The Minnesota Wild made it to the Olympic break tied with Tampa Bay and Carolina for the second-most points in the NHL (78).
Only Central division rival Colorado — which once held a 10+ point lead on the entire league — has collected more than the MN Wild. But now just five points up (83), even the Avs are seeing flashes of Christmas colors in the rearview mirror.
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Minnesota Wild players, coaches, execs flip Olympic switch
Now, Minnesota’s president of hockey operations, Bill Guerin — along with NINE players throughout the Wild organization (not named Kirill Kaprizov) — are in Italy, getting ready for the Olympic men’s hockey tournament to start — Team USA’s first group play matchup is Thursday (Feb. 12) vs Latvia.
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Joel Eriksson Ek – Sweden
Filip Gustavsson – Sweden
Jesper Wallstedt – Sweden
Jonas Brodin – Sweden (OUT – Injury)
Unfortunately for Jonas Brodin and Team Sweden, the 32-year-old defenseman had to duck out of what would have been his first ever Olympic Games. Brodin has been on injured reserve since January 15, after he underwent surgery on a lingering lower-body injury.
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But apparently, Brodin isn’t the only injured Minnesota Wild player selected by his country for the 2026 Winter Olympics. He’s just the only one sitting out…
Quinn Hughes playing in Olympics injured…
Obviously, 50+ games into the NHL season, guys are going to be banged up. But according to Michael Russo and Joe Smith (The Athletic), there is specific concern surrounding the health of recently acquired superstar Quinn Hughes.
The local NHL insiders write that Minnesota’s new superstar is going into the 2026 Olympic Games with a lower body “issue” that was at least partially induced by his absurd of 28:16 average TOI, since arriving in Minnesota.
Somewhat. Anytime you have such a significant player playing the kind of minutes Hughes is — averaging a career high 28:16 — you wonder if the heavy workload will lead to injury. Hughes is already dealing with a lower-body issue as it is, according to league sources, and now he’s going to the Olympics and is expected to play a major role for Team USA.
If you’ve been watching Minnesota Wild games, since the Hughes trade was completed, you know exactly why he’s playing so much, especially since Brodin’s injury. The team is just better when he’s on the ice.
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As a member of the Wild, Hughes has already piled up 34 points (4 goals), second only to Kirill Kaprizov’s 36 Points (14 goals) in that same timeframe.
Injuries on the blue line are going to happen. Obviously, the Wild don’t want to lose a step defensively, when a talent like Brodin leaves the lineup. But responding with 30 minutes of Quinn Hughes isn’t the correct answer.
Not unless you want him to land on IR next.
Hughes needs to do a better job of protecting himself
Russo and Smith aren’t placing all of the TOI blame on MN Wild coaches or their PoHO, however. The 26-year-old superstar needs to do a better job of managing his own minutes by getting off the ice when his shifts are over.
Hughes has played more than 30 minutes in six of his first 25 games with the Wild. It’ll be interesting to see how coach John Hynes manages his and Brock Faber’s minutes down the stretch. But a lot of this is on Hughes, too. His shift lengths are long.
Related: Quinn Hughes Coming Around on MN Wild Contract Extension
Quinn Hughes has played 26 games with the Wild — which is the same number he suited up for the Canucks this season. His arrival in Minnesota has been an instant jolt of offense for a team that desperately needed more output from the blue line. But we’ve also seen how too much ice time can affect his hockey.
So, after he gets through the Olympics without aggravating his lower-body injury further, let’s fix this ice time problem before something bad happens.
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