SHOCKING: John Hynes Says Wild Need TOUGHNESS After Latest Loss | Does He Not SEE the Problem?

SHOCKING: John Hynes Says Wild Need TOUGHNESS After Latest Loss | Does He Not SEE the Problem?

On today’s episode of Lockown Wild, John Hines says his team is not fragile, but they need to get tougher. Hey, this is Matt Baldi and you’re listening to Locked on Wild. Hey, this is Marcus Fino and you’re listening to Locked on Wild. You’re Locked On, your daily podcast on the Minnesota Wild, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What’s happening everybody? Welcome in to another episode of Locked on Wild, your daily Minnesota Wild podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. We are your team each and every day. We thank you for making Locked on Wild your first listen each and every day. As well, make sure you subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platforms so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. Today’s episode of Locked on Wild is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code lockdown NHL for $20 off your first purchase. On today’s episode of Locked on Wild, we’re going to dive into some absolutely eyepopping quotes from last night’s loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Uh talking about whether this team is in need of a little more oomph or is just fragile. Uh we’ll also take a look at uh some of the some of the reasons we got to this point because this has been a uh this is not a new issue this year. These are just the culmination of the the last couple of seasons. So we’ll we’ll discuss that as well. My name is Seth Toppel, host of Locks on Wild, credentialed media member and uh bringing you access to the Minnesota Wild from a credentialed perspective here for 2025 2026. It is getting late early for the Minnesota Wild. They lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins as we discussed in the postcast last night. It’s real dicey right now for this Minnesota Wild team. And I was just going through, you know, all the reaction last night mainly because I was half expecting there to be um I I was half expecting there to be a move made. It it has gotten to that point. Nothing ended up happening, but um some quotes after the game that absolutely made my jaw hit the floor. So, let’s start with um let’s start with some of the things that John Hines had to say after the game last night. Um Hines was asked if his team at this point in the season is fragile to which he responded that u fragile is not a nice word. He said, “I think it comes down to consistency in our game.” And Michael Russo and Joe Smith note that he bristled at use of the word fragile. Like why why did we get outs skated? Why did we win a lot of faceoffs in the first period and then we didn’t win any faceoffs in the second half? It’s not about being fragile. It’s about doing the right things. It’s about having some toughness to you and digging in. Understanding when we’re in those situations that they matter. It’s not about being fragile. It’s about digging in and competing. If there’s a 5050 puck, you want the puck or you don’t want the puck. You’ve got to out compete them. That sounds fragile to me. Um just like just look at and I I don’t mean to get like semantics 101 here but um it’s about having some toughness to you and digging in. Team doesn’t have any of that. Uh understanding when we’re in those situations that they matter. It’s not about being fragile. It’s about digging in and competing. There’s a 50/50 puck. You want the puck or you don’t want the puck. you’ve got to out compete them. Would the fact that the Wilds do not consistently do those things, would that not by the letter of the law be the definition of a fragile roster. Kind of feels like it is. And as far as the Pittsburgh game goes, the Pittsburgh Penguins, as many teams have done to this Minnesota Wild team, this iteration, the Bill Garren Minnesota Wild, many teams have gone into situations in the second or the third period and understood that the game was there for the taking and they just go and they get it. And that’s what Pittsburgh did in last night’s game. They just sensed the moment. They sensed the situation and they went and they got it. They went and they grabbed the game and the Minnesota Wild were once again left holding the bill and uh once again were left trying to figure out what the heck is going on with this season. Uh, I want to try to further iterate the comments that Marcus Felino made last night as well because I in kind of the heat of the moment, I don’t think I iterated what he was saying well at all. Uh, Felo said, “I wish I had an answer. This just isn’t good enough. This isn’t even a team gripping their sticks. It’s a team that loses how we have to play the game. Oh, wait. No, I did I did iterate that effectively. So, this comes down to a couple of different things for me. Hines continues to preach competitiveness mentality, attack mentality, and you you’ve got to you’ve got to be physical. You’ve got to be tough. You’ve got to compete compete compete compete around the perimeter. Compete in the dirty areas. And the team does not do that. The team does not do any level of that consistently at all. Um the definition of the word fragile, easily broken or damaged. Take your pick. Uh, but it is a Minnesota Wild team that just at the first sign of adversity just melts. They just melt. They wither. They shrink away from the moment. I don’t know if it’s fear of making a mistake. I don’t know if it’s just being ingrained in this roster that