The Predators look set to bring one of their top prospects over from Russia next season.
In a recent DFO Rundown appearance, agent Dan Milstein said the plan is for forward Yegor Surin to sign with Nashville next season. Surin, 20, was Nashville’s first-round pick in 2024, taken 22nd overall out of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL.
He has already carved out a dependable role there, emerging as a reliable top-six forward. Last season, Surin posted 37 points in 57 games, and this year he has six goals and seven assists through 22 contests.
His contract in Russia runs out at the end of the season, and Milstein’s comments point to Surin not extending his stay back home. If that holds, Surin would be a strong candidate to step right into Nashville’s lineup in 2027-28.
Elsewhere in the Central, Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson has another doctor’s appointment set for November 17th. Team broadcaster Joe O’Donnell said that if everything goes well, Gustavsson could be cleared to return then. The 28-year-old has not played this season after offseason hip surgery.
Gustavsson has made at least 43 starts in each of the past three seasons, but that number will be tough to reach this year because of the injury and Jesper Wallstedt’s emergence. Even so, Minnesota could soon be back to carrying a high-end tandem once Gustavsson is ready to take Calvin Pickard’s place on the roster.
The Wild may also be short another center tonight. Michael McCarron is questionable for the game against Tampa Bay after leaving last night’s contest against San Jose with an undisclosed injury, according to Dylan Loucks of The Hockey News.
McCarron has opened his first full season in Minnesota with eight points and 53 hits in 18 games, averaging 13:35 of ice time per night.
In Other News...
Wild Waste Big Night From Maxim Shabanov In Painful Collapse
Maxim Shabanov gave Minnesota exactly the kind of burst it needed, scoring twice as the Wild built a lead and looked poised to keep their point streak rolling. The effort fit the way this group has been grinding through a strong stretch, and for most of the night it seemed like the Wild had done enough to turn a solid home result into another step forward.
Instead, Tampa Bay kept pressing and found a way to flip the game late, with Jake Guentzel driving the comeback before Nikita Kucherov finished it in overtime on the power play for a 4-3 Lightning win. For Minnesota, it was a painful reminder that even a night with a breakout performance and another point in the standings can still end with plenty of frustration. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Get Two Veterans Back As Lineup Questions Suddenly Shift
The Wilds lineup picture changed quickly before their game against Tampa Bay, with veteran wingers Marcus Foligno and Nick Foligno both activated off injured reserve. Their return gives Minnesota a pair of experienced forwards back in the fold at a time when the club is trying to steady its group and sort through its options up front.
To make room, Mason Shaw was sent back to AHL Iowa, a reminder that roster moves can shift just as fast as the injury list clears. Marcus Foligno had been out for nearly a month, while Nick Foligno had missed more than four weeks, so Minnesota suddenly has two familiar pieces available again as it heads into a matchup that could help reveal how quickly they can fit back in. [Read more 🡒]
Bill Guerin Faces A Wild Problem He Cant Ignore With Quinn Hughes
Minnesotas strong start has done little to quiet the noise around Quinn Hughes, whose contract extension talks still have not moved much despite the defensemans steady play. For Bill Guerin, the situation is turning into one of those front-office decisions that can shape a season long after the standings settle in, because a player performing well while his future remains unsettled forces a team to think beyond the next game.
Hughes has sounded upbeat about the possibility of getting a deal done, but optimism alone does not solve the bigger question facing the Wild. Guerin has to decide whether Hughes fits into the long-term picture or whether the organization needs to protect itself by considering a trade path, and the longer this drags on, the more the pressure builds around a player Minnesota clearly values. [Read more 🡒]