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Wild Eager To Integrate Quinn Hughes

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As the dust begins to settle from Friday’s blockbuster trade which sent Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes to Minnesota in exchange for a haul including Zeev Buium and Marco Rossi, the next step is the Wild’s need to integrate their new superstar. Michael Russo of The Athletic wrote earlier today that while the team has rolled the dice with no guarantees, they are confident. Tonight’s electric home debut, a convincing win over Boston, is step one in what will be Minnesota’s ultimate goal to make Hughes happy in his new home, and keep him for the long haul.

The news that Hughes was headed to Minnesota came as a shock to many, as they had not been thought of as a top suitor. However, as mentioned by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet on yesterday’s edition of Saturday Headlines (link), several teams were “scared off” by Hughes’ lack of long-term commitment. Friedman says that only Minnesota and New Jersey remained unfazed. 

New Jersey was naturally aggressive in their pursuit, as it has long been thought that Quinn would like to join his brothers Jack and Luke to form a one-of-a-kind trio in Newark. However, it has become apparent that salaries were unable to work out. The Devils had several older, higher dollar candidates which could have been moved to open up space, but with ample full or modified no trade clauses throughout, such a move would be difficult. Even if a player such as Ondřej Palát or Brenden Dillon would be willing to move, Vancouver, in their current state as a franchise, would have no real use for them. GM Tom Fitzgerald’s loyalty to his veterans seems to have seriously limited his options, when an unforgettable trade opportunity presented itself. 

Minnesota GM Bill Guerin swooped in aggressively, and as noted by Russo, he wasted no time. The offer of Rossi, Buium, Liam Ohgren, and a 2026 first-round pick was the first and only one made.

While losing a 26-year-old franchise level player has massive implications for Vancouver, they were able to bring in a young and highly capable second line center, a rookie defenseman with high end potential to fill a Hughes-type role eventually, along with other assets. Such a return is an ideal scenario, as it came with no “baggage” of sorts, unlike what they would have likely received from New Jersey. Sure enough, much like Hughes, Buium also scored in his Canucks debut tonight, in a two-point effort, as Vancouver ironically defeated their trade suitors, the Devils. The 20-year-old rookie played in a second-pair deployment alongside veteran Tyler Myers, a favorable scenario as the team looks to shelter Buium early on. 

Meanwhile, the window for Minnesota is as open as ever. After locking up Kirill Kaprizov, Guerin has assembled a seriously formidable group. The loss of Rossi leaves a hole down the middle, but Ryan Hartman, 31, may have an opportunity to return to a top six level offensively. For now, he has 12 points in 26 games, remaining a solid player on both ends, but such is a far cry from his 34 goal output in 2021-22. Even if not, the Wild could pursue a 2C on the trade market, perhaps the affordable contract of Ryan O’Reilly, if they are able to pry the veteran from their divisional rivals in Nashville. 

Hughes’ debut tonight went as well as could have been expected. He led all Minnesota defenders with 26:55 of ice time, and scored a goal. His Wild tenure is just in infant stages, but after the game, Hughes said he is “very open minded” to staying long term in Minnesota, as shared by Joe Smith of The Athletic. Guerin’s aggressiveness also made an impression, as Hughes mentioned his respect for the esteemed GM for going out to get him in such a big trade package. 

Although they are tired of hearing it, the Wild have not won a playoff round in a decade. The fan base has patiently waited for another deep push, which has not happened since their Cinderella run in 2003. With Hughes in the fold, 2026 could be a year to remember for Minnesota. Thankfully, as he is signed through next season, the contract status of their franchise defenseman won’t yet be a major distraction, but for now, the Wild must make him happy and set the stage for a long future together.  

Latest On Quinn Hughes Trade Aftermath

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As the dust begins to settle from Friday’s Quinn Hughes trade, an era-defining transaction for two NHL franchises, more and more information is being reported regarding the circumstances that led up to the deal.

Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin addressed the media yesterday regarding the trade, and revealed a few things about how it all came together. He said that he took a direct, aggressive approach in negotiations with the Canucks, stating “we had to go to them with something real, right away, to tell them that we’re serious,” and adding that the eventual package the Wild sent to the Canucks was the first offer Guerin made.

