# 2018–19 Minnesota Wild season

The 2018–19 Minnesota Wild season was the 19th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997. On April 2, 2019, the Wild were eliminated from playoff contention after the Colorado Avalanche's 6–2 victory against the Edmonton Oilers, marking the first time the Wild missed the postseason since the 2011–12 season.

## Standings

Central Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Nashville Predators | 82 | 47 | 29 | 6 | 43 | 240 | 214 | +26 | 100 |
| 2 | x – Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 47 | 30 | 5 | 45 | 272 | 244 | +28 | 99 |
| 3 | x – St. Louis Blues | 82 | 45 | 28 | 9 | 42 | 247 | 223 | +24 | 99 |
| 4 | x – Dallas Stars | 82 | 43 | 32 | 7 | 42 | 210 | 202 | +8 | 93 |
| 5 | x – Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 38 | 30 | 14 | 36 | 260 | 246 | +14 | 90 |
| 6 | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 36 | 34 | 12 | 33 | 270 | 292 | −22 | 84 |
| 7 | Minnesota Wild | 82 | 37 | 36 | 9 | 36 | 211 | 237 | −26 | 83 |
Western Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | CE | x – Dallas Stars | 82 | 43 | 32 | 7 | 42 | 210 | 202 | +8 | 93 |
| 2 | CE | x – Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 38 | 30 | 14 | 36 | 260 | 246 | +14 | 90 |
| 3 | PA | Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 39 | 35 | 8 | 35 | 213 | 223 | −10 | 86 |
| 4 | CE | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 36 | 34 | 12 | 33 | 270 | 292 | −22 | 84 |
| 5 | CE | Minnesota Wild | 82 | 37 | 36 | 9 | 36 | 211 | 237 | −26 | 83 |
| 6 | PA | Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 35 | 36 | 11 | 29 | 225 | 254 | −29 | 81 |
| 7 | PA | Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 35 | 37 | 10 | 32 | 199 | 251 | −52 | 80 |
| 8 | PA | Edmonton Oilers | 82 | 35 | 38 | 9 | 32 | 232 | 274 | −42 | 79 |
| 9 | PA | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | 31 | 42 | 9 | 28 | 202 | 263 | −61 | 71 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 13, 2018.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.
2018–19 game log: 37–36–9 (Home: 16–18–7; Away: 21–18–2) :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics

As of April 6, 2019

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Zach Parise | 74 | 28 | 33 | 61 | −2 | 26 |
| Eric Staal | 81 | 22 | 30 | 52 | −7 | 34 |
| Mikael Granlund$^‡$ | 63 | 15 | 34 | 49 | −2 | 20 |
| Ryan Suter | 82 | 7 | 40 | 47 | −8 | 41 |
| Jared Spurgeon | 82 | 14 | 29 | 43 | −1 | 20 |
| Jason Zucker | 81 | 21 | 21 | 42 | −9 | 28 |
| Mikko Koivu | 48 | 8 | 21 | 29 | −2 | 22 |
| Charlie Coyle$^‡$ | 60 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 1 | 16 |
| Jordan Greenway | 81 | 12 | 12 | 24 | −12 | 29 |
| Nino Niederreiter$^‡$ | 46 | 9 | 14 | 23 | −11 | 10 |
| Mathew Dumba | 32 | 12 | 10 | 22 | −5 | 21 |
| Marcus Foligno | 82 | 7 | 12 | 19 | −1 | 55 |
| Jonas Brodin | 82 | 4 | 14 | 18 | −15 | 30 |
| Luke Kunin | 49 | 6 | 11 | 17 | −9 | 27 |
| Ryan Donato$^†$ | 22 | 4 | 12 | 16 | −4 | 4 |
| Eric Fehr | 72 | 7 | 8 | 15 | −8 | 30 |
| Joel Eriksson Ek | 58 | 7 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 20 |
| J. T. Brown | 56 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 29 |
| Kevin Fiala$^†$ | 19 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −12 | 10 |
| Nick Seeler | 71 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −4 | 64 |
| Greg Pateryn | 80 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −11 | 41 |
| Pontus Aberg$^†$ | 22 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −4 | 6 |
| Brad Hunt | 29 | 3 | 2 | 5 | −5 | 6 |
| Victor Rask$^†$ | 23 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −1 | 4 |
| Matt Hendricks$^‡$ | 22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 19 |
| Matt Bartkowski | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Matt Read | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 2 |
| Kyle Rau | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Murphy$^†$ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Anthony Bitetto$^†$ | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −8 | 4 |
| Nate Prosser | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Louie Belpedio | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nico Sturm | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Devan Dubnyk | 67 | 66 | 3,855:16 | 31 | 28 | 6 | 163 | 2.54 | 1,877 | .913 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Alex Stalock | 21 | 16 | 1,065:06 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 53 | 2.99 | 525 | .899 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
$^†$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.

