The Minnesota Wild’s training camp begins tomorrow, so the regular season is fast approaching. The team’s schedule was announced back in July, with the national television schedule announced a month later that will consist of 15 games and the first is just four games into their schedule.
The Wild have managed to keep most of their team together with a few changes here and there. They still have Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello, Matt Boldy, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin etc., so they have the talent to make the postseason, but they’ll have to fight for every point they can get.
In this article, we’ll briefly examine the Wild’s schedule and highlight some times they’ll see divisional rivals for whom they’ll have to be ready. We’ll also include any long road trips or homestands that could make or break their season. First, we’ll start at the beginning of the season and work our way through to the end.
Wild Start Rough
The Wild will have their home opener as their first game of the season, but it’s also against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who will be trying to adjust to a game without Johnny Gaudreau. However, they’re an interesting matchup for the Wild as they also have former head coach Dean Evason behind the bench, and this will be Evason’s first time in his former home rink with a new team after being replaced by John Hynes last season.
Their homestand will be shortlived, as they’ll have one more game in front of the home crowd before hitting the road for nearly three weeks. They’ll have 17 days on the road with gaps between games. While the majority of that trip will be against East Coast teams, including the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, the beginning starts out against division rivals the Winnipeg Jets and the St. Louis Blues, with whom they’ll be battling for playoff spots throughout the season and getting points early is essential.
Following that trip, they’ll have a solid mix of home and away games, including two back-to-backs, one at home and one on the road. They’ll also face divisional opponents six times in November, which includes their first meeting against the Dallas Stars, who are always a battle for the Wild.
Hopefully, December will be a good month for the Wild, as they’ll be home for most of the month, nine out of 14 games will be in St. Paul. They’ll also face the new Utah Hockey Club for the first time and face them again just a week and a half later. The Wild will finish 2024 off on New Year’s Eve against the Nashville Predators.
Wild’s Middle of the Road
The Wild will begin 2025 on the road, but only for two games before they return home. Once again, they’ll have a mix of home and road games throughout January, and they’ll see the Colorado Avalanche for the first time of the season. They’ll end the month and begin February on a small road trip to eastern Canada to see the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montréal Canadiens, and the Ottawa Senators before making a quick stop in Boston on the way home.
The Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins will be quite the test for the Wild, and it’ll be just past the halfway point of the season, where every point starts to mean more. Following their quick road trip, the Wild will have two home games before having nearly two full weeks off for the Four Nations Face-Off that will run from February 12 to February 20, but the Wild will be off from February 9 to February 21.
Once they’re back, they’ll start on the road in Detroit to face the Red Wings and then head home to see the Red Wings once again three days later. However, they’ll be on a plane the next day to head out to Utah for another two-game road trip to finish the month.
Wild’s Home Stretch
The Wild’s final full month of regular season hockey will be busy, but they’ll be at home for most of it. Out of 15 games in March, they’ll be at home for 11 of them, and that includes hosting Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kevin Fiala and the Los Angeles Kings, Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, and a host of other strong teams they’ll have to fight for postseason points against.
They’ll end the month and begin April on another road trip to face the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, and New York Islanders. They’ll head home for two games before returning on the road for two more and finally finishing up their regular season at home against the Anaheim Ducks.
Depending on how the season goes, those final few games may be very important to the Wild’s postseason hopes, but it won’t be easy as they’ll have a back-to-back against the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks for their final road trip before their last game of the season.
Wild Have an Interesting Schedule
Typically, an NHL schedule with homestands and road trips is pretty standard, but this season is interesting for the Wild. They start at home and immediately head on a three-week-long road trip. Two or three games is a relatively normal road trip, but seven is a long time at the beginning of the season.
However, I heard on a podcast hosted by Michael Russo of the Athletic and Anthony Lapanta from Bally Sports that it could be a good thing despite the length. They pointed out that road trips are how teams bond, and having one so early on may be good for getting the chemistry flowing. Hopefully, it’ll work out that way for the Wild, and they’ll get a good start on winning games on the road that’ll also hopefully turn into a postseason debut at the end of the season.