That bit of information sheds some light on the Wild’s overall strategy regarding their path to contention. Guerin’s willingness to part with key future pieces such as Zeev Buium to acquire Hughes, who has less than two years of team control remaining, indicates that the club sees itself as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender within that period.

Of course, the simple fact that they acquired Hughes sends that signal as well, but it’s also notable that the Wild did not hesitate to include players such as Buium in their initial trade offer to the Canucks.

From the Canucks’ perspective, it’s easy to see why the Wild were able to push through the other bidders for Hughes’ services and get a deal done.

It’s been reported (by The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun) that other clubs, such as the Philadelphia Flyers, didn’t feel willing to surrender the caliber of assets the Wild were willing to part with, like a high-upside young player who is either NHL-ready or nearly NHL ready. The Wild were in a unique position where they were able to offer key players who brought a rare combination of youth, upside, NHL-readiness, and positional value.

Buium is a supremely intelligent defenseman who could very well quarterback the Canucks’ top power play unit in short order. Marco Rossi is a center who has a 60-point season on his record and hasn’t turned 25 yet. In a trade market where it’s extremely difficult to acquire centers, let alone young, productive ones, that’s a major piece. And then the willingness to add a player like Liam Ohgren into the deal, someone who has preexisting chemistry with key Canucks youngster Jonathan Lekkerimaki, is something that likely pushed the Wild even further in the Canucks’ eyes.

It’s extraordinarily difficult to “win” a trade where your franchise is parting with a player of Hughes’ caliber. The Wild’s initial offer was strong enough that it, at the very least, gave the Canucks a fighting chance given the key factor of Hughes’ limited team control.

LeBrun also revealed a few other teams that were involved in the race to acquire Hughes. He reported that the New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Rangers “made legitimate offers” for Hughes, while the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes “showed interest.”

LeBrun also added that “despite rumors to the contrary,” the Washington Capitals “were never real players” to acquire Hughes and cited the organization’s unwillingness to part with a player such as Cole Hutson as a key reason for their reluctance. Hutson is the younger brother of 2024-25 Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson and has 20 points in 17 games this season at Boston University.

Looking at the deal from a different angle, Canucks head coach Adam Foote also spoke to the media yesterday and addressed an aspect of Hughes’ departure that could be key to the Canucks’ off-ice player dynamics. Per The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, Foote said that he hasn’t had an opportunity to speak with the club’s senior hockey operations leaders about naming a new captain, but added that defenseman Filip Hronek will be an alternate captain in the meantime.

The Canucks’ current alternate captains, besides Hronek, are Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, and Tyler Myers. The fact that Myers is now 35 and has just one year remaining beyond this one on his contract lowers the odds that he’d be a long-term solution as a captain, but both Boeser and Pettersson are in their late-twenties and under contract through 2031-32, making them more logical candidates for such a role, though it is also possible that the next Canucks captain is not currently on their roster.

Photos courtesy of Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Wild Recall Hunter Haight

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With Minnesota only carrying the minimum of 12 healthy forwards following last night’s trade with Vancouver, it was only a matter of time before the Wild brought up an extra for depth purposes.  That move has now been made as the team announced that Hunter Haight has been recalled from AHL Iowa.

The 21-year-old is in the second season of his entry-level contract and made the team out of training camp, though he only got into a pair of games before being sent down to Iowa.  Haight was held off the scoresheet in those outings while averaging 9:22 per game of ice time.  He has been recalled three other times before now but those haven’t yielded another NHL appearance yet.

In between, Haight has been in and out of the lineup with Iowa and the going back and forth likely hasn’t helped his cause.  After putting up 20 goals and 34 points in 67 games last season in his first professional campaign, Haight has been limited to five goals and one assist in 16 outings with them so far.

If Haight gets into a game on this promotion, he’ll be sporting a new number with his 43 from the start of the season now being earmarked for Quinn Hughes.

With this move, Minnesota’s roster now stands at the maximum of 23 healthy players.

Poll: Which Team Won The Quinn Hughes Trade?

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Last night, the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks got together on the biggest trade of the season and of recent memory. Rivaled only by the three-way trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes and Martin Necas to the Colorado Avalanche, the Canucks moved former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Quinn Hughes to the ’State of Hockey’.

