Wild must find their groove before Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2025-26 season by former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher.

In this edition, Craig Johnson, a former assistant with the Anaheim Ducks and Ontario of the American Hockey League, and development coach with the Los Angeles Kings, provides his thoughts on the Minnesota Wild.

We can’t say the Minnesota Wild are locked into third place in the Central Division because with 14 games remaining on their schedule, obviously there’s still time for movement. They are six points behind the Dallas Stars, who they play twice before the season ends.

But the Wild are struggling right now, especially against teams that aren’t in the Stanley Cup Playoff race, and the two teams ahead of them -- the Colorado Avalanche and the Stars -- are piling up points.

Minnesota’s past three games featured a shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, and regulation losses to the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. 

The Wild were down 1-0 against the Flyers, 2-0 against the Rangers and 3-0 against the Maple Leafs, so clearly their starts have been an issue.

They play another team out of the race, the Chicago Blackhawks, at United Center in Chicago on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, FDSNWIX, FDSNNOX, TNT).

It’s possible Minnesota could be already looking ahead, even subconsciously, toward the playoffs because of its position in third place and knowing it will face either Dallas or Colorado in the Western Conference First Round.

But that’s the opposite of what the Wild should be doing. 

If I’m coach John Hynes, I am focused 100 percent on what my team is doing right now. I am talking about how we have to play and how we are going to be successful, and if we don’t, they’re going to continue to get the results they’ve had recently.

To give themselves a chance in the first round, the Wild have to focus on themselves and getting their game in order for the playoffs. 

It starts with their play with the puck. 

When they’re trying to play a total skill game, they’re just moving around and everything is at the perimeter. They’re not a great team when everything is at the perimeter. 

So, maybe the focus in practice is, let’s get to the netfront more. Let’s tip pucks. Let’s get to the slot area where we’re going to create goals.

I haven’t liked their line changes either; they played the Avalanche in Denver on March 8 and gave up a couple of chances off of their line changes. They lost 3-2 in a shootout. 

They took a too-many-men penalty against the Flyers late in the game. 

Those are things that obviously you need to shore up.

Realistically, players are tired. Everybody is playing every other night, some back-to-backs. It’s been a grind, so they’re not always going to be sharp. But you have to find ways. They’re competitive people. They’ve got to find ways to win and create the structure of how they want to play.

Again, if I’m Hynes, I want my team playing north-south, and I want it to be direct because I know when I play against the Stars and Avalanche any turnover is going to kill us.

I think it’s good for the Wild that two of their remaining 14 games are against Dallas. Those will be good tests, obviously, but they’ll give Minnesota an indication of where its game is compared to what it could face in the first round.

For example, Dallas doesn’t give up chances for free; you have to earn those chances. So, it’s all about getting pucks deep and creating more off the forecheck.

If you look at the Wild’s analytics, they’re obviously a good team and their goaltending is exceptional, but they’re not creating as much off the forecheck as some other teams and they’re not getting a ton of shot attempts. 

It goes back to playing on the perimeter -- when they do that, they’re caught trying to overpass the puck into the net almost instead of just trying to create volume. Against a team like Dallas, you have to have more volume toward the net to create your chances.

When Minnesota plays the grind style, it is very tough to play against. The Wild thrive on mistakes, so if they can get pucks in and create off the forecheck, then they’re going to create turnovers. Those are the mistakes that can help you build your game.

They’re going to have to force Dallas or Colorado into mistakes.

Building their game before the playoffs will help the Wild prepare for the first round. It’s not about prescouts or looking ahead because of where they are in the standings; it’s about what they do and how they do it now.

Minnesota has to find its way before it can think about how to win a playoff series.