Carell Capri off is the one to take care of the problems. I don’t know what it is, but it is second nature to this roster at this point. It’s second nature to many of the members on this team to slump, shrink, shy away while the other team steps in and makes the play. Uh you I continue to be just flumxed by the fact that this Minnesota Wild team has turned the whether it be the XL Energy Center or Grand Casino Arena. They they have turned this into a Hall of Horrors fitting. We’re on Halloween. Um in that it just there is no home field advantage anymore. There’s no home ice advantage anymore. The Minnesota Wild have been outscored 30-8 at home this season. That is unconscionable. And after two periods, you want to talk about stepping up and seizing the moment. After two periods at home, when the Wild Trail, they are 02-1. When the game is tied, they are 01-1. So unless they have the outright lead, which they’ve only done one time, unless they have the outright lead after one period, nobody’s stepping up to try to get it done. And overall numbers 05 and one when they trail after two periods, one and one when the score is tied after two. Again, seizable opportunities. And to this point, they have seized one of three. And it’s, you know, it’s not as if they’ve been trailing by crazy amounts in some of the games where they’ve trailed after two. They just they don’t have any level of let’s get back into this. It is a team that has accepted where they’re at. They’ve accepted their fate. They’ve resigned themselves to their fate. and as a result they continue to just look mostly awful um so far this season. So it is uh there’s no easy answer to this despite reports that Bill Garren has already started to scour the trade market for the magic elixir to try to shock this roster back to life. Billy, please just look at the roster. Uh we’ll talk about why the uh the Minnesota Wilds are on the prowl for another middle six forward that is on the way as we continue today’s episode of Locked on Wild after this. 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Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code lockdown NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms: Apply. That’s code lockdown NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Welcome back to today’s episode of Lockdown Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. Again, make sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. We are getting closer and closer to 3700 subs on YouTube. So, if you have not yet become one of those subs, make sure to subscribe, tell your friends. We uh we have a great time with it as evident by the uh 76 comments on last night’s postcast. Join if you have not already. Uh let’s let’s talk about a report that came out today from Daily Face Off that the Minnesota Wild have kicked the tires on another Middle Six ad. And I nearly threw my phone out the window when I saw this report. This came from today. Anthony DeMarco of Daily Faceoff had this to say. October doesn’t usually feature a lot of trades as the NHL’s first month back in action with teams looking to assess what they have and all starting off on an even playing field, especially with the parodyfilled modern-day NHL. There aren’t many teams aiming to break up their groups so early in the season. The Minnesota Wild, however, have started to take a peek at what might be available at the trade deadline. The Minnesota Wilds have, according to sources, uh they they talk about the off season and how the Minnesota Wild were in on Sam Bennett, Brock Nelson, uh and also Brock Besser. Uh, speaking with team sources, the Wild specific target at upgrading the center position was directly correlated to Marco Rossi kind of being at the uh, at the talks in the offseason. That’s not anything new. Uh, just kind of getting caught up to speed as to where we’re at in the process. But with Rossi staying put, the Minnesota Wilders still looking for potential additions. Now, Nazim Kadri is a name that is mentioned as a possible candidate. Uh, he has been linked to a couple of other teams. Another team that has been linked is the Boston Bruins. The Wild and the Bruins have done business before with swapping forwards, most recently last season when the former traded for Justin Brazo ahead of the trade deadline. Speaking with sources close to the situation, DeMarco says it is too early to say which forwards could be on the block for the Bruins. No duh. We’re 13 games into the season. Pavle Zacha is a name that has been in recent rumblings and also Casey Middlestat. I can tell you right now, Billy, a middle six forward is you’re going to add a middle six forward to an already crowded middle six roster of players that are playing are punching above their weight or trying to punch above their weight and you’re going to give up some you’re going to give up some assets to do it. Middlestat and or Zatcha would uh would slot in as probably your I don’t know your 2C which yeah it’s it’s not I’m not dismissing it. It is certainly a need, but again, we’re just going right back to the same attempted solution to fix these problems is trying to find somebody to slot into that middle six because the second line has been abysmally bad. The third line has not given you really anything as far as goals go. Do you want to do you want uh do you want a line by line look at where the goals have come from this season? We can certainly give it to you. Vladimir Terosenko has one goal in 12 games. Julen X got two goals. Matt Baldy currently on the second line has