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.

Marc-Andre Fleury appears certain to retire as a member of the Minnesota Wild. It just won’t be after this season, as many had expected. That became official on Wednesday as Fleury signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract to return for a 21st NHL season and a third full one in Minnesota.

Fleury assured reporters that will be it for him.

“I’m grateful,” he said. “I’m grateful to keep doing what I love for one more season. I thought about it a lot this year, but still loving to compete, the intensity, the pursuit to be in the best league in the world also, and compete with young guys. I feel very lucky to be able to do it.”

The decision by Wild general manager Bill Guerin to bring back Fleury is an interesting one. Fleury’s season has been a special one — he passed Patrick Roy for the second-most regular season victories in NHL history and became the fourth goalie in league history to play in 1,000 games — but there also has been plenty of frustration. 

He will enter his start in the Wild’s season finale on Thursday night against Seattle with an .895 saves percentage, his worst since he posted an .898 save percentage with Pittsburgh in his second season in 2005-06. His 2.98 goals-against average is his highest since he had a 3.02 goals against in his final season with the Penguins in 2016-17. The most disappointing thing for Fleury is that this will be the first time in 18 years his team won’t make the playoffs.

Marc-Andre Fleury will return next season for his third full campaign in a Minnesota Wild sweater. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

It has been a rough season for the Wild and especially for the goaltending duo of Fleury and Filip Gustavsson. Gustavsson had a fantastic first season with the Wild in 2022-23, finishing second in the NHL in goals-against average (2.10) and second in save percentage (.931). Gustavsson signed a three-year, $11.25 million contract last offseason, but his goals against has shot up to 3.06 and his save percentage has sunk to .899.

Wild should shop Gustavsson, make room for Wallstedt
With Fleury locked in to return, there is no guarantee Gustavsson will be back. The Wild have given two late-season starts to 2021 first-round pick Jesper Wallstedt. He responded with a 24-save shutout on April 7 in a 4-0 victory at Chicago and then made 27 saves on April 13 in a 6-2 victory at San Jose. Those two wins, granted against non-playoff teams, partially helped to erase the bad taste left from Wallstedt’s NHL debut in January at Dallas. Wallstedt stopped 27 of 34 shots in a 7-2 loss before being sent back to Iowa.

This marked the second season for Wallstedt with the Wild’s affiliate in the American Hockey League. He is still only 21 years old, but pairing him with Fleury next season makes a lot of sense.

That makes shopping Gustavsson this offseason the logical move. Unlike so many of his teammates, Gustavsson has zero trade protection and moving him would open $3.75 million in salary-cap space. The Wild also would have to sign a veteran who would play in Iowa but could replace Wallstedt or Fleury, if there was an injury or Wallstedt struggles, but that is the worst case scenario.

Filip Gustavsson’s numbers took a dip this season from where they were a year ago. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Best case is that Wallstedt spends the season learning under Fleury, while carrying much of the workload. Although Guerin is always focused on winning, the reality is that next season is the last in which the Wild will be tight to the salary cap because of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, and the smartest thing the franchise could do is play as much of its young talent in order to set itself up for the 2025-26 season, when there should be actual expectations for playoff success.

This doesn’t mean making the playoffs, or celebrating a first-round win. This means the start of what should be a Stanley Cup window. If the youngsters give you more than is expected next season that’s a bonus, but, if this season has proven anything, it’s that patience is going to be a necessity and development is more important than playing veterans whose time is running out.

Fleury knows exactly what’s he has signed up for and that the last act of his Hall of Fame career should be doing everything in his power to make sure Wallstedt can have a career that also includes multiple Stanley Cup rings. Fleury is in the perfect position to be on board with this plan, but it’s not going to happen with Gustavsson on the roster.

This doesn’t mean Gustavsson can’t rebound from a poor season. It just means that rebound needs to come elsewhere.

The post Eye On The Future appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Safe to say, things didn’t go as planned.

