The Minnesota Wild are a team looking to win now. That means they’ve been more than happy to offload some of their young players to bring in game-changing talent.
That’s exactly what happened when they traded Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, and Liam Ohgren to the Vancouver Canucks for a world-class defenseman, Quinn Hughes. It’s why we’ve heard names like Jesper Wallstedt and Danila Yurov in trade rumors for a little while.
With the NHL off-season in full swing, we have the perfect opportunity to look at each team’s prospect pool, going in alphabetical order, which means it’s Minnesota’s turn.
In our annual prospect pool series, Tony Ferrari will dig into each team’s top prospects, the strengths and weaknesses of the pipeline, a quick overview of their latest draft class, where each team's positional depth chart stands, and who could be next in line for an NHL chance!
INITIAL OVERVIEW OF TOP PROSPECTS
The Wild are getting ready for a season in which they have no desire to think about their prospect pool as they go fully all-in to win the Stanley Cup. The aforementioned Hughes trade has given them serious firepower in the NHL while depleting their top-end prospect talent. Minnesota still has some solid youngsters, despite missing the A-tier prospects.
As a rookie in the AHL this past season, Riley Heidt looked quite solid. Despite being slightly on the smaller side, he plays with the kind of energy and willingness to engage that comes from a bigger player. Heidt is going to look to bring his immense offensive talent to the forefront this upcoming season after he looked to get more and more comfortable doing the little things as this past year went on.
Rasmus Kumpulainen spent his 20-year-old season splitting time between the AHL and ECHL. The 2023 second-round pick just never seemed to find a level of comfort in 2025-26 that allowed him to lean into his skills. He was overly reliant on his physicality, and while that allowed him to showcase some decent two-way habits, he was fairly ineffective with the puck.
Kumpulainen will need to take a big step this year.
Throughout his freshman season at Boston University, Ryder Ritchie showed off some of his higher-end skill throughout the season. Ritchie is a slick puckhandler and a tactical passer who loves to work the small-area passing game. Give-and-gos, quick passes through transition, and center-focused passing are all staples of his game.
There were some ups and downs, but it was a season largely viewed as a year of growth.
After a couple of years at the University of Wisconsin, Charlie Stramel’s play vastly improved when he transferred to Michigan State. For the past two years, he’s been a true difference-maker. He was a Hobey Baker finalist, putting up 44 points in 37 games this past year.
He utilized his size much more effectively and continuously found himself in a position to be dangerous as a dual-threat scorer. Now that he’s finished his four-year college career, we will get to see what the 2023 first-round pick can do in the pro game.
Jumping to the OHL this past season, Adam Benak was one of the most dominant players in the league. Despite his size, Benak’s cerebral offensive mind was able to step right into one of the top junior leagues in the world and become one of their best players. Benak is incredibly skilled and one of the most impressive passers outside of the NHL.
If there is any forward in the pipeline that has the chance to be an offensive difference-maker at the NHL level, it’s Benak.
The Wild have a big hole on the backend, but they have a few players who could be decent NHLers if things all work out. Aron Kiviharju might be the most interesting of the bunch because of his pedigree and passing skill. His skating has improved over the last couple of years, but he’s still a smaller defender with average skating at best.
His intelligence and passing are what make him special.
When Minnesota drafted Carson Lambos, they envisioned him as a two-way defender with the ability to impact the game at both ends of the ice. His game progressed at the junior level and has been good, but when he turned pro, he hasn’t developed into the 200-foot impact player he was expected to be. He should be pushing for NHL time now that he’s turning 24 during the season.
The Wild had to be pleasantly surprised by the impressive play of David Spacek this past year in the AHL. He had 36 points in 59 games as a defenseman. Spacek is a crafty passer and quick thinker with the puck on his stick.
His mobility has continued to develop in the three years that he’s been in the American League. This past year, he had a two-game stint in the NHL where he looked fairly comfortable in limited action. He could see more NHL time in this coming year.
