The Minnesota Wild have been consistent contenders over the past 13 seasons, reaching the Stanley Cup Playoffs in all but two of them (2019 and 2024). Their eight appearances in the past decade are tied with the Colorado Avalanche for the most in the Western Conference during that span.

Yet despite consistently reaching the post-season, they haven’t exactly been “serious contenders,” as general manager Bill Guerin himself put it in October of last year. The Wild haven’t advanced past the first round since doing it in back-to-back seasons in 2014 and ’15.

Most recently, after finishing the 2024-25 regular season with a 45-30-7 record, the Wild faced the Vegas Golden Knights in the opening round of the playoffs. They were eliminated in six games, with the final three contests decided by a

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