All Things 2025-26 Minnesota Wild Season Thread

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Hughes will get close to double his pay on his next contract.

He and Faber could start on the Olympic line.

If they can get keep up their goaltending, with a high-end power play led by Hughes, plus tough defense, then they can win some games in the playoffs.

That's a winning formula.

A little more toughness or one more scorer and now you're looking like a powerhouse.

Plus, Rossi and Ohgren do nothing for me. A late 1st Round Pick isn't much. I'd rather have the high end player in this trade than the loose change the Wild gave up.
 

Yikes. I think Billy's been hitting the bottle harder than usual. Absolutely hate to see Buium go and only 1.5 years left on Hughes' contract.

Hughes is a stud when healthy but this team desperately needed another Top 6 forward (preferably a C) much more than help at D.

Not much left for trade assets, either...BG just traded away the equivalent of four (4) FRP's when it comes to assets.
 

Slim Tubby said:
Yikes. I think Billy's been hitting the bottle harder than usual. Absolutely hate to see Buium go and only 1.5 years left on Hughes' contract.

Hughes is a stud when healthy but this team desperately needed another Top 6 forward (preferably a C) much more than help at D.

Not much left for trade assets, either...BG just traded away the equivalent of four (4) FRP's when it comes to assets.
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Neither Rossi nor Ohgren are equivalent to a first round pick in terms of trade value.
 


Slim Tubby said:
That's true...and only adds to Guerin's inadequacies as a GM since he was the guy that drafted both of them in the 1st Round.
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I’m not a BG guy at all, but I think people are really underestimating how amazing Hughes is. #97 just became the second best player on this team. His play will elevate the forwards around him significantly.
 


Gophers1992 said:
I’m not a BG guy at all, but I think people are really underestimating how amazing Hughes is. #97 just became the second best player on this team. His play will elevate the forwards around him significantly.
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I agree...Hughes is absolutely a superstar. I'd probably feel a little better about the deal if he had more than 1.5 years on his current deal and if Guerin hadn't completely botched the KK extension.
 

Dec. 12: Wild land Hughes in a December blockbuster​

Everything was quiet Friday ... until it wasn't. Because that's when the first blockbuster trade of the season happened, with an expected name going to an unexpected place.

The Vancouver Canucks traded captain and star defenseman Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild with defenseman Zeev Buium, forward Liam Ohgren, forward Marco Rossi and a 2026 first-round pick going in the other direction.

How did both general managers perform in what is easily the biggest trade of the season to this stage?

Wild grade: A-​

In recent years, the Wild built one of the best farm systems in the NHL. Investing in their system and in player development gave them options ... and they used three of those options to land one of the NHL's best defensemen.

Hughes gives the Wild a Norris Trophy winner who can be used in every situation, starting with the offensive zone. Finding ways to consistently score goals has been a challenge for the Wild over the past few seasons.

Not that Hughes can single-handedly solve for that one problem. But he can definitely help, considering he has had four straight seasons of more than 60 assists and is projected to finish with 56 having missed a portion of this season with an injury.

How crucial is that for the Wild? Hughes' 60 assists alone would have been tied for second on the team in points last season. His 76 total points also would have led the Wild outright in that category. The 21 assists that he has this season would already be the most if he played the whole season for the Wild, and his 23 points are tied for the third most on the roster.

www.espn.com

NHL trade grades: Report cards for Hughes, Jarry deals

Hockey trade season has begun! Find grades for each GM involved in all the big swaps here.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 


If Hughes signs an extension with the Wild then this may be a good deal. Even with that I’m still a bit speculative about it as I think Buium is going to be a star in this league. Time will tell
 



Slim Tubby said:
Yikes. I think Billy's been hitting the bottle harder than usual. Absolutely hate to see Buium go and only 1.5 years left on Hughes' contract.

Hughes is a stud when healthy but this team desperately needed another Top 6 forward (preferably a C) much more than help at D.

Not much left for trade assets, either...BG just traded away the equivalent of four (4) FRP's when it comes to assets.
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They also only had more D scoring than 3 other teams in the league this year.

While the need may have been greater for a top 6 forward, Hughes is more than just help on the D corps.
 

TRF Guy said:
If Hughes signs an extension with the Wild then this may be a good deal. Even with that I’m still a bit speculative about it as I think Buium is going to be a star in this league. Time will tell
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Right, Buium may be a star but Hughes IS a star.

An extension will be huge and Guerin likely ends up with egg on his face if he doesn’t get one done.
 

Wow. Big move for the Wild. See some trade grades split, some skewed in favor of the Wild.

Most of the negative criticism of the trade for VAN centers around some fairly not rosy perception of Buium from what I have read. I wasn't aware that he was a pretty healthy defensive liability?

"Erik Karlsson is one of Buium’s top comps. So is Erik Brannstrom, once the centerpiece of a Mark Stone blockbuster, who never panned out.

Buium’s defensive deficiencies, even at age 20, are a red flag regarding his ultimate ceiling."

Pretty clear they made the knowing that Hughes would re-sign with them? I mean that conversation would have had to take place before pulling the trigger, right?