It’s easy to assess what the Wild gained in this trade. They’ve landed arguably one of the top three defensemen in the NHL, rivaled only by Avalanche Cale Makar and Blue Jacket Zach Werenski.

Outside of some mild injury concerns, Hughes has been dominant on a largely non-competitive team. Despite putting up some solid production through his first three seasons, he’s been dominant for the last five, scoring 50 goals and 335 points in 330 games while averaging 25:59 of ice time per night.

Unfortunately, and likely one of the motivating factors for moving on in Hughes’ eyes — the Canucks have only qualified for the playoffs twice throughout his career, with things again looking bleak this season. Although they aren’t considered in the same echelon as the Avalanche or Dallas Stars, potentially not even after this trade, the Wild have only missed the playoffs twice throughout Hughes’ career.

Still, as mentioned, Minnesota is lining up to play one of Colorado or Dallas in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs if they don’t fall to a wild-card spot, which may be more advantageous to them. Even though they’ve made the postseason more often than not over the last decade, the Wild haven’t reached the second round since the 2015 postseason. Time will tell if adding a player of Hughes’ caliber will be the answer to getting them over the hump.

For Vancouver, the Canucks effectively added four first-round picks for their franchise player. Marco Rossi, 24, is the oldest of the group, having been selected with the 9th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Liam Ohgren, 21, and Zeev Buium, 20, were drafted in the first round of the 2022 and 2024 NHL Drafts, respectively.

Rossi will immediately become the Canucks second-line center and will likely push Filip Chytil to a third-line role once he returns from injury. Over the last two years, Rossi has scored 28 goals and 73 points in 99 games while averaging a 47.1% success rate in the dot.

Still, Rossi isn’t far removed from a more-than-disappointing playoff performance last season. Scoring two goals and three points in six games, the Wild infamously demoted Rossi to the team’s fourth line as early as Game 2 in the team’s matchup last spring against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Meanwhile, Buium, the former National Champion with the University of Denver Pioneers, is enjoying a solid rookie campaign. Before the trade to Vancouver, Buium had scored three goals and 14 points in 31 games, averaging 18:28 of ice time per night. Despite starting 51.5% of his shifts in the offensive zone, he had averaged a 91.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength. He doesn’t project to have a similar offensive ceiling as Hughes, though he may end up being somewhat better defensively.

Lastly, Ohgren has yet to break out in any meaningful way with the Wild and may benefit from more ice time in Vancouver. Largely limited to a bottom-six role, the Swede has tallied two goals and five points in 42 games over the past two years, averaging 10:26 of ice time. However, if his AHL performance is any indication of things to come, the young center has tallied 22 goals and 42 points in his last 50 games with the struggling Iowa Wild.

Many of the grades of this trade will hinge on a few things. If Hughes signs a long-term extension with Minnesota this summer, or helps the team win its first Stanley Cup in franchise history, it will make the return haul a far easier pill to swallow. For Vancouver, if Hughes was unwilling to resign and doesn’t with Minnesota either, the trade will make a ton of sense in the long term, especially if each player reaches their respective ceiling.

Now it’s time for you to vote — who do you think came out on top?

Mobile users click here to vote.

Wild Acquire Quinn Hughes

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The Quinn Hughes trade rumor mill has come to an end.  The Wild have acquired the blueliner from the Canucks in exchange for center Marco Rossi, defenseman Zeev Buium, winger Liam Ohgren, and a 2026 first-round pick.  Both teams have announced the swap.

Dating back to the offseason, there had been speculation that a trade involving Hughes could happen at some point.  The blueliner had talked about liking the idea of one day playing with his brothers, something Canucks president Jim Rutherford also referenced.  To that end, the Devils were believed to have had discussions about the idea of making a move for him with those discussions resurfacing this week amid talks with several other suitors.

Minnesota was not among those known suitors but they have won the sweepstakes for Hughes, making a significant addition to their back end.  The 26-year-old has been one of the top-scoring defensemen in the NHL in recent years and is only two seasons removed from winning the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top blueliner while finishing third in voting for the award last season.

