# 2021–22 Minnesota Wild season

The 2021–22 Minnesota Wild season was the 22nd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997. The Wild clinched a playoff spot after a 5–4 overtime win against the San Jose Sharks, which would be their ninth postseason appearance in the last 10 seasons. Despite setting franchise records in wins (53), and points (113), the Wild were upset in the first round by the St. Louis Blues, losing in six games.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Central Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | z – Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 56 | 19 | 7 | 46 | 312 | 234 | +78 | 119 |
| 2 | x – Minnesota Wild | 82 | 53 | 22 | 7 | 37 | 310 | 253 | +57 | 113 |
| 3 | x – St. Louis Blues | 82 | 49 | 22 | 11 | 43 | 311 | 242 | +69 | 109 |
| 4 | x – Dallas Stars | 82 | 46 | 30 | 6 | 31 | 238 | 246 | −8 | 98 |
| 5 | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 35 | 266 | 252 | +14 | 97 |
| 6 | e – Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 39 | 32 | 11 | 31 | 252 | 257 | −5 | 89 |
| 7 | e – Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 28 | 42 | 12 | 16 | 219 | 291 | −72 | 68 |
| 8 | e – Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 25 | 50 | 7 | 18 | 207 | 313 | −106 | 57 |

### Conference standings

Western Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | CE | x – Dallas Stars | 82 | 46 | 30 | 6 | 31 | 238 | 246 | −8 | 98 |
| 2 | CE | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 35 | 266 | 252 | +14 | 97 |
| 3 | PA | e – Vegas Golden Knights | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 34 | 266 | 248 | +18 | 94 |
| 4 | PA | e – Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 32 | 249 | 236 | +13 | 92 |
| 5 | CE | e – Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 39 | 32 | 11 | 32 | 252 | 257 | −5 | 89 |
| 6 | PA | e – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 32 | 37 | 13 | 22 | 214 | 264 | −50 | 77 |
| 7 | PA | e – Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 31 | 37 | 14 | 22 | 232 | 271 | −39 | 76 |
| 8 | CE | e – Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 28 | 42 | 12 | 16 | 219 | 291 | −72 | 68 |
| 9 | PA | e – Seattle Kraken | 82 | 27 | 49 | 6 | 23 | 216 | 285 | −69 | 60 |
| 10 | CE | e – Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 25 | 50 | 7 | 18 | 207 | 313 | −106 | 57 |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on July 22, 2021, with only about a handful of games scheduled in February because NHL players are planning to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics. Ultimately, due to a surge in the COVID-19 pandemic, NHL players did not go to the Olympics, and the planned break in February was used to reschedule some games that had been postponed due to outbreaks of COVID-19 throughout the league in December and January.
2021–22 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