Big move, hope it pays off for them. Similarly, VAN likely had to make the move knowing Hughes was NOT going to re-sign with them next summer, or at least I would think
 

GreasyGopher said:
Right, Buium may be a star but Hughes IS a star.

An extension will be huge and Guerin likely ends up with egg on his face if he doesn’t get one done.
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Hughes is more than a star he’s legitimately a top 10 player in the game if not top 5. The Wild have never had anything close to this level of star power between him and KK.
 



It’s entirely possible Hughes bolts on us after next year but I’d rather see this organization swing for the fences than stay stuck in this purgatory we’ve been in forever. If nothing else we have two of the most exciting players in the game to watch for the next 1.5 years.
 

Gophers1992 said:
Neither Rossi nor Ohgren are equivalent to a first round pick in terms of trade value.
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As with Buium, I see more of the negative criticism of this trade for VAN being not so much about giving up Hughes, but about some fairly low opinions of what VAN got in return:

"Rossi, at age 24, probably is what he is at this point: the 2C the Canucks have been dreaming about since they traded their other two. He’s fine, and even underrated defensively, but if you’re looking at his point totals and expecting a star, just know Kirill Kaprizov isn’t part of the deal. As for Öhgren, I wouldn’t expect much: he has the profile of a bust, with zero points in 18 games and a ghastly 30 percent xG rate that would make Lukas Reichel blush.

So we’ve got one of the best players in the world for a defenseman who might be a top-pair defenseman one day (but also might not be), an undersized second-line center, a player who likely won’t contribute and a below-average first round pick."

Going to be interesting to see how this shakes out. Hope the Wild come out on the winning side of this one
 

Gophers1992 said:
It’s entirely possible Hughes bolts on us after next year but I’d rather see this organization swing for the fences than stay stuck in this purgatory we’ve been in forever. If nothing else we have two of the most exciting players in the game to watch for the next 1.5 years.
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After letting the dust settle a little, no disrespect to Rossi and Ohgren but this trade really boils down to:

VAN in: Zeev Buium & late 2026 FRP
MIN in: Quinn Hughes

That swings my opinion of the deal closer towards the stance of what 1992 and Greasy have been saying.

The entire Wild fanbase will be holding their collective breathe on 7/1/26.
 

Slim Tubby said:
After letting the dust settle a little, no disrespect to Rossi and Ohgren but this trade really boils down to:

VAN in: Zeev Buium & late 2026 FRP
MIN in: Quinn Hughes

That swings my opinion of the deal closer towards the stance of what 1992 and Greasy have been saying.

The entire Wild fanbase will be holding their collective breathe on 7/1/26.
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That is disrespect to Rossi. He is a middle 6 center and responsible defensively. Those don’t just grow on trees and I don’t really like Rossi, but he is one of our better forwards.

Feel for Vancouver as this is their point of most leverage, but Hughes has made it VERY apparent he is not resigning in Vancouver and id be pretty shocked if he resigns with us unless it’s a KK type contract offer.

The ripping on Zeevs defense is hilarious to me at this point by some analysts. Hughes had the EXACT same profile coming in. The timing works out better with Hughes’ and KKs peak but the quality of this deal 100% comes down to does he stay or do we hit it big while he’s here. If he extends it will help swing in our favor. Farm system looks a little more barren now given Riley Heidt is our highest rated prospect remaining in the system

We should score more and see our xG go up while he’s on the ice. I’m optimistic this will help us but we need the little bit of extra retooling to compete with the depth of say Colorado or Dallas, but I love our top guns against anyone in the league now even if we’re comparatively a little weaker at center than pretty much any major contender

To quote our D as low scoring, our team is low scoring. Percentage wise they are about bang on average to above average but when you break it down by team. Faber adding a little bit of punch this year has been really great and hopefully continues to grow there. We still need help in middle 6 scoring (moreso now) but there will be time as the deadline comes up, though we now are short assets (This is where the first inclusion 100% matters).

End of the day, I appreciate BG for going for it. Even if he doesn’t resign but we get to the WCF, I think the fan base will laud the move because we’ve been so starved for postseason success for so long. If they don’t get out of the first round no matter the reason, BG is going to get fried for it
 

Hughes will be in the Hall of Fame if stays healthy, he's in his prime, and he plays 40-45% of the game. This is a no-brainer win for the Wild.
 

upnorthkid said:
That is disrespect to Rossi. He is a middle 6 center and responsible defensively.
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I'm not disrespecting Rossi as a player. I'm only referring to how big of value gap there is between Rossi and the other assets we moved (Buium & 2026 FRP). The only real concern for me about moving him is we depleted our depth at C even further.

Now THIS is disrespect:

1765645217153.gif
 

TruthSeeker said:
Hughes will be in the Hall of Fame if stays healthy, he's in his prime, and he plays 40-45% of the game. This is a no-brainer win for the Wild.
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Not a no brainer. If he doesn’t sign an extension with Wild this trade is a huge failure
 

upnorthkid said:
That is disrespect to Rossi. He is a middle 6 center and responsible defensively. Those don’t just grow on trees and I don’t really like Rossi, but he is one of our better forwards.