U-23 PLAYERS LIKELY TO PLAY IN THE NHL THIS SEASON
2026 NHL DRAFT CLASS
Round 3, 83rd overall - Adam Andersson, C, Leksands Jr. (Swe.)
Round 4, 112th overall - Kayden Lemire, RW, Prince George (WHL)
Round 5, 137th overall - Filip Ruzicka, G, Brandon (WHL)
Minnesota went into this draft with limited ammunition, but they managed to come out with a couple of really solid players. Their first pick wasn’t until the third round, but they managed to take a player who is very Wild-coded. Adam Andersson is a big defensive center who plays a heavy, tactical game.
He doesn’t have the upside of a true top-six center, but his game is already so well-rounded that seeing him on a third line in a few years won’t be shocking.
The Wild doubled down on big, heavy forwards as they drafted Kayden Lemire out of the WHL. His game is simple. He works his tail off and gets in on every physical battle that he can.
He has shown some passing upside, and he can get his weight behind a shot from time to time, but his offensive game is built primarily around forechecking and allowing his linemates to drive the play.
Minnesota’s final pick was 6-foot-8 netminder Filip Ruzicka. The Czech goaltender has been getting more fluid in his mobility and always seems to find his posts. Ruzicka tracks the puck quite well and uses his size to peek around opposing attackers.
He needs to work on refining his technical game a bit more because he has plenty of potential as a late-round swing.
STRENGTHS
The Wild have traded their top prospects at premium positions, which has left them void of top-end talent in multiple areas. One area that they still have some solid players at is on the wing.
Heidt and Ritchie are players who could be really solid complementary players.
Stramel is a player they drafted quite highly, and they remain upbeat on his upside.
Even Benak, listed as a center in many places, will likely end up on the wing because of his size.
The Wild have several players who can plug into spots over the next few years.
WEAKNESSES
Speaking of Benak being listed as a center but likely playing wing as he develops, Minnesota is going to need some major additions down the middle in their prospect pool.
Andersson is a solid defensive center, but he’s not really the kind of center who should be the top pivot in your system.
Caedan Bankier is in his third AHL season. He’s spent time on the wing, and his scoring rates have gone down each year he’s been in the AHL.
Carter Klippenstein is heading to Providence in the NCAA next year, having never really dominated the WHL level.
HIDDEN GEM: RIEGER LORENZ, LW
After finishing his four years at the University of Denver, Rieger Lorenz signed his entry-level contract and played a handful of games in the AHL to finish this past season. While he wasn’t blowing anyone away, he looked fairly solid and ready for pro hockey.
The 22-year-old has been consistently a physical force at the NCAA level, allowing the Denver Pioneers to play a pro-style of hockey where they were hard on the forecheck, persistent on the backcheck and strong along the walls. Lorenz thrives when the puck is along the wall, and he can work a cycle and make plays that way.
NEXT MAN UP: CARSON LAMBOS, D
Choosing Lambos as the next man up isn’t necessarily a nod to Lambos’ success over the last few years; it’s more of an acknowledgement that the Wild have traded many of their best prospects who were close to breaking into the NHL.
Lambos is a solid AHL defender, and he could play on a bottom pair and put together steady outings at the NHL level. It will be interesting to see if he gets that chance, as the Wild are looking to compete for a title and really push themselves, which likely means they will want experience throughout the lineup.
It might not be Lambos, but whoever ends up getting a few NHL games will likely be an injury replacement situation.
PROSPECT DEPTH CHART NOTABLES
LW: Riley Heidt, Rasmus Kumpulainen, Rieger Lorenz
C: Adam Benak, Adam Andersson, Caedan Bankier, Carter Klippenstein
RW: Ryder Ritchie, Charlie Stramel, Hunter Haight
LD: Aron Kiviharju, Carson Lambos, Jack Peart, Aaron Pionk, Stevie Leskovar
RD: David Spacek, Theodor Hallquisth, Sebastian Soini
G: Filip Ruzicka, Riley Mercer, Chase Wutzke
For a deeper dive into the prospect pool with player rankings, check out the Yearbook and Future Watch editions of the Hockey News print edition!
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