In the 14th of a 32 part series leading up to the start of the 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season, we will look at the key off-season transactions made by all NHL organizations with an overall grade. Here are the Minnesota Wild.
The Wild added two new players in the offseason. They are center Nico Sturm of Augsburg, Germany and right winger Vladimir Tarasenko of Yaroslavl, Russia. Minnesota is also counting on players without much (some cases not at all) NHL experience to be an instrumental part of the team this season.
Vladimir Tarasenko
Tarasenko is joining his sixth NHL team. He previously played 11 seasons in St. Louis from 2012 to 2023 (won a Stanley Cup in 2019), one season with the New York Rangers in 2022-23, shared his time with the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers in 2023-24, and one season with the Detroit Red Wings in 2024-25. Tarasenko was traded from the Red Wings to the Wild for future considerations on June 30, 2025. In Minnesota, Tarasenko is to be on the second line with the recently re-signed Marco Rossi of Feldkirch, Austria and Matt Boldy of Millis, Massachusetts.
In 2024-25, Tarasenko had 11 goals and 22 assists for 33 points in 80 games. He was a -13 with six penalty minutes, eight power-play points, one game-winning goal, 133 shots on goal, 35 blocked shots, 63 hits, 16 takeaways, and 61 giveaways. The game-winning goal came on March 12 in a 7-3 Red Wings win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Nico Sturm
Sturm is returning to the Wild after playing there from 2018 to 2022. He signed a two-year contract worth $4 million. Sturm has also played with the Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks and Florida Panthers. He is expected to be on the Wild fourth line with Marcus Foligno and Yakov Trenin.
In Sturm’s first stint in Minnesota, he had 36 points in 111 games. This past season with the Sharks and Panthers (where he won his second Stanley Cup after winning in Colorado in 2022), Sturm had seven goals and seven assists for 14 points. He was a -6 with 20 penalty minutes, one shorthanded point, one game-winning goal, 59 shots on goal, 248 faceoff wins, 34 blocked shots, 107 hits, seven takeaways, and 20 giveaways. Sturm’s game-winning goal came in a 1-0 Sharks win over the New Jersey Devils on November 10 and his shorthanded point came in a 6-3 Sharks win over the Red Wings on January 14.
New players from the system
There are three new Wild players expected to make the roster without NHL regular season experience. They are forward Danila Yurov of Chelyabinsk, Russia (Wild first round pick in 2022 and played last season for Magnitogorsk), and defensemen Zeev Buium of San Diego, California (Wild first round pick in 2024, played four playoff games with the Wild when his season at the University of Denver finished), and defenseman Carson Lambos of Winnipeg, Manitoba (Wild first round pick in 2021, played with Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League last season).
Projected Grade
The Wild deserve an offseason grade of a B-. Tarasenko could provide Minnesota with scoring depth, but he is past his prime at age 33. Sturm is also getting up in age at 30, and the Wild might have overpaid to get him back. Minnesota will be relying on a group within their system with minimal experience to take them far in the West.
