Minnesota calls itself the State of Hockey, a claim reinforced when the NHL returned to St. Paul in 2000 as the Wild, filling the void left by the North Stars' 1993 departure. The club plays at Xcel Energy Center, drawing on a deep well of homegrown Minnesota talent. Green, red and gold uniforms nod to the state's natural landscape.
As of Nov 3, 2026, here are the most recently projected forward lines, defense pairings and power-play units for the Minnesota Wild. On the top line, the Minnesota Wild are currently projected to run left wing Kirill Kaprizov, center Joel Eriksson Ek and right wing Matt Boldy together, a trio expected to log the heaviest 5-on-5 minutes on the roster, though without last change on the road it does not always draw the other team's top shutdown pairing. On the blue line, the top pairing is Quinn Hughes and Jonas Brodin, who typically log the heaviest 5-on-5 minutes on the back end and face the toughest zone starts, though the team's primary penalty-kill pairing is not always the same duo. On the power play, the PP1 unit runs Maxim Shabanov, Joel Eriksson Ek, Kirill Kaprizov, Quinn Hughes and Matt Boldy, the unit most teams send out first on a power play, though a delayed-penalty scramble already in progress or a late matchup change can put a different five over the boards. These combinations reflect pre-game reporting rather than real-time tracking, and can change between games and even between periods, so check the today's lines tool for the most current deployment before puck drop.
| # | Player | Off | Def | PP | PK | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirill Kaprizov | 63 | 58 | 98 | 0 | 97 |
| 2 | Matt Boldy | 70 | 59 | 73 | 66 | 95 |
| 3 | Mats Zuccarello | 49 | 56 | 68 | 0 | 87 |
| 4 | Joel Eriksson Ek | 55 | 61 | 70 | 32 | 81 |
| 5 | Ryan Hartman | 61 | 48 | 49 | 44 | 74 |
As of Nov 3, 2026, the most recently projected lineup for the Minnesota Wild includes 4 forward lines, 3 defense pairings and 2 power-play units, updated whenever a new pre-game lineup is reported.
As of Nov 3, 2026, the top line projected for the Minnesota Wild is left wing Kirill Kaprizov, center Joel Eriksson Ek and right wing Matt Boldy.
These projected lines are drawn from Daily Faceoff's pre-game reporting, typically beat writers covering morning skates and warmups before puck drop. They reflect the coaching staff's intended deployment rather than shift-by-shift tracking collected once a game is already underway, and can still shift between a morning skate and the opening faceoff.
Lines can change from game to game, and sometimes within a single game, as a coaching staff reacts to matchups, injuries, scoring droughts or chemistry. Check back before each Minnesota Wild game for the latest projected combinations, or browse the historical lines archive to see how often this team's lines have shifted recently.