five, but he scored pretty much all of his goals from line one. So you got basically three goals on the second line. You have three goals on the third line. You have one goal on the fourth line. You have two of your bottom six that have goals. Yakov Trenan has two points. Vinnie Henstroza has two points. You have an entire bottom six outside of Ryan Hartman that is really giving you nothing. Danilov is being given eight, nine minutes a night despite being I think at this point, this isn’t crazy to say, one of the better defensive players, one of the better defensive forwards you’ve got as a young player because at least he plays defense. And Trenion’s getting roughly 13 minutes a night. Pitlick 8 and a half. Yurovv just over nine. Hinestroza is playing 11. Marcus Felino has no points this year. He is hurt or something worse. And Ryan Hartman’s got five total points. You just you just have so much of this roster that is incapable of scoring. And a jolt theoretically to the second line could maybe help, but a center grabbing a center doesn’t fix the wing position. Grabbing a center maybe helps you win some faceoffs. I just like I I just I don’t know. Like I I tweeted out when I saw this rumbling was for Garren to just look at the roster that he’s created. But I think that’s part of the problem is are we at a are we at a point where are we at a point where there’s even an admission that there’s a problem with what is currently going on with this this roster? I don’t think we’re at that point yet. It’s just a pretty bland, pretty boring, pretty vanilla roster that plays borderline unwatchable hockey. But this has been built for years going all the way back to 2021, 2022. This has been basically the same roster every year since. Minor tweaks here and there, basically the same roster. And the about 90% certainty for all of those guys that are locked in is that they have gotten older and have dealt with injuries. It is just folks, it’s not a well- constructed roster. It is incredibly topheavy. You’ve got arguably now three, maybe four players that can legitimately score you goals. But Bill Garren has the solution. Billy’s got the solution. Um, I’ve got some quotes from uh I’ I’ve got some uh I’ve got some quotes from Billy that uh that we’re going to get to to finish this episode. Boy, oh boy. Final segment of today’s episode of Lockown Wild. Once again, we thank you for making Lockdown Wild your first listen each and every day. Again, make sure to like and subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platforms so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. As a team, we have to be better. Bill Garren said Wednesday, “We’ve had too many off nights for this early in the season, but then there are some nights where it’s been like right there. We’ve missed opportunities. We’ve hit posts. We’ve missed empty nets. We’ve got plenty of bounces. If we go off the reservation, if we bail, then it’s just going to hurt ourselves more. We got to stay with it. Be a little more detailed, a little better. This is the most common refrain that we’ve seen from this um from this regime is that the players have to the players have to be better. But as we’ve talked about over the course of the last few years, there’s a very real possibility that is now turning out to be true is that you’re still you’re banking on career years for guys that were never going to be able to replicate that. Marcus Felino scored 22 goals in 2021 2022 and Bill Garren after that season said I expect him to do it again. Did he? No. Has he since? No. Because he is more like a 10 to 12 goal a season player than 20. And I like Marcus Felino, but expecting him to replicate a 23 goal 42 point season and to be able to match that level of production. It was not it was not ever going to be possible. He shot 23.5% that season. That’s not a sustainable number. Ryan Hartman scored 35 goals in 2021 2022 playing with Carrill Capri off and Matt Sakarelloo. Has he done it since? No. He scored 34 goals. Excuse me. Bill Garren said he’s going to he’s got to do it again. He has to do it again. Has he done it since? No. His second his most goals since is 21. But due to injury and otherwise, Hartman has not played 82 games in a season since. Hartman was never Hartman has always been, I would say, his more likely route as far as goals go. 15. But yeah, he’s going to be able to do 34 again. Like the entire premise of this roster was built on one season in which everybody had above average shooting luck. And has Vladimir Terasenko played abysmally bad? He’s been very up or down. But right now he has one goal. He’s on pace for seven. Bill Garren expected him to score 30 plus this year. I know a lot of this is just the stuff that you say to the media, you know, the stuff that you that you outwardly project the confidence. And I don’t disagree with that, but the whole premise of this roster was we have to get above average seasons from basically everybody on this roster. And they have been lucky to get average from those guys. They’ve been lucky to get average seasons from those guys. The depth is still a problem. You’re still you still have guys on the fourth line that are AHL guys that should not be in the the NHL. Ever since Bill Garren made the choice to go from a speed fourth line with Brandon Doo, Connor Der, and Mason Shaw. And I know Mason Shaw got hurt, so there was it was not likely that he was coming back. But Bill Garren made a choice. made a choice, an active choice to go from a player like Brandon Doo on the fourth line who