The Minnesota Wild have made the playoffs for the second year in a row and are looking to win a series for the first time since 2016, when they were swept by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round.
Although it has been a long time and plenty of pain for Wild fans, this team is the strongest we’ve seen in quite some time, and I think they can beat this injured Dallas Stars team. Here are five players to watch for the Wild.
Quinn Hughes
I might sound like Captain Obvious here with this pick, but you can’t make this list without including Quinn Hughes. He’s the best defenseman that this organization has had in their history, and with the lack of center depth, they’re going to need production from the back end.
The Stars are incredibly banged up, and their best defenseman, Miro Heiskanen, might miss Game 1. Even if Heiskanen does suit up, he isn’t fully healthy, which has been a trend for the Stars once the playoffs have rolled around in past years.
Hughes is also obviously a huge factor on the power play that has jumped from the 20th-ranked unit in the league last season to third-best this season. Special teams are always huge in the playoffs, and the Wild are going to need to take advantage of a Stars team that had the 13th most penalties taken and the 13th best penalty kill percentage this season.
We’ve also seen Hughes continue his elite play into the playoffs, unlike some other superstars in the league who tend to struggle come playoff time. In the 30 playoff games he’s played in his career, he’s posted 26 points. The Wild are going to need him to win this series.
Kirill Kaprizov
Bear with me on my two Captain Obvious picks to start. Any series the Wild are going to win will include Hughes and Kirill Kaprizov playing at their best.
One of the reasons the Wild and Vegas Golden Knights series last season was so tight was because Kaprizov was ridiculous. For those who don’t remember, he recorded five goals and four assists in just six games.
In his last 10 games played in the regular season, Kaprizov scored seven goals and recorded three assists. While the numbers look good, he scored in bunches rather than at a consistent rate. That stretch of 10 games included a hat trick as well as a two-goal game.
The Stars have elite goaltending with Jake Oettinger, but with the injuries on the roster, Kaprizov needs to take advantage and go off in this series.
Joel Eriksson Ek
As I’ve mentioned in this article already, the thing that makes me concerned about the Wild’s chances is the lack of center depth. Joel Eriksson Ek is one of the X-factors for the Wild, in my opinion.
I know his playoff record has been spotty at times in terms of pure production, but I think he plays a solid playoff-style game. That can be said for both Ryan Hartman and himself, but with Hartman on the first line, the rest of the lineup really needs to pitch in.
The depth scoring was brutal last playoffs for the Wild and was one of the biggest reasons why they couldn’t pull off the upset over Vegas. Just seven Wild players recorded a goal in the series in comparison to the Golden Knights’ 12.
Eriksson Ek didn’t score a goal against Vegas, and he needs to be better. Not only does he need to play physical, fill the role of being a pest, but he also needs to produce offensively, even if it’s only two goals in the series.
Yakov Trenin
Continuing on the trend of depth scoring, Yakov Trenin could be a big factor in the series, similar to Joel Eriksson Ek. I’m not asking for Trenin to chip in offensively as much as I hope Eriksson Ek could, but if he scores a goal or two, that would be absolutely huge.
What I’m actually hoping for is for Trenin to be a physical presence in this series. He led all forwards in hits this season, posting 413. The next closest was San Jose Sharks forward Kiefer Sherwood, who posted just 339. Trenin recorded a staggering 172 more hits this season than he did in 2024-25.
If Trenin can be a physical force in this series, that would be incredibly valuable. I’ve mentioned a few times now that the Stars are banged up and the Wild need to take advantage of that.
I know it sounds bad, but the Wild are playing a seven-game series against a team they know where they are hurting. I’m not wishing injuries on people, but you have to wear the other team down in the series, and Trenin could be a big part of that.
We saw it just last playoff with the Stars when Evan Bouchard slashed Roope Hintz on his foot, which was reportedly injured. I’m not saying Trenin needs to do that, but he needs to throw his body around every single shift and wear the Stars down.
Goaltenders
My original plan was to talk about how Filip Gustavsson might have a short leash with Jesper Wallstedt waiting to get playing time in the playoffs, but Wallstedt has actually been named as the starter. I thought for sure head coach John Hynes would rely on the experience Gustavsson has, but I was wrong.
What I immediately thought of when Wallstedt was named the starter for Game 1 was the last time we saw Gustavsson play in high-leverage hockey. That was the Olympics in the middle of this season, where he was shaky and eventually lost his starting job to Jacob Markstrom.
Gustavsson was solid for the Wild against the Golden Knights last season, but it looks like Hynes didn’t love his form coming down the stretch in comparison to a red-hot Wallstedt.
This is going to be the 23-year-old’s first taste of playoff hockey, and it’ll be interesting to see if the pressure of the moment gets to him. The Stars haven’t played against Wallstedt this season, with their two wins coming against Gustavsson. They put eight past the Wild goaltender in those games.
What is interesting about last season is that, although they lost the series, the Wild had a clear upper hand when it came to goaltending over Vegas. I’m not sure I can say the same with this matchup against the Stars.
Jake Oettinger is going to be a tough goalie to beat and far better than Adin Hill, who they played against last season. Oettinger has the ability to be arguably a top-five goalie in the league, but he did struggle at times in the playoffs last season.
Wallstedt will have a short leash, and while I think he is more than capable of rising to the occasion, the Wild can’t throw away games in this series with a bad goaltending performance. I think it’s the right call starting Wallstedt because I think not only is he better than Gustavsson, but I’d rather his first taste of playoff hockey come in a Game 1 rather than a Game 4 or 5 with the series on the line.
The goaltending situation is something I’ll be watching.
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