This season, Hughes has played in 26 games with Vancouver, picking up two goals and 21 assists while logging a career-high 27:26 of ice time per night.  For his career, he checks in at just below the point-per-game mark with 61 goals and 371 helpers in 459 regular season games.  He has produced at a similar rate in the postseason, notching two goals and 24 assists in 30 playoff contests from the Canucks’ playoff appearances in 2020 and 2024.

It’s an understatement to say that adding Hughes will be a significant addition to Minnesota’s back end.  The team has leaned heavily on Brock Faber in the early going this season with veterans Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon also logging over 20 minutes a night.  That’s a solid foundation but a group that was lacking a legitimate number one defender.  That’s now no longer the case with Hughes sliding in as that missing piece with Jacob Middleton (when healthy) also serving as a top-four-caliber piece.

Hughes has two seasons remaining on his contract with a team-friendly $7.85MM AAV.  It’s plausible that he could double that when his contract expires and have a chance to be the highest-paid defenseman in the NHL.  Interestingly enough, he’s going to a team that employs the highest-paid player in NHL history as of next season in winger Kirill Kaprizov.

Clearly, GM Bill Guerin, who is also the GM for Team USA at the upcoming Olympics, feels he will be able to make a strong pitch for Hughes to stick around for the long haul, even if it requires another record-setting contract to do so.  Hughes will be eligible to sign a contract extension as of July 1st although Minnesota has received no assurances that he’ll do so, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo (Twitter link).  Notably, with new CBA restrictions on term and bonus structure kicking in next September, Minnesota will have about a 10-week window to try to lock Hughes up to an eight-year extension before the maximum length of a deal drops to seven seasons.

The Wild currently sit in third place in a hotly contested Central Division.  They’re behind Colorado and Dallas, the top two teams in the NHL by a considerable margin while Winnipeg, who won the Presidents’ Trophy last season, is also in their division as well, though languishing as of late.  With this move, an already difficult division gets a lot more difficult but the opportunity to add an elite defender to his group is an opportunity that Guerin clearly couldn’t pass up.

As for Vancouver, this is a situation they clearly didn’t want to be in on multiple fronts.  For starters, the recent trade speculation was hardly ideal and it was recently acknowledged that it was a discussion point in the dressing room.  Meanwhile, their preference certainly would have been to try to lock him up long-term but TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that they’ve known for a while that he wouldn’t do so.  However, considering that the Canucks sit dead last in the NHL standings with just 25 points in 31 games and are coming off missing the playoffs last season, a retool of some sorts was going to be on the horizon.  Taking a step back would have lowered the chances of Hughes re-signing while moving him allowed for the potential to kick-start that roster restructuring.

There’s a strong case to make that Rutherford and GM Patrik Allvin have accomplished that with this trade.  For starters, they bring in a highly-touted young defender in Buium who they hope can be an impact piece right away, particularly on the offensive front.

The 20-year-old was the 12th overall pick by Minnesota not even a year and a half ago.  He signed his entry-level contract at the end of his college season back in April and made his NHL debut in the playoffs, picking up an assist in four games.  Buium has been a regular on the back end for the Wild this year, playing in 31 games where he has put up three goals and 11 assists in 18:28 of playing time per game.  He should have a chance to play a little higher on the depth chart with the Canucks with a regular spot in the top four behind Filip Hronek, Marcus Pettersson, and Tyler Myers being a legitimate possibility.  With a longer-term lens, he could be a potential long-term partner with fellow rookie Tom Willander.

Buium is signed on his entry-level contract through the 2026-27 campaign with a cap hit of $967K plus an additional $1MM in potential ’A’ bonuses in each year.  If he progresses as expected, his second contract could wind up eclipsing what Hughes is making now while giving them a foundational blueliner, albeit not a franchise one like Hughes is.  Buium is under team control through the 2032-33 season.

As for Rossi, he helps fill a need that the Canucks have had for quite some time as a legitimate second-line center to play behind Elias Pettersson.  J.T. Miller and Bo Horvat were on the roster is past years but both were ultimately moved out and with due respect to Filip Chytil who can be a quality player when healthy, Vancouver lost a lot of impact depth down the middle with those swaps.  Rossi isn’t at the level of Miller or Horvat but he will be a substantial upgrade on their current depth options, a group headlined by recent UFA signing David Kampf.

