deserves credit for his persistence. He also deserves credit for knowing the Winter Classic is the NHL’s only real marquee event played outdoors. Everything else, at least in the U.S., is a knockoff. The Winter Classic wasn’t the NHL’s first outdoor game — that came in November 2003 when the Oilers played the Canadiens in the Heritage Classic before 57,176 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman at a Target Field press conference in September discussing Wild owner Craig Leipold’s persistence in landing a Winter Classic for Minnesota.

But the Winter Classic connected with an audience that wasn’t just hockey fans. It connected with sports fans who were looking for something different and also served as a perfect made-for-television event. Playing hockey in a baseball or football stadium doesn’t provide a lot of great views, but sitting on the couch and watching the snow fly, with a bunch of professional athletes trying to stay warm but still having a great time as they relive their childhoods, takes everyone back to a simpler time.

While there is a nostalgic element to watching the Winter Classic, there also was the NHL’s greed factor in realizing it had stumbled on something that could prove to be a money-making hit. 

Thus, the Stadium Series was born in 2014 with a game held in Dodger Stadium, two played at Yankee Stadium and another at Soldier Field. The Detroit Red Wings played host to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium in the Winter Classic, and the Canucks played the Senators at BC Place in the Heritage Classic to bring the total of games played in stadiums to six that season.

Talk about diluting the product.

The NHL hasn’t played multiple Stadium Series games since 2016 — the Nashville Predators will play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 26 at Nissan Stadium — although they did play a pair of games last February on the south shore of Lake Tahoe with no fans in attendance.

That was just the latest sign the NHL wants to experiment with holding games at different venues in an attempt to attract viewers. ESPN and TNT, which have replaced NBC as the league’s television partner(s), are likely to continue to push for unique settings in which to showcase the sport.

The most important thing the NHL must remember is what made the Winter Classic special and its marquee event of the regular season. That is the fact it was the only NHL game played outdoors in the U.S. for the first five years it was held.

There is a reason Leipold wanted the Winter Classic and didn’t see the Stadium Series game as a true replacement. Only the Winter Classic is considered truly special. It’s up to Bettman and his associates to make sure they keep it that way.

Preparations for the Winter Classic in progress at Target Field on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The post Accept No Imitations appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.