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.

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.