### Playoffs

2022 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics

As of May 13, 2022

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Kirill Kaprizov | 81 | 47 | 61 | 108 | +27 | 34 |
| Kevin Fiala | 82 | 33 | 52 | 85 | +23 | 52 |
| Mats Zuccarello | 70 | 24 | 55 | 79 | +21 | 24 |
| Ryan Hartman | 82 | 34 | 31 | 65 | +31 | 95 |
| Joel Eriksson Ek | 77 | 26 | 23 | 49 | +16 | 28 |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 76 | 14 | 30 | 44 | +12 | 8 |
| Marcus Foligno | 74 | 23 | 19 | 42 | +25 | 112 |
| Jared Spurgeon | 65 | 10 | 30 | 40 | +32 | 10 |
| Matthew Boldy | 47 | 15 | 24 | 39 | +17 | 10 |
| Jonas Brodin | 73 | 5 | 25 | 30 | +9 | 18 |
| Alex Goligoski | 72 | 2 | 28 | 30 | +41 | 34 |
| Jordan Greenway | 62 | 10 | 17 | 27 | +26 | 69 |
| Matt Dumba | 57 | 7 | 20 | 27 | +9 | 47 |
| Dmitry Kulikov | 80 | 7 | 17 | 24 | +23 | 39 |
| Jon Merrill | 69 | 4 | 16 | 20 | +15 | 22 |
| Nico Sturm$^‡$ | 53 | 9 | 8 | 17 | −5 | 8 |
| Brandon Duhaime | 80 | 6 | 11 | 17 | −2 | 122 |
| Nick Bjugstad | 57 | 7 | 6 | 13 | −2 | 20 |
| Victor Rask$^‡$ | 29 | 5 | 8 | 13 | +7 | 2 |
| Rem Pitlick$^‡$ | 20 | 6 | 5 | 11 | +1 | 12 |
| Jordie Benn | 39 | 1 | 7 | 8 | +1 | 10 |
| Tyson Jost$^†$ | 21 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| Connor Dewar | 35 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −4 | 25 |
| Jacob Middleton$^†$ | 21 | 1 | 4 | 5 | +7 | 13 |
| Calen Addison | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −4 | 2 |
| Nicolas Deslauriers$^†$ | 20 | 3 | 0 | 3 | −2 | 23 |
| Joseph Cramarossa | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Adam Beckman | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| Kyle Rau | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 0 |
| Dakota Mermis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 0 |
| Mason Shaw | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 5 |
| Jon Lizotte | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 |
| Marco Rossi | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 4 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Kirill Kaprizov | 6 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 2 |
| Joel Eriksson Ek | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| Ryan Hartman | 6 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| Mats Zuccarello | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 |
| Jonas Brodin | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −2 | 2 |
| Jared Spurgeon | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Kevin Fiala | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −5 | 16 |
| Jordan Greenway | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Marcus Foligno | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
| Matt Dumba | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| Matthew Boldy | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 4 |
| Jon Merrill | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −6 | 0 |
| Jacob Middleton | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Dmitry Kulikov | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −4 | 2 |
| Tyson Jost | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Brandon Duhaime | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |
| Nicolas Deslauriers | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 0 |
| Alex Goligoski | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 2 |
| Connor Dewar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Cam Talbot | 49 | 48 | 2,864:23 | 32 | 12 | 4 | 132 | 2.76 | 1,488 | .911 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Kaapo Kahkonen$^‡$ | 25 | 23 | 1,380:05 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 66 | 2.87 | 734 | .910 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Marc-Andre Fleury$^†$ | 11 | 11 | 657:54 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 2.74 | 334 | .910 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Marc-Andre Fleury | 5 | 5 | 296:28 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 3.04 | 159 | .906 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cam Talbot | 1 | 1 | 57:53 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4.14 | 26 | .846 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Wild. Stats reflect time with the Wild only. $^‡$Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Wild only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Transactions

The Wild have been involved in the following transactions during the 2021–22 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| July 23, 2021 (2021-07-23) | To Edmonton Oilers1st-round pick in 2021 PIT 3rd-round pick in 2021 | To Minnesota Wild1st-round pick in 2021 |
| July 24, 2021 (2021-07-24) | To Montreal Canadiens5th-round pick in 2021 7th-round pick in 2021 | To Minnesota Wild4th-round pick in 2021 |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | To Toronto Maple LeafsBrennan Menell | To Minnesota WildConditional$^1$ 7th-round pick in 2022 |
| December 29, 2021 (2021-12-29) | To St. Louis BluesWill Bitten | To Minnesota WildNolan Stevens |
| February 12, 2022 (2022-02-12) | To Montreal CanadiensAndrew Hammond | To Minnesota WildBrandon Baddock |
| March 15, 2022 (2022-03-15) | To Colorado AvalancheNico Sturm | To Minnesota WildTyson Jost |
| March 19, 2022 (2022-03-19) | To Anaheim Ducks3rd-round pick in 2023 | To Minnesota WildNicolas Deslauriers |
| March 20, 2022 (2022-03-20) | To Arizona CoyotesJack McBain | To Minnesota WildVAN 2nd-round pick in 2022 |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To San Jose SharksKaapo Kahkonen 5th-round pick in 2022 | To Minnesota WildJacob Middleton |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To Chicago BlackhawksConditional$^2$ 2nd-round pick in 2022 | To Minnesota WildMarc-Andre Fleury |
| June 29, 2022 (2022-06-29) | To Los Angeles KingsKevin Fiala | To Minnesota WildBrock Faber 1st-round pick in 2022 |
Notes:
* Minnesota will receive a 7th-round pick in 2022 if Mennell plays 30 games for Toronto in 2021–22; otherwise no pick will be exchanged.
* Chicago will receive Minnesota's 1st-round pick in 2022 if they reach the 2022 Western Conference Final and Fleury has at least four wins in the first two rounds; otherwise they will receive a 2nd-round pick.

