Wild add to forward depth with additions of Tarasenko, Sturm

After the NHL Draft, free agency and other offseason moves, NHL.com is examining where each team stands in preparation for the 2025-26 regular season, which starts Oct. 7. Today, the Minnesota Wild:

2024-25 season: 45-30-7, fourth in Central Division; lost in Western Conference First Round

Key arrivals

Vladimir Tarasenko, F: Acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings for future considerations June 30. The 33-year-old forward, who had 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 80 games last season, has one season remaining on a two-year contract he signed with Detroit on July 3, 2024. Tarasenko has 662 points (304 goals, 358 assists) in 831 games for the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers and Red Wings, and 73 points (49 goals, 24 assists) in 121 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He has won the Cup twice, with St. Louis in 2019 and Florida in 2024. ... Nico Sturm, F: The 30-year-old signed a two-year contract on July 1 after he had 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 62 games with the San Jose Sharks and Panthers last season, and won the Stanley Cup for the second time (Colorado Avalanche, 2022). Originally signed by the Wild as an undrafted free agent April 1, 2019, Sturm has 92 points (46 goals, 46 assists) in 331 games for the Wild, Avalanche, San Jose Sharks and Panthers, and five points (two goals, three assists) in 30 NHL playoff games. … Danila Yurov, F: The 21-year-old signed a three-year, entry-level contract May 16 and is expected to start the season with Minnesota. Selected with the No. 24 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Yurov had 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists) and was a plus-15 in 46 games with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League last season; he was second on the team with a plus-15 rating and tied for fourth in goals.

Key departures

Marc-Andre Fleury, G: The 40-year-old retired after 21 NHL seasons, the final four with the Wild. The three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2009, 2016, 2017) is second all-time among NHL goalies in wins (575), games played (1,051) and time on ice (60,669:03) behind Martin Brodeur (691; 1,266; 74,438:25). Fleury finished his final season 14-9-1 with a 2.93 goals-against average, .899 save percentage and one shutout in 26 games (22 starts). … Gustav Nyquist, F: Signed a one-year contract with the Jets on July 2 after he had seven points (two goals, five assists) in 22 games with Minnesota following a trade from the Nashville Predators on March 1.

On the cusp

Zeev Buium, D: The 19-year-old made his NHL debut April 20, in Game 1 of the first round (a 4-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights), after signing a three-year, entry-level contract April 19. He had one assist in four playoff games and is projected to be a big offensive contributor. … Liam Ohgren, F: The 21-year-old had five points (two goals, three assists) in 24 games with Minnesota and 37 points (19 goals, 18 assists) in 41 games with Iowa of the American Hockey League. With the need for more forward depth in the bottom six, the No. 19 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft could find a permanent spot on the NHL roster.

What they still need

Center and forward depth. Sturm adds a center strong on face-offs (56.5 percent in his career), and Joel Eriksson Ek, limited to 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) in 46 games last season, has proven to be a true No. 1 center. But with Marco Rossi still a restricted free agent, there remains uncertainty through the middle for the Wild. In addition, there remains a need for scoring to ease the burden on forward Kirill Kaprizov, who was third on the Wild with 56 points (25 goals, 31 assists) despite playing 41 games because of injury; he had led the Wild in scoring each of the previous four seasons.

They said it

"We added a scoring winger [Tarasenko], somebody that's very motivated to have a good year, somebody that I think fits with the way we play. We added one of the premier face-off guys in the league [Sturm]. I think that checks two of the boxes that we were looking to check. I also think it's nice because we're going to have this injection of youth on our team. We have five first-round picks that are going to be pushing for spots on the team, and I think that says a lot to where we are now and where we can be in the future." -- general manager Bill Guerin

EDGE stat to watch

Goalie Filip Gustavsson ranked eighth in the NHL in high-danger save percentage (.829) last season and also was among the top three in midrange saves (441; third) and long-range saves (403; second). The 27-year-old, who is in the final season of a three-year contract and can become an unrestricted free agent after this season, had 37 games with a .900 or better save percentage, ranking third in that category behind Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets (44) and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lighting (39). -- Troy Perlowitz

Fantasy spin

The Wild's defenseman spot on the first power play brings exposure to elite forwards Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, and continues to be up for grabs entering this season. Brock Faber led Minnesota defensemen with 10 power-play points last season, and Jared Spurgeon, despite being limited to 66 games, was second with nine. But the fantasy focus could shift to other young defensemen, including Buium, who ranks among the top 10 defensemen in NHL.com's keeper and dynasty rankings, and David Jiricek. -- Pete Jensen

Projected lineup

Kirill Kaprizov -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Mats Zuccarello

Matt Boldy -- Marco Rossi -- Vladimir Tarasenko

Liam Ohgren -- Danila Yurov -- Ryan Hartman

Marcus Foligno -- Nico Sturm -- Yakov Trenin

Jake Middleton -- Brock Faber

Zeev Buium -- Jared Spurgeon

Zach Bogosian -- David Jiricek

Filip Gustavsson

Jesper Wallstedt