## Awards and honours
### Milestones

Regular season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| M. Granlund | 400th career NHL game | October 6, 2018 |
| J. Zucker | 100th career NHL goal | October 13, 2018 |
| E. Staal | 1,100th career NHL game | October 19, 2018 |
| R. Suter | 500th career NHL point | October 19, 2018 |
| R. Suter | 1,000th career NHL game | October 25, 2018 |

## Transactions

The Wild have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| October 3, 2018 (2018-10-03) | To Montreal CanadiensGustav Olofsson | To Minnesota WildWilliam Bitten |
| November 21, 2018 (2018-11-21) | To Los Angeles KingsPavel Jenys | To Minnesota WildStepan Falkovsky |
| January 16, 2019 (2019-01-16) | To Anaheim DucksJustin Kloos | To Minnesota WildPontus Aberg |
| January 17, 2019 (2019-01-17) | To Carolina HurricanesNino Niederreiter | To Minnesota WildVictor Rask |
| January 21, 2019 (2019-01-21) | To Vegas Golden KnightsConditional 5th-round pick in 2019 | To Minnesota WildBrad Hunt 6th-round pick in 2019 |
| January 30, 2019 (2019-01-30) | To New Jersey DevilsRyan Murphy | To Minnesota WildMichael Kapla |
| February 20, 2019 (2019-02-20) | To Boston BruinsCharlie Coyle | To Minnesota WildRyan Donato Conditional 5th-round pick in 2019 |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Nashville PredatorsMikael Granlund | To Minnesota WildKevin Fiala |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Winnipeg JetsMatt Hendricks | To Minnesota Wild7th-round pick in 2020 |
| May 30, 2019 (2019-05-30) | To Toronto Maple LeafsConditional 7th-round pick in 2020 | To Minnesota WildFedor Gordeev |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| June 29, 2018 (2018-06-29) | Steve Michalek | to Red Bull Salzburg (EBEL) | Unknown |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Matt Bartkowski | from Calgary Flames | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | J. T. Brown | from Anaheim Ducks | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Matt Cullen | to Pittsburgh Penguins | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Eric Fehr | from San Jose Sharks | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Kurtis Gabriel | to New Jersey Devils | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Andrew Hammond | from Colorado Avalanche | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Matt Hendricks | from Winnipeg Jets | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Mike Liambas | from Anaheim Ducks | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Greg Pateryn | from Dallas Stars | 3-year |
| July 6, 2018 (2018-07-06) | Tyler Ennis | to Toronto Maple Leafs | 1-year |
| July 14, 2018 (2018-07-14) | Zack Mitchell | to Los Angeles Kings | 1-year |
| July 19, 2018 (2018-07-19) | Pat Cannone | to ERC Ingolstadt (DEL) | 1-year |
| July 30, 2018 (2018-07-30) | Matt Read | from Philadelphia Flyers | 1-year |
| August 7, 2018 (2018-08-07) | Dylan Labbe | to Wichita Thunder (ECHL) | 1-year |
| August 28, 2018 (2018-08-28) | Kyle Quincey | to HIFK (Liiga) | 1-year |
| August 31, 2018 (2018-08-31) | Zach Palmquist | to Lehigh Valley Phantoms (AHL) | 1-year |
| November 1, 2018 (2018-11-01) | Colton Beck | from Iowa Wild (AHL) | 2-year |
| March 18, 2019 (2019-03-18) | Mat Robson | from Minnesota Golden Gophers (Big Ten) | 2-year |
| April 1, 2019 (2019-04-01) | Nico Sturm | from Clarkson Golden Knights (ECAC Hockey) | 1-year |
| May 10, 2019 (2019-05-10) | Gerald Mayhew | from Iowa Wild (AHL) | 2-year |

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team | Ref |
| January 25, 2019 (2019-01-25) | Anthony Bitetto | from Nashville Predators | |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| June 25, 2018 (2018-06-25) | Ryan Murphy | 1-year |
| June 27, 2018 (2018-06-27) | Kyle Rau | 2-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Nick Seeler | 3-year |
| July 21, 2018 (2018-07-21) | Matt Dumba | 5-year |
| July 25, 2018 (2018-07-25) | Jason Zucker | 5-year |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | Eric Staal | 2-year |
| March 5, 2019 (2019-03-05) | Connor Dewar | 3-year |
| March 19, 2019 (2019-03-19) | Alexander Khovanov | 3-year |
| June 11, 2019 (2019-06-11) | Matt Bartkowski | 1-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the Minnesota Wild's selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 24 | Filip Johansson | D | Sweden | Leksands IF (Allsvenskan) |
| 3 | 63$^1$ | Jack McBain | C | Canada | Toronto Jr. Canadiens (OJHL) |
| 3 | 86 | Alexander Khovanov | C | Russia | Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) |
| 3 | 92$^2$ | Connor Dewar | C | Canada | Everett Silvertips (WHL) |
| 5 | 148 | Simon Johansson | D | Sweden | Djurgårdens IF J20 (SuperElit) |
| 5 | 155$^3$ | Damien Giroux | C | Canada | Saginaw Spirit (OHL) |
| 6 | 179 | Shawn Boudrias | RW | Canada | Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 210 | Sam Hengtes | C | United States | Tri-City Storm (USHL) |
Notes:
* The Buffalo Sabres' third-round pick went to the Minnesota Wild as the result of a trade on June 30, 2017, that sent Jason Pominville, Marco Scandella and a fourth-round pick in 2018 to Buffalo in exchange for Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno and this pick.
* The Vegas Golden Knights' third-round pick went to the Minnesota Wild as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that sent Alex Tuch to Vegas in exchange for this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).
* The Washington Capitals' fifth-round pick went to the Minnesota Wild as the result of a trade on June 14, 2017, that sent Tyler Graovac to Washington in exchange for this pick.