Maroon departed Minnesota on Friday in one of three trades that didn’t signal a fire sale as much as a soft surrender in a disappointing season. Guerin dealt Brandon Duhaime to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, getting a 2026 third-round pick for a bottom-six winger who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Maroon, who remains sidelined following back surgery in early February and is expected back near the end of March, was shipped to Boston for a conditional 2026 draft pick (he has to play in a playoff game for the Wild to get it) and minor league forward Luke Toporowski.

Guerin’s final deal sent bottom-six center Connor Dewar, a pending restricted free agent, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2026 fourth-round draft pick and minor leaguer Dmitry Ovchinnikov. Dewar, Duhaime and Maroon had combined for 18 goals and 38 points and Duhaime had only four goals and eight points in 62 games.

The departures, especially those of Dewy 1 (Duhaime) and Dewy 2 (Dewar), were because Guerin didn’t plan to bring back Duhaime and he also wanted to clear room on the roster for guys like Russian forward Marat Khusnutdinov, who left his KHL team and reportedly will join the Wild in the coming days.

“It’s not great,” Guerin told the Athletic, of being a seller. “To be honest with you, it’s not great. You say goodbye to some guys you really care about and did great things. They played hard for us, and they sacrificed a lot. So to just move guys, it’s not great. I’d rather add. But we’re just not there.”

He’s right about that.

Contract extensions handcuff trades
The Wild’s win over bottom-feeder Arizona on Thursday, which followed a victory over bottom-feeder San Jose on Sunday, put Minnesota seven points out of a wild card spot in the Western Conference with 19 games remaining in the regular season.

What was interesting about Guerin’s comments on being a seller was the fact he could have put himself in a position to make more trades, if not for some decisions made last spring and summer. That was when Guerin decided to give out contract extensions to five veterans.

That list included forwards Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman, Marcus Johansson and Freddy Gaudreau, who not only got extensions but also have trade protection in their deals. All five wouldn’t have been shopped, but a couple certainly would have been prime candidates to move to a Cup contender.

Guerin added to the list of veterans to get extensions this week by signing 33-year-old defenseman Zach Bogosian to a two-year, $2.5 million contract. This one reportedly did not come with any type of protection from being dealt.

It will be interesting to see if Guerin attempts to move off any of the above forwards this offseason as he prepares for one more season of salary cap issues caused by the 2021 buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter’s contracts. Johansson, who is injured, and Gaudreau have had very disappointing seasons and, in Gaudreau’s case, he has a 15-team no-trade list so he could be moved.

Those who wanted to see Guerin hit a reset of any sort had the Wild’s recent skid to thank. Minnesota lost five times in an eight-game stretch, including three in a row.

“We’re not in the best spot, but that doesn’t change anything,” Guerin told The Athletic. “I still expect the team to push for the playoffs and I still expect that type of effort every single night. But again, on the flip side, it’s my job to think about down the road as well.”

Right now, down the road is all that should matter to the Wild’s decisionmakers.

The post Wild Trades 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.

But that isn’t likely to be the case, considering how often no-trade and no-move clauses are handed out to veteran players these days. The list of Wild players with at least some form of trade protection includes forwards Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman. All were signed to contract extensions during training camp.

So who could Guerin look to move? The top Wild veterans who don’t have no-trade or no-move clauses include forwards Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek; defenseman Jake Middleton; and goalie Filip Gustavsson.

Obviously, Kaprizov, Boldy and Eriksson Ek aren’t going anywhere and remain an important part of the Wild’s future. But Gustavsson and Middleton could be another story.

Guerin might not have an appetite to part with Gustavsson, but considering the number of contenders desperate for goaltending help, some of the offers might be too good to turn down. Among the teams looking to add a quality goalie are the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings.

Guerin could look to move future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury before the deadline — that would require the goalie to waive his no-trade clause — but the 39-year-old is in the final year of his contract and might retire after the season.

Gustavsson, 25, has two years left on his contract after this one ($3.75 million AAV) and would command a more significant return. Gustavsson had a 3.19 goals-against average and .897 save percentage entering Monday’s game in Vegas. That’s a drop from last season, when Gustavsson had the second-best goals against (2.10) and save percentage (.931) in the NHL, but the team around him isn’t as good.