The 24-year-old was the ninth pick back in the 2020 draft class.  Rossi battled myocarditis not long after being selected which stalled his development although he bounced back without any long-term concerns.  He had a solid showing in 2023-24 with 40 points in 82 games and then was considerably more productive last season, tallying 24 goals and 36 assists in 82 regular season games while playing over 18 minutes per night.  However, his ice time dropped in the playoffs to just 11 minutes per game and he remained a subject of consistent trade speculation throughout the summer with the two sides well apart on contract talks for a considerable amount of time.

Eventually, the parties worked out a three-year, $15MM bridge deal in late August.  He will remain under team control at its expiration for one more year but will be owed a $6MM qualifying offer with salary arbitration rights.  Meanwhile, Rossi has produced at a similar level this season, picking up four goals and nine assists in 17 games.  However, he has missed the last four weeks with a lower-body injury although he took part in Minnesota’s morning skate on Thursday which suggests he’s getting closer to returning.  With Pettersson out of the lineup himself, it’s possible that Rossi could jump right into a top-line role depending on when he returns.  He and Braeden Cootes – a 2025 first-round pick – now give Vancouver some much-needed longer-term stability behind Pettersson down the middle.

As for Ohgren, he’s an intriguing addition to this swap.  The 21-year-old was a first-round pick by the Wild in 2022, going 19th overall.  However, his development hasn’t gone quite as planned to this point.

Ohgren had his first full season in North America in 2024-25 and was quite productive with AHL Iowa, amassing 19 goals and 18 assists in 41 games, more than solid production for a rookie.  But while that yielded some opportunities with Minnesota, he wasn’t able to produce very much, being limited to just two goals and three assists in 24 games.  This season, he’s still looking for his first point after being held off the scoresheet in his first 18 outings while logging just 9:32 per night.  Ohgren briefly saw some action with Iowa as well, notching two goals and three helpers in nine games.

That made Ohgren a legitimate change-of-scenery candidate.  He should have an opportunity to play a little higher up the depth chart at some point with Vancouver and if he can turn into a productive secondary scorer, he’s someone who can be a useful piece for them for a while.  In the second season of his entry-level deal, Ohgren has a cap hit of $887K along with $500K in ’A’ bonuses per year.  He’s under club control through the 2030-31 campaign.

Between these players and a first-round pick, Vancouver has added what they hope will be several core players to help them down the road.  If all goes well, it will result in them taking a step back to take a couple of steps forward down the road.

From a salary cap perspective, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic mentions (Twitter link) that there is no salary cap retention on any players in the swap.  PuckPedia notes that the Wild are adding a net cap charge of just under $997K over a full season.  Using their numbers, that means that Minnesota is now projected to finish the year around $2.1MM below the cap ceiling, meaning that Guerin still has some financial flexibility to try to add to his roster later in the year.  Meanwhile, Vancouver is still operating in LTIR although they should be able to dip below that threshold before too long, allowing them to bank some cap space to put toward some of the bonuses for their entry-level players.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that Hughes was being traded to the Wild.  Dreger was the first with the full trade return.

Photos courtesy of Sergei Belski and Nick Wosika-Imagn Images.

Wild Recall David Jiricek

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The Wild announced they’ve recalled defenseman David Jiříček from AHL Iowa, putting him on hand for tomorrow’s game against the Senators. A corresponding move won’t be necessary as Minnesota has an open spot on its active roster.

Jiříček’s recall comes as extra insurance as the Wild believe they may be down a yet-to-be-named defender after he got banged up in yesterday’s win over the Stars, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports. They already lost lefty Jacob Middleton to injured reserve after he sustained an upper-body injury in the previous outing against the Kraken, leaving them potentially without two regulars on the blue line against Ottawa – in addition to the four forwards they have stashed on IR.

The 22-year-old Jiříček was the sixth overall pick in 2022 by the Blue Jackets and arrived in the Wild organization by way of a trade early last season, stemming partially from his unhappiness with limited playing time in Columbus. The change of scenery didn’t alter his circumstances, though. He’s only made 18 appearances for Minnesota since his pickup over 12 months ago, spending most of his time in the organization with AHL Iowa. He made the team out of camp this year but has been reassigned to Iowa on two occasions. Today’s move ends his longest AHL stint of the season, last heading down to the minors on Nov. 21.

