Last Word on Hockey’s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2025-26 season! As the regular season approaches, Last Word will preview each team’s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We’ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team throughout the campaign. Today, we’re previewing the 2025-26 Minnesota Wild.
The 2025-26 Minnesota Wild
A 2024-25 Season Recap
The Wild finished with 95 points (44–37–1), sneaking into the postseason on the very last day. They pushed the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round but bowed out in six games, extending a franchise-wide frustration: no series wins since 2015. They were literally a Gustav Nyquist offside call away from flipping Game 5, but history doesn’t hand out banners for “almosts.”
Kirill Kaprizov carried the offence again, while Matt Boldy delivered his best playoff performance yet. Marco Rossi built on his rookie year with a 60-point season, though his role shrank during the playoffs. On the back end, Brock Faber continued to emerge as a cornerstone, while Jonas Brodin remained one of the league’s best shutdown defencemen when healthy. Special teams were a mixed bag — the power play ranked top-10, but the penalty kill lagged. Goaltending was serviceable at times, though Filip Gustavsson couldn’t quite stabilize things as consistently as the team needed.
It was another season of being “close but not close enough,” and patience in Minnesota is starting to feel like a non-renewable resource.
2025 Offseason
Minnesota’s summer was more about internal resolutions than splashy overhauls. The headliner was Marco Rossi finally signing a three-year, $15 million deal after a brief stalemate. It’s a compromise contract that allows Rossi to bet on himself while giving the Wild stability at centre.
Externally, Bill Guerin opted for marginal upgrades. Vladimir Tarasenko was acquired with hopes of a late-career rebound, and Nico Sturm was added to bolster faceoffs and penalty killing. Departures like Gustav Nyquist and Freddy Gaudreau keep those moves mostly lateral, while the subtraction of Declan Chisholm was meant to make room for top prospect Zeev Buium.
The biggest question looms off the ice: Kirill Kaprizov’s contract future. The star winger is approaching the point where Minnesota needs to prove it can contend — or risk facing uncomfortable decisions. For now, though, Guerin has a more flexible cap sheet than in years past, with the Parise-Suter buyouts finally behind them and $4.4 million still available. Whether that flexibility is used in-season remains to be seen.
Lineup Projections
Forwards
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
| Kirill Kaprizov | Joel Eriksson Ek | Mats Zuccarello |
| Matt Boldy | Marco Rossi | Vladimir Tarasenko |
| Marcus Foligno | Danila Yurov | Ryan Hartman |
| Liam Ohgren | Nico Sturm | Yakov Trenin |
| Extras: Marcus Johansson, | Nicolas Aube-Kubel | Vinnie Hinostroza |
Top Six
The top line reunites Kaprizov with Eriksson Ek and Zuccarello, a trio that carried stretches of play last season with defensive stability and offensive flair. Boldy slides to the left to play with Rossi and Tarasenko, creating a trio that could swing Minnesota’s fortunes. If Tarasenko finds even shades of his St. Louis form, this becomes a second line with legitimate punch.
Bottom Six
The third line mixes grit and upside, with Foligno’s physical presence supporting Yurov in his rookie season. Hartman’s versatility helps balance things out. The fourth line brings energy, size, and defensive reliability, with Sturm and Trenin anchoring while Ohgren pushes to prove he belongs full-time. It’s a deeper group than in past seasons, though questions about finishing ability remain.
Defence
| LD | RD |
|---|---|
| Jake Middleton | Brock Faber |
| Zeev Buium | Jared Spurgeon |
| Jonas Brodin | David Jiricek |
| Extras: Zach Bogosian | Carson Lambos |
Top Four
Brock Faber is the engine on the right side, already a leader and possible future captain. He pairs with Middleton, whose steady game frees Faber to activate offensively. The second pair might be the most fascinating: prized rookie Buium skating alongside veteran captain Jared Spurgeon. It’s a classic youth-veteran pairing designed to speed up Buium’s development while leaning on Spurgeon’s structure.
Bottom Pair
Brodin and Jiricek could form a third pairing with as much upside as some teams’ second pairs — assuming health cooperates. Brodin is still one of the NHL’s premier shutdown defenders, while Jiricek has the pedigree and tools to become a long-term partner in the top four. Depth veterans Bogosian and Johnson are on hand for insurance, though the Wild clearly want the kids to run with these roles.
Goalies
Starter: Filip Gustavsson
Backup: Jesper Wallstedt
The net remains Gustavsson’s, but the future is now with Wallstedt pushing for NHL time. Expect more of a tandem approach, with Wallstedt seeing consistent starts in back-to-backs and busy stretches. If Gustavsson rediscovers his 2022-23 form, Minnesota’s ceiling rises considerably. If not, the torch could pass to Wallstedt sooner than expected.
Players to Watch
Marco Rossi
Fresh off signing his three-year extension, Rossi enters camp as a locked-in top-six centre. He followed a 40-point rookie year with 60 points in 2024-25, showing steady growth. How he handles tougher matchups and bigger minutes will go a long way toward stabilizing Minnesota’s forward group.
Zeev Buium
The crown jewel of the prospect pipeline, Buium is expected to step straight into the top four. His skating and poise with the puck give the Wild a dimension they’ve lacked. If he adapts quickly, Minnesota’s defence goes from steady to dynamic.
Prediction for the 2025-26 Minnesota Wild
The Wild are balanced on the edge of promise and pressure. They have one of the league’s best players in Kaprizov, a deepening young core in Rossi, Boldy, Faber, Buium, and Yurov, and a goaltending tandem that could stabilize at last. The return of Brodin and Spurgeon gives them defensive structure, and there’s more lineup depth than in recent years.
But the challenges remain stark: winning a playoff round for the first time in a decade, and convincing Kaprizov that this is the place to do it long-term. A daunting Western Conference doesn’t make that task easier.
Expect Minnesota to be in the thick of the playoff race, likely falling somewhere between 95 and 100 points. They have the roster to end their first-round curse — but until they actually do it, skepticism will linger. This season will define not just where the Wild stand, but where they’re going.
Main Photo: Jeff Curry- Imagn Images
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