After the NHL Draft, free agency and other offseason moves, NHL.com is examining where each team stands in preparation for the 2026-27 regular season, which starts Sept. 29. Today, the Minnesota Wild:
2025-26 season: 46-24-12, third in Central Division; lost in Western Conference Second Round
Key arrivals
Blake Coleman, F: Acquired with defenseman Olli Maatta in a trade with the Calgary Flames on July 2 for defenseman Jake Middleton, a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, a fourth-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft, and a second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft, Coleman had 35 points (20 goals, 15 assists) in 69 games last season. The 34-year-old has one season remaining on a six-year contract and is a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2020, 2021).
Olli Maatta, D: Acquired with Coleman, Maatta had 15 points (two goals, 13 assists) in 43 regular-season games for the Flames and Utah Mammoth last season. He was traded to the Flames on March 4. The 31-year-old has two seasons remaining on a three-year contract and is a two-time Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016, 2017).
Maxim Shabanov, F: The 25-year-old signed a one-year contract with the Wild on July 2. He had 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 44 games for the New York Islanders last season and could see time in a top-six role.
Calvin Pickard, G: The 34-year-old signed a one-year contract on July 1. Pickard was 5-6-2 with a 3.68 goals-against average and .871 save percentage in 16 games (13 starts) for the Edmonton Oilers last season and gives the Wild insurance in case goalie Filip Gustavsson isn't ready for the start of the season after having offseason hip surgery.
Blake Coleman reacts to getting traded to the Wild
Key departures
Mats Zuccarello, F: Signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings on July 1 after seven seasons with the Wild. He had 54 points (15 goals, 39 assists) in 59 regular-season games last season and nine points (two goals, seven assists) in eight Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Marcus Johansson, F: Signed a contract with Farjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League on June 5. The 35-year-old Landskrona, Sweden, native had 49 points (15 goals, 34 assists) in 75 regular-season games and four goals in 11 playoff games last season.
Vladimir Tarasenko, F: An unrestricted free agent, Tarasenko had 47 points (23 goals, 24 assists) in 75 regular-season games and five points (two goals, three assists) in 11 playoff games last season.
Jeff Petry, D: An unrestricted free agent, Petry had nine assists in 67 games for the Wild and Florida Panthers last season, including one assist in nine games for the Wild after he was acquired in a trade on March 5. He had no points in three playoff games.
Jacob Middleton, D: Traded to the Flames on July 2, Middleton had 16 points (two goals, 14 assists) in 75 regular-season games last season and one assist in 11 playoff games.
On the cusp
Hunter Haight, F: The 22-year-old played nine games with the Wild last season and had two points (one goal, one assist). Selected in the second round (No. 47) of the 2022 NHL Draft, Haight had 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists) in 54 American Hockey League games with Iowa, but was recalled several times throughout the season.
Charlie Stramel, F: The 21-year-old signed an entry-level contract on April 10 after his senior season at Michigan State ended (44 points; 19 goals, 25 assists in 37 games). A first-round pick (No. 21) in the 2023 NHL Draft, Stramel is rehabbing an ankle injury but is expected to be ready for training camp, where he could compete for a roster spot.
Riley Heidt, F: The 21-year-old had 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 71 games with Iowa last year, his first season in the AHL. Heidt, a second-round pick (No. 64) in the 2023 NHL Draft, likely will start the season in the AHL but could make his NHL debut this season.
Viking Gustafsson Nyberg, D: Signed as an undrafted free agent on April 9, Nyberg played in two games with the Wild at the end of the regular season. He could start the season as the seventh or eighth defenseman.
What they still need
Perhaps some forward depth, after losing veterans Zuccarello, Johansson and Tarasenko this offseason. Minnesota could seek a forward for their top six, rather than relying on Bobby Brink or Shabanov, who could get the first look there to start the season.
They said it
"I've been fortunate to go on some Cup runs and get a taste of what it feels like to be at the top of the mountain, so I'm really excited about that. I think I have a lot to bring come playoff time. That's where I feel like I really thrive as a player and I enjoy that atmosphere and that pressure, and hopefully we're there in the spring.
-- Coleman on being traded to the Wild
EDGE stat to watch
Forward Matt Boldy set NHL career highs in points (85 in 76 games), goals (42), power-play goals (11) and power-play points (30) last season on the heels of an elite shot. The 25-year-old ranked in the 90th percentile or higher at his position in hardest shot (93.61 mph), high-danger shots on goal (84), mid-range shots on goal (69), long-range shots on goal (30), high-danger goals (22) and mid-range goals (14).
Boldy's 36 goals from high-danger and mid-range zones combined ranked fifth in the NHL. -- Troy Perlowitz
Fantasy spin
Defenseman Brock Faber set NHL career highs in points (51 in 80 games), goals (15), assists (36) and shots on goal (173) last season and had 10 points (four goals, six assists) and 29 shots on goal in 11 postseason games. Faber, who played on a defense pair with Quinn Hughes at 5-on-5 after the Wild acquired him from the Vancouver Canucks last season, had 46 points (13 goals, 33 assists) in 60 games after the trade (since Dec.
13, 2025; regular season and postseason combined). Faber was one of three defensemen to have at least 10 goals, 170 shots on goal and 140 blocked shots last season (Moritz Seider, Rasmus Andersson). Coleman, who could play in Minnesota's top six, is one of seven forwards since 2021-22 to have at least 90 goals (99), 900 shots on goal (961) and 700 hits (726).
-- Chris Meaney
Projected lineup
Kirill Kaprizov -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Matt Boldy
Blake Coleman -- Ryan Hartman -- Maksim Shabanov
Yakov Trenin -- Danila Yurov -- Bobby Brink
Marcus Foligno -- Michael McCarron -- Nick Foligno
Quinn Hughes -- Brock Faber
Jonas Brodin -- Jared Spurgeon
Olli Maatta -- Zach Bogosian
Jesper Wallstedt
Calvin Pickard
Injured: Filip Gustavsson (hip surgery)