The 6’3″ righty’s development is in legitimate danger as a result. Iowa has long been one of the most hapless teams in the AHL, making the playoffs only twice since the Wild established the team in 2013. The team has a 33-54-9 record since the beginning of last season with a -83 goal differential. The lack of a legitimate supporting cast on Iowa’s blue line means Jiříček, once viewed as one of the brightest two-way talents in his draft class, has just one goal and nine assists with a -7 rating in 37 games since his arrival last year.

But when on the NHL roster, he hasn’t made a legitimate push for a regular role, either. In sheltered minutes (12:26 per game), he’s logged two assists and a -1 rating in 18 games across this year and last. The Wild have allowed 2.98 goals per 60 minutes with Jiříček on the ice at 5-on-5 this year, the highest figure among Minnesota defensemen.

For now, his status as a tweener will continue. Minnesota already recalled Matt Kiersted from Iowa in the wake of Middleton’s injury, and he sat as a scratch against Dallas. Whether he, a lefty, or Jiříček, a righty, enters the lineup tomorrow likely depends on the questionable defender’s handedness.

Wild Place Mats Zuccarello, Jake Middleton On IR; Recall Two

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The Wild announced today they’ve recalled winger Nicolas Aubé-Kubel and defenseman Matt Kiersted from AHL Iowa. Those recalls come after defenseman Jacob Middleton and winger Mats Zuccarello left Monday’s 4-1 win over the Kraken with injuries. Both of them have now landed on injured reserve in the corresponding moves.

Minnesota kicks off a string of three games in four nights tonight against the Stars. Middleton and Zuccarello will be eligible for reinstatement after that stretch, with their earliest possible return date coming Dec. 16 against the Capitals. There isn’t much known about when Middleton will be available again. He left the game in the third period with what the team termed an upper-body injury, but it wasn’t clear when he was injured, and they haven’t issued a timeline for his return.

The Wild have cleaned things up defensively after a tough start, but the loss of a second-pairing fixture won’t help the Minnesota blue line. Middleton has six assists in 28 games this season, averaging 18:08 of ice time per game as the left-shot partner to captain Jared Spurgeon at even strength. Those two also make up the defensive nucleus of the Wild’s second penalty kill unit. At 5-on-5, he leads Minnesota defensemen with a 51.4% share of high-danger chances.

As usual, the Wild’s recalls aren’t expected to step directly into the lineup and will instead serve as press-box fodder while Minnesota’s usual healthy scratches fill in the gaps in the lineup. That means Daemon Hunt, who’s spent most of the season as the Wild’s extra rearguard, will be stepping directly into Middleton’s shoes alongside Spurgeon, per Joe Smith of The Athletic. He’s fresh, having played against Seattle because the Wild dressed 11 forwards and seven defenders, but was a healthy scratch in eight straight before that.

Zuccarello is also dealing with an upper-body issue, likely a facial injury. He took a hard tumble in the first period after being laid out by Seattle defender Vince Dunn in the first period and didn’t return, leaving the Wild with only 10 forwards for much of the game. Head coach John Hynes wasn’t particularly concerned about his status, per Sarah McLellan of The Minnesota Star Tribune, but they haven’t confirmed whether Zuccarello is day-to-day – or worse.

The 38-year-old Norwegian has already missed significant time once this season. He started experiencing a lower-body issue late in the offseason that caused him to miss the first 15 games. Since returning, he’s been stapled to his usual role opposite Kirill Kaprizov on Minnesota’s top line. His ever-consistent production since arriving in the Twin Cities didn’t miss a beat, rattling off a 2-10–12 scoring line. His 0.80 points per game put him third on the team behind Kaprizov and Matt Boldy.

An extended absence past the three-game mark would be significant, especially since the Wild are also without their usual top-line center, Marco Rossi, due to a foot/ankle fracture. He’s still week-to-week with no imminent return. Rookie Danila Yurov has stepped into the role over the last nine games and has one goal and four assists in that span.

