After three years as the Minnesota Wild Head Coach, John Hynes is close to signing a new contract. He is expected to stay the bench boss.
During his time with the Wild, he has gone 227-125-79 and had two trips to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This spring against the Dallas Stars, Hynes helped lead the Wild to their first playoff series win since 2015.
Minnesota will aim to get back to the postseason more often. The Wild have won just five rounds across 8 appearances all-time.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported today that the Wild plan on extending Hynes, who is entering the final year of his contract.
According to Russo’s league sources, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss non-public negotiations. As a result, the extension is expected to be announced as training camp approaches on September 16.
Hynes has found a rythym as the Wild’s coach after stops in New Jersey and Nashville. In the past, he’s assisted in developing players like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Eeli Tolvanen, Tanner Jeannot, Luke Evangelista, Dante Fabbro, and Tommy Novak.
As he continues to coach the Wild, Hynes has a healthy mix of talented veterans and young guns. Therefore, this helps make Minnesota a contender for the foreseeable future.
Minnesota to Lean on depth moving forward
Hynes will have his hands on younger skaters like Bobby Brink, Danila Yurov, Hunter Haight, and David Spacek. He’ll ask more of them to help support the Wild to the best of their ability. Furthermore, this will shape a strong future for the Wild organization.
Minnesota will rely on how Hynes deploys the younger parts of the lineup after losing Vladimir Tarasenko, Marcus Johansson, and Mats Zuccarello to free agency.
Hynes told Russo on KFAN FM 100.3 in June about a few players he’ll look to as the 2026-27 season gets rolling. Trustworthy depth is what the Wild coach will need.
The first being Brink, who was acquired from the Flyers for David Jiricek.
“I think he learned quite a bit,” Hynes said of Brink. “So he’s certainly a guy that we’re looking to be able to commit and impact the game from an offensive perspective, and he does add speed to our lineup, which I think is important as you look at how the league’s going. It’s speed and pace, particularly when you look at the playoffs.”
Hynes is also anticipating seeing Hunter Haight take another step for the Wild as well.
Both Brink and Haight are pending restricted free agents this season. Therefore, they’ll need to impress Hynes and the Wild staff to stick around.
“Every time he got called up and got NHL experience, he was a better player, a little bit stronger, more confident in his game at this level,” Hynes said of Haight. He’s got good hockey sense. He’s a competitive guy in the faceoff circle. “He plays with a little bit of an edge, and he does have some good offensive instincts.”
Minnesota’s success Attracting NHL’s best
With the Wild’s recent success and bold trades, it has drawn the attention of higher-profile players who may want to play in Minnesota.
Russo also reported in June that Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin had the Wild in mind and still could. Larkin submitted his trade request this summer. The other teams Larkin would favor a trade to are the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers.
General Manager Bill Guerin will have his hands full trying to make the roster as competitive as possible. Whether that involves Larkin or not, that’s yet to be seen.
Right now, the Wild are trying to reach an agreement on a fair contract for star defenseman Quinn Hughes.
Since last October, Guerin has completed 13 trades and will need to address having 25 pending free agents across the organization.
It’s an exciting time for the Wild, but all eyes will be on how successful they are on the ice and from the front office as well.
John Hynes Nears New Extension with Wild