Blake Coleman spent the Wild’s first preseason game doing what a lot of veteran players don’t get to do very often: sitting back and watching. While Minnesota skated a younger lineup against the Chicago Blackhawks, Coleman was in Grand Casino Arena with his wife and young children, taking in the night from the stands.
For his two daughters, ages 6 and 5, the mission went beyond the hockey. They were trying to track down Nordy.
“I think they were equally excited to go find the mascot as they were to go to the game,” Coleman said. “It’s fun, because now they’re at the age where they actually understand the game, and they’re excited to go watch.”
They found him, and Coleman got a chance to enjoy a rare family hockey night before his own season begins. As the 2026-27 campaign gets underway, he’s among the new faces fans will be getting to know in Minnesota.
The Wild brought in Coleman, 34, over the summer in a July 2 trade with Calgary that also sent defenseman Olli Määttä, 32, to Minnesota. Jake Middleton and three future NHL Draft picks went the other way. Coleman and Määttä arrive with veteran experience and Stanley Cup rings, while the offseason also added young forward Maxim Shabanov and goaltender Calvin Pickard.
Coleman said it felt like very little time had passed since he and Wild coach John Hynes worked together with the New Jersey Devils about a decade ago.
“We picked up right where we left off,” Coleman said. “I’ve always had a ton of respect for him as a human and the way that he conducts himself and treats his players.”
New Jersey was where Coleman’s NHL path began after the Devils took him in the third round in 2011. Now with Minnesota, he’s entering his fourth NHL stop with nearly 700 games on his résumé, along with 170 goals and 155 assists over 10 seasons.
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Now the question is whether that vision holds if the sides cannot get aligned soon enough. If Minnesota has to treat Hughes like a rental, the market would likely bring back a first-round pick and a top prospect, a decent haul in a vacuum but a far cry from the package the Wild originally sent out. Add in the clubs offseason moves and the pressure to keep pace in a tough division, and this has the feel of a decision the front office would rather not be forced into so quickly. [Read more 🡒]