Ben Jones and Tyler Pitlick will re-enter the lineup with Zuccarello out after serving as healthy scratches against Seattle, per Smith, returning the Wild to a traditional 12-forward alignment. They’ll flank Nico Sturm on the fourth line. Vladimir Tarasenko will be shifted up to replace Zuccarello alongside Kaprizov and Yurov, forming an all-Russian top unit. The four-time All-Star has three goals and 11 points in 23 games this season after Minnesota picked him up from the Red Wings for future considerations over the offseason.

Both Aubé-Kubel and Kiersted are ticketed for scratches tonight. Aubé-Kubel has already been recalled once this season, but wasn’t even rostered for a game. Minnesota summoned him from Iowa on Thanksgiving but returned him before their game against the Avalanche on Black Friday after they received confirmation that Ryan Hartman would return to the lineup following a four-game absence. The veteran of 304 NHL games signed a two-way deal with the Wild in the offseason and has contributed a 5-8–13 scoring line in 23 showings in the AHL, almost incomprehensibly tied for the team lead in scoring. Minnesota’s farm club has scored just 1.92 goals per game this season.

Kiersted, 27, was also a two-way pickup over the summer and is in his first year with the organization. The left-shot Minnesota native has 39 NHL games to his name, all with the Panthers, who signed him as an undrafted free agent out of North Dakota back in 2021. He was a dominant two-way threat in the minors last season, posting a league-best +34 rating with Charlotte, but has a -12 mark with just three assists in 23 games for Iowa.

Wild Reportedly Have “Significant Interest” In Kiefer Sherwood

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The Minnesota Wild have reportedly “shown significant interest” in Vancouver Canucks veteran forward Kiefer Sherwood, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith.

Sherwood, a pending unrestricted free agent, is widely expected to be dealt by the Canucks before the trade deadline next year. According to Russo and Smith, “The Canucks have shopped him around the league and originally wanted a good, young prospect.”

Smith and Russo now cite league sources who tell them the Canucks “have since changed gears” in their expectations, and “now want a good roster player and have also asked teams for a first-round pick.”

Whether the Wild remain interested in trading for Sherwood specifically at that price remains unclear. Earlier this month, we covered reporting indicating that Sherwood clearly fits the exact kind of mold of player Wild GM Bill Guerin would like to acquire.

The 30-year-old is notoriously difficult to play against, combining pest-like attributes with a real physical edge to his game.

The sandpaper in Sherwood’s game (he registered a whopping 462 hits last season) pairs with Sherwood’s more recent emergence as a goal scorer to create a really intriguing player for teams to target.

Sherwood has already scored 12 goals this season, and he had 19 goals and 40 points last year. While he’s rapidly increasing his expected asking price in free agency next summer, he’s also rapidly increasing his overall on-ice value.

As for his potential trade fit in Minnesota, it’s important to also note that there is some recent history of substantial trade talks between the Wild and Canucks. Russo and Smith in the same piece as earlier reported that “the Canucks turned down an offer from the Wild” that would have sent Wild center Marco Rossi to Vancouver at the 2025 draft. Per Russo and Smith, the offer included the No. 15 overall pick, center Aatu Raty, and netminder Arturs Silovs.

While Sherwood has gone cold in terms of scoring over the past two weeks, it’s unclear whether that will play a role in changing the leaguewide interest in his services. The trade market for established NHLers has been widely characterized as slower than usual, with few teams embracing the role as true sellers.

The fact that the Canucks appear clearly motivated to deal their unrestricted free agents, even established NHLers, makes them unique in the overall trade market landscape of the NHL right now. As a result, it’s likely that the high level of trade interest in Sherwood will likely be immune to the game-to-game fluctuations in his form.

As for where Sherwood might fit in Minnesota, the clear objective for the Wild in pursuing him would be to help address their need for more secondary scoring. Stars Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy are doing a lot of the heavy lifting for the Wild in terms of production, and they’re the only two Wild players with a double-digit goals total so far in 2025-26.

