This campaign had no shortage of surprises. Not many people would have accurately predicted that the Rangers and Bruins would both miss the playoffs after finishing 2023-24 with 114 and 109 points, respectively. Nor was Mikko Rantanen being traded — twice — on many people’s bingo cards. Lane Hutson tying for the fifth-most points (66) in NHL history among rookie defensemen, surpassing greats like Ray Bourque (65), Chris Chelios (64) and Nicklas Lidstrom (60), was also something to behold.
Although the regular season only just ended, let’s have some fun by making bold predictions about what 2025-26 might feature.
Minnesota Wild Poised for Western Conference Dominance
The Wild squeaked into the playoffs this season with a 45-30-7 record, which is quite the accomplishment given that the centerpiece of their offense, Kirill Kaprizov, missed half the campaign, and they had a significantly smaller usable cap ceiling than the rest of the league due to the lingering impact of buying out Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.
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A healthy Kaprizov alone would go a long way towards changing their fortunes. He played in 34 of Minnesota’s first 35 games, and over that span, the Wild went 21-10-4 while generating an acceptable 2.94 goals per game. By contrast, when Kaprizov played in just three of 43 matches from Dec. 27-April 6, Minnesota went 21-19-3 and managed only 2.47 goals per game.
Of course, being that dependent on one player is a problem, but the Wild should be able to give him some significant help over the summer. Suter and Parise’s buyouts combined to cost the Wild $14.74 million in dead cap space in 2024-25. Next season, that will dip to just $1.67 million. Combine that with the projected increase in the cap, and the Wild should have about $20.6 million in additional cap space to play this summer, per PuckPedia. Minnesota will need to lock up RFA Marco Rossi, who had 24 goals and 60 points across 82 appearances in the 2024-25 regular season, but outside of that, the Wild don’t have any major players on expiring contracts, so they can afford to be aggressive on the trade and UFA markets.
The timing of this newfound wealth is also ideal. The team’s core forwards of Kaprizov, Rossi and Matt Boldy, as well as starting goaltender Filip Gustavsson, are all in or approaching their prime. Meanwhile, key defenseman Brock Faber will be entering his third full NHL campaign. That combination suggests that the Wild are beginning a window of serious contention, and a…