The opening night spotlight for Minnesota starts with a new look beside Kirill Kaprizov. For the first time, he’ll begin a season without Mats Zuccarello as his familiar partner, and the Wild are lining him up with fellow Russians Danila Yurov and Max Shabanov.
That’s a big ask, but it’s also the shape of the season for this group. Yurov and Shabanov have combined for 45 points, with 17 goals and 28 assists, in 117 NHL games, and Minnesota is counting on both players to matter right away on a team built to win now.
Shabanov, in his first season with the Wild, is expected to take on Zuccarello’s old spot on the top power-play unit. Yurov, meanwhile, will center the second unit.
The other major piece to watch is in goal. Jesper Wallstedt is expected to handle a large share of the net while Filip Gustavsson continues recovering from offseason hip surgery.
Wallstedt is coming off a strong 2025-26 season, going 18-9-6 with a 2.61 GAA, a .916 SV% and four shutouts. He also showed in the playoffs that he can carry the workload, finishing 5-5 with a 2.77 GAA and a .909 SV% in 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games as Minnesota reached the Second Round for the first time in 11 seasons.
The Wild may go as he goes this year.
And then there’s Nashville, a familiar opponent that gave Minnesota little separation last season. The Wild went 2-1-1 against the Predators, and both wins came in overtime, once at home and once on the road. Every game in the season series was decided by one goal, and each team scored 12 goals overall.
Matt Boldy, Kaprizov and Brock Faber each finished with four points against Nashville last season. Boldy had 3-1=4, Kaprizov posted 1-3=4, and Faber had 1-3=4.
Faber begins this season on Injured Reserve, but Boldy and Kaprizov have both done damage in this matchup before. In 15 games apiece against the Predators, Boldy has 12 points, including seven goals and five assists, while Kaprizov has 19 points, with seven goals and 12 assists.
Those two look like the best bets to carry over that success into tonight’s opener.
In Other News...
Nick Foligno Returns With One Last Chance To Push The Wild Forward
Nick Foligno is back for another run with Minnesota, and his presence still carries the kind of weight that goes beyond the scoresheet. After arriving last season in a trade from Chicago, he helped steady the Wild on their way to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and he enters this year with the same emphasis on leadership and the same reminder that he is here to help push a talented team toward a title.
The timing matters, because the Wild are again carrying expectations into a demanding season while navigating an early hole on the blue line. Losing Brock Faber before opening night changes the look of the defense right away, and it only sharpens the importance of veterans like Foligno setting a tone in the room. For Minnesota, the challenge is not just to contend, but to keep building on the progress it made a year ago. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Opener Comes With One Line Fans Will Want To Watch
The Wild are heading into the regular season opener with a coach who likes what he has seen in camp, both in terms of energy and how the group has absorbed the system. John Hynes spoke after practice and said the players were competitive throughout training camp, while the coaching staffs concepts have been well implemented as Minnesota gets ready to play for real.
One early lineup combination is already drawing attention, and it has a chance to be one of the more closely watched pieces of the opener. Hynes also said the club will keep an eye on ice time management as the season begins, but the line featuring Danila Yurov, Maxim Shabanov and Kirill Kaprizov has shown enough promise that it will be worth tracking right away. [Read more 🡒]
Wild Face An Uncomfortable Preseason Question After Key Defenseman Goes Down
The Wild opened preseason with an immediate jolt to their blue line when Brock Faber was hurt against Dallas and later required surgery. Faber, one of Minnesotas most important defensemen, is now out indefinitely, and the injury gives the team an unwelcome early test as it tries to settle its defense before the games start counting.
Minnesota has already moved Faber to injured reserve, leaving the club to sort out its options without a clear return date in sight. For a team that leans heavily on his presence and minutes, the loss is more than a short-term inconvenience, and it adds urgency to a preseason that was supposed to be about building rhythm rather than answering hard roster questions. [Read more 🡒]