Sherwood would add a third such player to their team, and would give head coach John Hynes a player who could easily slot in on their third line, perhaps in the spot of veteran Yakov Trenin. While Trenin’s salary ($3.55MM AAV) merits more of a third-line role, Trenin has produced like a fourth-liner in Minnesota. He has eight points in 30 games this season and scored just 15 points in 76 games last year.

Whether the Wild are in enough of a need of immediate secondary scoring help to surrender what the Canucks are asking for in exchange for Sherwood is not clear at this time. For as many positive qualities Sherwood brings on the ice, trading a first-round pick as well as a “good roster player” for him is a steep price.

The Wild are already without second-round picks in each of the next two drafts thanks to prior transactions. Consequently, Guerin may need to think carefully before spending another premium draft asset on immediate help.

When it comes to acquiring Sherwood, or any other veteran player for that matter, Minnesota will need to carefully balance the value of immediate help versus the risks of depleting the resources the team’s amateur scouting department, led by Judd Brackett, will have at their disposal next year.

Photos courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Wild Reassign Hunter Haight

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The Minnesota Wild reassigned forward Hunter Haight to the AHL’s Iowa Wild with center Danila Yurov back to full health. Haight was recalled on December 1st and didn’t see any game time on this call-up. His last action was with Iowa on November 30th. He has scored four goals and five points in 14 AHL games.
Haight has rotated between rosters as Minnesota’s extra forward all season long. That role earned him the first two games of his NHL career, though he wasn’t able to find the score sheet in either. He scored 20 goals and 34 points in 67 games of his rookie AHL season last year. His scoring totals haven’t jumped off the page just yet but Haight has earned Minnesota’s attention with responsible two-way play from the center role.
Yurov returned from injury with a minus-two in Saturday night’s game. The rookie has slowly worked up the lineup over the year, even appearing on the top-line  as the Wild addressed early season injuries. He hasn’t yet capitalized on the growing role, with seven points and a minus-five in 22 games. Yurov is two seasons removed from 49 points in 62 games of the 2023-24 KHL season, though he fell to 25 points in 46 KHL games last year. The 21-year-old will remain a breakout candidate in his return from injury.

West Notes: Danault, Pettersson, Rossi

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Yesterday evening, Bleacher Report’s Frank Seravalli reported that “trade chatter is picking up” around Los Angeles Kings pivot Phillip Danault. According to Seravalli, “multiple teams have inquired with LA on his availability,” and Danault could be one of the top centers available on the trade market, assuming the Kings have an appetite to deal him.

Danault, 32, has been one of the league’s more well-regarded defensive centers over the last half-decade or more. He finished seventh in Selke Trophy voting in 2018-19, beginning a streak of five consecutive years where he received votes as the league’s top defensive forward. While he has generally been a consistent offensive presence as a King, good for about 40 to 50 points of production, points have eluded him in 2025-26. Danault has just five points through 28 games this season, and has yet to register a goal.

At 32 years old, it’d be fair to be concerned that Danault’s offensive decline early in the season could be less a cold streak and more a signal of actual age-related decline. Complicating things further is the fact that Danault is under contract for another year at a $5.5MM cap hit, and owns a 10-team no-trade list per the terms of his contract. But if teams view Danault’s decline in production as more of a poor stretch than a sign of more permanent decline, then it’d be understandable that Danault would receive robust interest on the trade market.

Other notes from the Pacific Division:

  • Vancouver Canucks head coach Adam Foote told the media last night, including The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, that center Elias Pettersson is dealing with an injury and is still being evaluated. Foote added that Pettersson will undergo further testing on Sunday, including an MRI. If the Canucks lose Pettersson for any period of time, their chances of winning games would be dealt a significant blow. For as much criticism as Pettersson has received over the last year, he’s upped his production to start 2025-26. He’s scored 22 points in 28 games this season, and while that’s not at the standard he set when he was a 102-point player in 2022-23, it is an improvement in scoring pace over last season.
  • On Thursday, we covered news coming out of Minnesota that Wild center Marco Rossi’s injury recovery was progressing at a slower rate than was initially expected. Today, The Athletic’s Joe Smith relayed word from Wild head coach John Hynes, who said that he still considers Rossi at this point to be out on a week-to-week basis. Rossi has been out since Nov. 11 and has 13 points in 17 games played in 2025-26.

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