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Frederick Gaudreau | Pittsburgh Penguins | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Alex Goligoski | Arizona Coyotes | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Joe Hicketts | Detroit Red Wings | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Dmitry Kulikov | Edmonton Oilers | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Jon Lizotte | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Dominic Turgeon | Detroit Red Wings | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Kevin Czuczman | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Jon Merrill | Montreal Canadiens | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 27, 2021 (2021-08-27) | Jordie Benn | Winnipeg Jets | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 5, 2021 (2021-10-05) | Rem Pitlick | Nashville Predators | | Waivers |
| January 4, 2022 (2022-01-04) | Zane McIntyre | Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Term | Via |
| July 13, 2021 (2021-07-13) | Zach Parise | New York Islanders | 1-year | Buy-out |
| July 13, 2021 (2021-07-13) | Ryan Suter | Dallas Stars | 4-year | Buy-out |
| July 21, 2021 (2021-07-21) | Carson Soucy | Seattle Kraken | | Expansion draft |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Louie Belpedio | Montreal Canadiens | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Nick Bonino | San Jose Sharks | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Ian Cole | Carolina Hurricanes | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Gabriel Dumont | Tampa Bay Lightning | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Brad Hunt | Vancouver Canucks | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Luke Johnson | Winnipeg Jets | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Gerald Mayhew | Philadelphia Flyers | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Ryan Suter | Dallas Stars | 4-year | Free agency |
| August 6, 2021 (2021-08-06) | Marcus Johansson | Seattle Kraken | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 2, 2021 (2021-10-02) | Matt Bartkowski | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| November 24, 2021 (2021-11-24) | Ivan Lodnia | | | Contract termination |
| November 24, 2021 (2021-11-24) | Ivan Lodnia | Chicago Wolves (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| January 12, 2022 (2022-01-12) | Rem Pitlick | Montreal Canadiens | | Waivers |
| June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23) | Kevin Czuczman | Ilves (Liiga) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| July 18, 2021 (2021-07-18) | Joseph Cramarossa | 2-year | Re-signing |
| July 26, 2021 (2021-07-26) | Andrew Hammond | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 27, 2021 (2021-07-27) | Dakota Mermis | 2-year | Re-signing |
| July 27, 2021 (2021-07-27) | Kyle Rau | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 29, 2021 (2021-07-29) | Brandon Duhaime | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 8, 2021 (2021-08-08) | Will Bitten | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 16, 2021 (2021-08-16) | Kevin Fiala | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 17, 2021 (2021-08-17) | Mason Shaw | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 25, 2021 (2021-08-25) | Carson Lambos | 3-year | Entry-level |
| September 21, 2021 (2021-09-21) | Kirill Kaprizov | 5-year | Re-signing |
| January 11, 2022 (2022-01-11) | Jon Merrill | 3-year | Extension |
| January 31, 2022 (2022-01-31) | Jordan Greenway | 3-year | Extension |
| March 23, 2022 (2022-03-23) | Vladislav Firstov | 3-year | Entry-level |
| March 29, 2022 (2022-03-29) | Sam Hentges | 2-year | Entry-level |
| March 30, 2022 (2022-03-30) | Alex Goligoski | 2-year | Extension |
| April 28, 2022 (2022-04-28) | Simon Johansson | 2-year | Extension |
| May 9, 2022 (2022-05-09) | Pavel Novak | 3-year | Entry-level |
| May 16, 2022 (2022-05-16) | Jesper Wallstedt | 3-year | Entry-level |
| June 22, 2022 (2022-06-22) | Connor Dewar | 2-year | Extension |
| July 6, 2022 (2022-07-06) | Jacob Middleton | 3-year | Extension |

## Draft picks

Below are the Minnesota Wild's selections at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, which were held on July 23 to 24, 2021. It was held virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.
| Round | # | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team (League) |
| 1 | 20 | Jesper Wallstedt | G | Sweden | Lulea HF (SHL) |
| 1 | 26 | Carson Lambos | D | Canada | JYP U20 (U20 SM-sarja) |
| 2 | 54 | Jack Peart | D | USA | Fargo Force (USHL) |
| 3 | 86 | Caedan Bankier | C | Canada | Kamloops Blazers (WHL) |
| 4 | 118 | Kyle Masters | D | Canada | Red Deer Rebels (WHL) |
| 4 | 127 | Josh Pillar | RW | Canada | Kamloops Blazers (WHL) |
| 6 | 182 | Nate Benoit | | USA | Mount St. Charles Mounties (USHS-RI) |