The Wild are facing one more season in salary cap hell because of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, and adding draft picks and prospects to a young talent pool that looks to have a bright future has to be considered an attractive option.

Jesper Wallstedt, the Wild’s top goalie prospect, is expected to get a chance to play on a regular basis next season, and Guerin could look to pair him with a veteran in 2024-25, if Gustavsson is moved.

Middleton was acquired from the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline in 2022 and has turned into a very solid top-four defenseman. The 28-year-old is signed through next season and would command a big return.

The Wild have played catch-up in the playoff race seemingly all season. (MHM Photo / Jonathan Watkins)

Why should Guerin be a seller?
Just take a look at the NHL standings and you will have the answer.

The Wild’s 5-10-4 start under coach Dean Evason put them behind in the playoff race, but an 11-3 rebound under John Hynes provided new life. The Wild then went 1-7-1, had a three-game winning streak and proceeded to blow leads at home against Nashville and Anaheim.

Minnesota won back-to-back games against Chicago and Pittsburgh coming out of the All-Star break to get within three points of a playoff spot. But here’s where even a win streak doesn’t help that much. The Wild was off on Saturday and Sunday and dropped seven points out of the final wild card position while sitting at home.

There are too many points available to too many teams on a nightly basis to have two horrible stretches of hockey. For every step forward the Wild takes, it’s likely they will take two or three steps back.

Faber headed for Calder?
There appeared to be no way Wild defenseman Brock Faber had a chance to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of year before Jan. 5. That was the day that Blackhawks center Connor Bedard, the No. 1 pick last June in the NHL draft, suffered a fractured jaw against the New Jersey Devils.

Bedard, considered a generational talent, hasn’t played since and continues to wear a non-contact jersey when he skates. Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson told reporters this week that he hopes Bedard will be able to start practicing early next week and could be set for games shortly after that.

Brock Faber is near the top of the scoring leaderboard for NHL rookies, making his case for the Calder Trophy. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Bedard’s 15 goals in 39 games still leads all rookies, but Faber’s pair of assists in a 5-3 Wild victory in Vegas on Monday put him into a tie in points with Bedard, both with 33 points to lead NHL rookies. Faber’s 29 assists also top the rookie charts. Faber’s impact on the Wild has been even bigger than expected with Jared Spurgeon limited to only 16 games before he was shut down for the season.

Hynes trusts Faber in all situations — he didn’t play on the power play with the University of Minnesota, but quarterbacks the Wild’s top power play — and his average ice time of 24 minutes, 59 seconds per game leads the Wild and all rookies and is 10th in the NHL.

It’s worth noting the third-leading scorer among rookies is Wild center Marco Rossi with 29 points. Rossi’s 14 goals are second to Bedard.

There is always a chance Bedard will return and get hot, or that he will be recognized by so many of the writers who vote that he will get the honor. But Faber has deserved serious consideration all season and now he’s getting it.

The post Judd’s Notes 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.

Well, happy that he made it through a big NHL milestone, not happy with the result of the Winnipeg Jets sweeping the home-and-home weekend with the Minnesota Wild. The Jets skated to a 3-2 win on Sunday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center, handing Fleury a loss in his 972nd start and 1,000th career NHL game.

“I wish it was a win,” Fleury said. “Disappointing. I thought the guys played great tonight. Battled hard.

“Obviously, very flattered by the reception from the crowd, from my teammates. It means a lot.”

The Minnesota Wild and fans recognize Marc-Andre Fleury’s 1,000 NHL games milestone during a timeout on the ice on Dec. 31, 2023. (MHM Photo / Heather Rule)

That reception started with treatment usually reserved for rookies. When the Wild came out for pregame warmups in their throwback green-and-yellow sweaters, Fleury led the team out of the tunnel. Except no one followed him. The 39-year-old goaltender took a brief lap around the Wild zone before the rest of his teammates hit the ice behind him.

“Yeah, they got me,” Fleury said. “Usually I’m the one that let the young guys go.”

