After a rough opening to free agency, the Minnesota Wild finally addressed one of their biggest holes on Thursday.
According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, the Wild signed Russian winger Maxim Shabanov to a one-year deal worth $1.6 million.
Shabanov arrives after spending the 2025-26 season with the New York Islanders, where he became an unrestricted free agent when the team decided not to tender him a qualifying offer. The 26-year-old had already built a strong reputation in the KHL before heading to North America, standing out as one of the league’s top forwards from 2023 to 2025.
His first NHL season produced 18 points in 44 regular-season games, with five goals and 13 assists. The five-foot-nine winger also chipped in five power-play points and averaged 13:41 of ice time per game.
Before making the jump, Shabanov put together a big 2023-24 season with Chelyabinsk Traktor, finishing with 50 points in 64 games on 25 goals and 25 assists. He followed that with an even stronger 2024-25 campaign, piling up 67 points in 65 games and going over a point per game.
For Minnesota, the fit is obvious. The Wild need help on the wings behind Kirill Kaprizov and Matthew Boldy, and Shabanov now gets a chance to play for a team that can offer him more opportunity. Boldy was Minnesota’s most productive forward per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 last season, but the depth behind him took a hit when Mats Zuccarello signed with the Los Angeles Kings, Marcus Johansson returned to Sweden and Vladimir Tarasenko remained unsigned in free agency.
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