brings you speed and spark, the two S’s, to go to Yakov Trenan as injury insurance for Marcus Feleno, who didn’t get injured, now he is, but Trenion’s not a he’s not a scorer. Trenion is a defense a defense and provides some physicality. The players on your roster that are physical right now, Ryan Hartman, Yakov Trenion, Jake Middleton, Zack Begoian, and Marcus Felino. That’s it. That’s all. Will the other players occasionally fight? Sure. But I I just I don’t get why you can’t have players that offer you something else. Why it has to be that that is their only contribution to the lineup. Brady Kachchuck is one of the baddest mfers out there for the Ottawa Senators. He scores goals, too. He can give you 300 hits in a season and can give you 30 goals. Matthew Kachchuck the same way. He plays with edge. He can also score. Bill Garren predicated his entire approach to this roster. He bet his entire legacy on an outlier season and the regression has just been sitting in the foundation like rot for the last three years. And now you’re starting to pull some of those floorboards back and it’s all rod. It is just like I keep going back and forth between is it coaching, is it roster construction? It honestly it’s pieces of both. It’s pieces of both. It’s the style that John Hines is trying to get this team to play that they just clearly have no interest in playing. It is a roster that is just going the exact opposite way that you should be and just continues to get older and more tired while the the league gets younger and faster. There are numerous culprits for why this team currently sits at three and nine. And you’ve got another home game coming up the fifth on this home stands and you currently sit 0 two and two at home. You’re one three and two at home. if that’s not cooked. And I I would think that I have watched this team play enough to know what is a slow start because they’ve done it before. The Wild have had slow starts before and they have rallied to they’ve rebounded and they’ve rallied. This doesn’t feel like that. This feels like who they are at this point. This feels like who this team is. And I I like I don’t I don’t know how you fix it. I mean, I’ve like could you pull somebody in to try to um jolt some life back in? Sure, you could try, but as we talked about in that Daily Faceoff article, it’s it’s too early for that. So, it is on this group, it is on this collection of players to figure out how on earth they got to this point. But as I see it, as I look at this roster, it’s been there the whole time, it’s been there since 2021, 2022, just getting older. And it feels like the general manager of the team was uh either oblivious to that or just frankly didn’t care. Neither of which is good. But this is a as far as slow starts go, as far as awful starts to the season, this has got to be amongst the worst that this franchise has ever seen. And it’s no coincidence that it happens in the 25th year that this team has existed. There’s supposed to be an entirety of a celebration and it’s been nothing but a funeral march so far this year. And I want to throw one more thing out there that I think has played a bit of a role in where this team is at right now. I asked Marcus Felino about this before the season started. Mark Andre Flurry was uh was in town, you know, watching the uh the Penguins take on the Minnesota Wild. I think Mark Andre Flurry brought far more to the room and was able to be kind of the pulse, the heartbeat for that roster the last few seasons. I think he did far more of that than we realize. And I think there is nobody that stepped in to fill that this season, which is why this team looks lifeless and dead. And there’s no easy answer for that either. There are no easy answers for anything that is ailing this team right now. And as this continues, if there is no improvement, that’s when there are going to have to be some big choices made. So, that’s our episode for today. We’ve got uh Central Division power rankings coming up later. Uh so, keep an eye out for those. I’ll give you a hint as to where the Minnesota Wilds check in this week, but we’ll still go through the entirety of the list. But, uh, make sure to like and subscribe if you have not already so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. We got new episodes for you every Monday through Friday. As part of the Locked On Network, we are your team every day.

The Minnesota Wild sit at 3-9 after another home loss, and the cracks in Bill Guerin’s roster construction are impossible to ignore. Coach John Hynes bristles at calling his team “fragile,” yet the Wild consistently wilt under pressure, getting outscored 30-18 at home this season. Marcus Foligno admits the team has “lost how we have to play the game,” while reports surface that Guerin is already scouring the trade market for middle-six forwards—the same band-aid solution that hasn’t worked.

Host Seth Toupal breaks down the eye-popping postgame quotes and examines how this roster’s foundation has been rotting since 2021-22, when career years from Ryan Hartman, Marcus Foligno, and others created unsustainable expectations. With Kirill Kaprizov carrying the offensive load, Vladimir Tarasenko struggling with one goal, and the bottom six providing virtually nothing, the Wild’s aging, top-heavy construction is finally catching up. Is this coaching, roster building, or both? The answers aren’t pretty.

Watch now to understand why this isn’t just a slow start—it’s who the Minnesota Wild really are.

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