Better late than never? Fleury wasn’t even sure the rookie laps were a thing when he came into the league 20 years ago.

The Wild acquired Fleury during a flurry of moves near the NHL trade deadline of the 2021-22 season. General manager Bill Guerin was busy with moves that included picking up current Wild defenseman Jake Middleton from San Jose. Guerin grabbed Fleury from the Chicago Blackhawks. At the time, Fleury stepped into St. Paul having already amassed a 511-297-85 record, 2.57 goals-against average, .913 save percentage in 928 career NHL games. Fleury is also a four-time All-Star (2011, 2015, 2018, 2019).

Fleury’s first few times in the Wild dressing room left some of his new teammates, especially the younger ones, starstruck.

“I remember when I first came up in the league, you wanted to score on Marc-Andre Fleury,” said Marcus Foligno in March 2022. “To have him on your team, it’s exciting.”

Fleury’s won his Wild debut in net, a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Xcel Energy Center on March 26, 2022. Fleury made 23 saves. Perhaps that was business as usual, but what wasn’t so ordinary was fans tossing flowers onto the ice to show support for their new goaltender. Fleury said at the time that it made him feel like a figure skater.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has 550 career NHL victories, one away from tying Patrick Roy. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Since then, Fleury’s play hasn’t wilted too much in goal. He wrapped up 2023 becoming the 10th Wild player to play his 1,000th NHL game in a Wild sweater, reaching the milestone a few days early following the injury to his counterpart Filip Gustavsson on Saturday in Winnipeg. Fleury will likely see the net for a while now, as the Wild announced on Monday that Gustavsson was placed on injured reserve. Through 1,000 games, Fleury is 550-321-93 with 73 shutouts.

On New Year’s Eve, Fleury received a loud cheer when his name was announced as part of the starting lineup. Then at the first TV timeout in the first period, the videoboard showed graphics recognizing his 1,000 games complete with an in-arena announcement of the milestone. Fans rose to their feet for a thunderous ovation as Fleury skated out of his crease in acknowledgment.

He made some strong saves in goal, including a windmill motion for one and a couple of solid pad saves later that got the crowd roaring yet again. The Wild took 1-0 and 2-1 leads but ultimately fell 3-2 with a third-period Jets comeback, spoiling the weekend and Fleury’s pre-New Year celebration as he was denied a victory.

“Tonight again, so many people cheering for my time out there,” Fleury said. “I got some goosebumps and some butterflies. I don’t think no other job in the world can give you that.”

His teammates can’t speak highly enough about the veteran and what he means to the team.

Fellow Quebec native Frederick Gaudreau said he was emotional thinking about the thousand games for his goaltender and teammate.

“The thing that’s crazy about this thing, it’s not so much about the thousand games, it’s about how he’s done it,” Gaudreau said. “He’s the best teammate I’ve ever had. Still having fun.

“I feel very grateful that I’ve been able to share a locker room with him for a few years already.”

Ryan Hartman and Marc-Andre Fleury embrace during a home game Dec. 3, 2023. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Having the Flower in net for his 1,000th game made it a little extra special for the rest of the Wild as well. Foligno called the milestone “unbelievable,” and noted how much easier it can be as a skating player to hit 1,000 games rather than a goaltender.

“We’re so proud to have him here as a teammate, and as good as a player he is on ice, off ice he’s even better,” Foligno said after Sunday’s game. “We’re lucky to have him in our room, and it’s great to be a part of something so special in a player’s career.”

Forward Ryan Hartman also noted how amazing it is that only four goaltenders have reached the milestone, and Fleury is one of them. Martin Brodeur (1,266 games), Roberto Luongo (1,044) and Patrick Roy (1,029) are the other three goaltenders.

“To have the chance to play in front of him is special,” Hartman said. “We obviously wanted to win that one for him.”

The Wild plan to honor Fleury’s milestone during a future home game this season. Some of the recent 1,000 games Wild players were Alex Goligoski, Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Ryan Suter and Eric Staal.

The post Flower’s 1,000th Game 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.