Feel for Vancouver as this is their point of most leverage, but Hughes has made it VERY apparent he is not resigning in Vancouver and id be pretty shocked if he resigns with us unless it’s a KK type contract offer.

The ripping on Zeevs defense is hilarious to me at this point by some analysts. Hughes had the EXACT same profile coming in. The timing works out better with Hughes’ and KKs peak but the quality of this deal 100% comes down to does he stay or do we hit it big while he’s here. If he extends it will help swing in our favor. Farm system looks a little more barren now given Riley Heidt is our highest rated prospect remaining in the system

We should score more and see our xG go up while he’s on the ice. I’m optimistic this will help us but we need the little bit of extra retooling to compete with the depth of say Colorado or Dallas, but I love our top guns against anyone in the league now even if we’re comparatively a little weaker at center than pretty much any major contender

To quote our D as low scoring, our team is low scoring. Percentage wise they are about bang on average to above average but when you break it down by team. Faber adding a little bit of punch this year has been really great and hopefully continues to grow there. We still need help in middle 6 scoring (moreso now) but there will be time as the deadline comes up, though we now are short assets (This is where the first inclusion 100% matters).

End of the day, I appreciate BG for going for it. Even if he doesn’t resign but we get to the WCF, I think the fan base will laud the move because we’ve been so starved for postseason success for so long. If they don’t get out of the first round no matter the reason, BG is going to get fried for it
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If only the Wild can add a middle 6 center at the deadline…
 

TRF Guy said:
Not a no brainer. If he doesn’t sign an extension with Wild this trade is a huge failure
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TruthSeeker said:
Hughes will be in the Hall of Fame if stays healthy, he's in his prime, and he plays 40-45% of the game. This is a no-brainer win for the Wild.
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Tbh I think it’s a win-win for both sides. We need something to try break through and this is one of the best guys on the market. Vancouver knew Hughes is gone and he has more value this year than next and got a possible future Hughes under contract and a solid middle 6 center with a 1st round draft choice to boot to rebuild.
 

GreasyGopher said:
If only the Wild can add a middle 6 center at the deadline…
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There will be many available but the bidding will be tense. I don’t love our prospect pool remaining to make a deal for any of the big ones, but there will be middle six guys available. Imagine we are going to go full win now mode (if we don’t, BG is foolish in making this first deal) and say forget the next drafts. Won’t be surprised to see Ritchie, Stramel or any of our additional picks coming up in the future moved to try add a little bit of scoring punch up front
 

upnorthkid said:
Tbh I think it’s a win-win for both sides. We need something to try break through and this is one of the best guys on the market. Vancouver knew Hughes is gone and he has more value this year than next and got a possible future Hughes under contract and a solid middle 6 center with a 1st round draft choice to boot to rebuild.
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Sounds like VAN was convinced that Hughes would leave in FA to go play with his brothers. That would be a concerning facet of the deal if there's any truth to that rumor.

It does sound like everyone wants out of VAN so there is that.
 

upnorthkid said:
There will be many available but the bidding will be tense. I don’t love our prospect pool remaining to make a deal for any of the big ones, but there will be middle six guys available. Imagine we are going to go full win now mode (if we don’t, BG is foolish in making this first deal) and say forget the next drafts. Won’t be surprised to see Ritchie, Stramel or any of our additional picks coming up in the future moved to try add a little bit of scoring punch up front
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Yep, it’s time to burn the ships!

Now or never.
 

Slim Tubby said:
Sounds like VAN was convinced that Hughes would leave in FA to go play with his brothers. That would be a concerning facet of the deal if there's any truth to that rumor.

It does sound like everyone wants out of VAN so there is that.
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It’s been a known thing for the last year he’s leaving since they started breaking apart that team. They knew now was biggest leverage as they can say you still get an extra year. If there’s any chance he’s resigning you don’t move a top 10 player and recent Norris winner
 

upnorthkid said:
It’s been a known thing for the last year he’s leaving since they started breaking apart that team. They knew now was biggest leverage as they can say you still get an extra year. If there’s any chance he’s resigning you don’t move a top 10 player and recent Norris winner
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Would his rumored desire to play with his brothers concern you as a GM?
 

Slim Tubby said:
Would his rumored desire to play with his brothers concern you as a GM?
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1000%

That’s the only reason I dislike the deal as nothing changes regarding his desire and the devils have jack on a VERY favorable deal until 2030 so he’s not going to be moved unless you’re sending an absolute haul to NJ.

The straight up player swap is a win for the Wild in the now. But if you don’t win and he leaves, there’s a reason BG should not have a job in that scenario
 


upnorthkid said:
1000%

That’s the only reason I dislike the deal as nothing changes regarding his desire and the devils have jack on a VERY favorable deal until 2030 so he’s not going to be moved unless you’re sending an absolute haul to NJ.

The straight up player swap is a win for the Wild in the now. But if you don’t win and he leaves, there’s a reason BG should not have a job in that scenario
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If he doesn’t want to sign, it probably turns into a Mikko Rantanen and Carolina situation.
 

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