Welcome back.

It’s time for Daily Faceoff’s third annual NHL Prospect Pool Breakdown, looking at the best all 32 teams have to offer. We’re highlighting the top 10 prospects for every franchise, their biggest strengths and weaknesses and so much more.

The criteria for being labeled a “prospect” are simple: players generally have to have played in 50 or fewer NHL games or spent more time outside of the NHL than in it last year (Ivan Ivan, for example, spent more time in the NHL than AHL last year, making him ineligilble for this list). Players over 23 years old are not included, with goaltenders needing to be 25 or under.

Today, we’re breaking down the Minnesota Wild.

When Bill Guerin took over as GM, the Wild looked much more like the Minnesota Mild.

Their NHL team didn’t look great, and their pipeline was barren. However, while the big club continues to search for success, its scouting department has been thriving in recent years. There’s a good chance five players on this list below could become full-time NHLers out of training camp. That’s incredible, especially when you account that there’s some serious depth at every position.

Most of the top prospect pools come from teams near the bottom of the NHL standings, like the Chicago Blackhawks. So full marks to Guerin and Co. for building one of the most exciting pipelines in the game today.

Marat Khusnutdinov was the lone player from the top 10 to graduate to full-time NHL status last year. It never really worked out and he was shipped out to Boston in March. The extra year of development for everybody else might prove to be critical as the team looks to build a serious long-term contender.

Biggest Strength

This might feel like a cop-out, but the real answer here is the sheer amount of impact depth. Like, not just guys who are going to play NHL games – but real, serious threats to help the team go deep in the playoffs. Zeev Buium and David Jiricek are two of the best defensive prospects around, and Danila Yurov and Liam Öhgren are set to give the Wild some scoring depth in the bottom six. I’m not ready to give up on Jesper Wallstedt, either, given he was one of the best goalie prospects in the world just a year ago. Again, the fact we could see FIVE of these players becoming full-time NHLers next year is insane.

Biggest Weakness

It’s nitpicky, but the Wild don’t have much depth on the left wing. Some righties could move over so it’s not a huge deal, but the team doesn’t have much to work with behind Öhgren. Beyond that, I don’t feel too confident about any others in the system – but it might not matter if the depth everywhere else is so good.

Fast Facts:
NHL GM: Bill Guerin
Dir. Amateur Scouting: Judd Brackett
Dir. of Player Development: Brad Bombardir
AHL Affiliate: Iowa Wild
ECHL Affiliate: Iowa Heartlanders

TOP 10 PROSPECTS

*Jesper Wallstedt (Nick Wosika-Imagn Images)*

1. Zeev Buium, LHD, 19 (Minnesota Wild)

Acquired: Drafted 12th overall, first round in 2024

This is a player who is built for big-game moments. You look at those two World Junior Championships and his Under-18 title, too. Buium won an NCAA championship and he almost won another. This is a guy who has played so much meaningful hockey already at such a young age. I would like him to be a bit stronger, and I feel like if he just had an okay season in the NCAA then he probably would have gone back for another year to focus on being more physical. Many people like to compare Buium’s college career to that of Cale Makar. Makar was more important to UMass than Buium was to Denver, but Buium was more productive. He had two of the best seasons by a defenseman that I’ve ever seen, and now he’s set for the spotlight in Minnesota.

2. David Jiricek, RHD, 21 (Minnesota Wild)

Acquired: Traded by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2024

The Blue Jackets no longer saw a future for Jiricek in Ohio and shipped him out to Minnesota late in 2024. Unfortunately, an injury in the spring ended his season early, prematurely cutting off perhaps his most difficult campaign to date. He spread his time between four teams in the NHL and AHL and never seemed to find his groove. He didn’t even look that comfortable in the AHL, either. Jiricek has played a ton of pro hockey already at 21 years old, and he has been yo-yo’d a bit too much for my liking. But if he can bounce back fresh and ready to go next year, I still think the Czech-born defender can get the job done.

3. Danila Yurov, RW/C, 21 (Minnesota Wild)

Acquired: Drafted 24th overall, first round in 2022

*Danila Yurov (Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports)*

Yurov finished his fifth KHL season with a modest 25 points in 46 games, but he still played well with Magnitogorsk overall. Now, he’s set for his first year in the NHL, likely slotting in somewhere on the third line. Yurov can play center and the wing, and while he’s not huge, he does have some solid muscle. He’s an excellent skater who loves to chase after pucks and win battles, and he’s no slouch around the net, either. There’s a lot to like about Yurov’s game, and I’m excited to see how high he can push himself up the lineup this year.

4. Jesper Wallstedt, G, 22 (Minnesota Wild)

Acquired: Drafted 20th overall, first round in 2021

Saying last year was a struggle for Wallstedt is an understatement. He went 9-14-5 with an .879 save percentage in Iowa and struggled mightily in his two-game run with Minnesota. But now with Marc-Andre Fleury out of the picture, Wallstedt will have the perfect opportunity to prove the Wild right for selecting him 20th overall in 2021. He’s got desirable size at 6-foot-3, and he’s quite quick, too. Next, he needs to figure out the consistency and regain his confidence. Once viewed as the top goalie prospect outside of the NHL (and the top prospect on the Wild a year ago), Wallstedt has to work extra hard to establish himself as a legit long-term goaltending option.

5. Liam Öhgren, LW, 21 (Minnesota Wild)

Acquired: Drafted 19th overall, first round in 2022

Öhgren had a 24-game stint with the Wild last year, putting up a modest five points while playing around 11 minutes a night. It wasn’t much, but I felt like he made the most of it near the end of his time with the club, doing a lot to keep the puck in the offensive zone. Öhgren was great in Iowa, serving as one of the team’s premier offensive leaders despite playing around half the season. I like what he does with the puck, and while he isn’t aggressive, Öhgren seems to make his linemates better with his work ethic and passing ability. I think Öhgren can become a top-six threat for the Wild, and I expect him to get much more ice time this season.

6. Riley Heidt, C, 20 (Iowa Wild, AHL)

Acquired: Drafted 64th overall, second round in 2023

*Riley Heidt (Steven Ellis/The Nation Network)*

Heidt had another productive season, breaking the 90-point barrier for the third straight year. He wasn’t close to touching the 117 he had in 2023-24, but he still showed how great of a playmaker he is while not sacrificing his need to get pucks on net. Heidt will join Iowa for 2025-26, where he’ll look to keep the offense flowing. Some scouts don’t think he’s rounded enough to excel outside of a scoring role, but his natural ability to make things happen with the puck should give him an opportunity to generate quality opportunities at the next level. This year will be big for his development given he has plenty of other young talent to try and overcome.

7. Ryder Ritchie, RW, 18 (Boston University, NCAA)

Acquired: Drafted 45th overall, second round in 2024

Ritchie had his best WHL season to date, bouncing back from injury to put up 29 goals and 61 points with Medicine Hat. He won the WHL title after putting up a point-per-game in the playoffs, and was excellent to close out the season during the Memorial Cup – only failing to score in the final game. Ritchie is one of the more prominent CHLers to jet off to the NCAA next year, where he should get plenty of power-play time with Boston University. Ritchie should be in the hunt to make Canada’s World Junior team, too, and you have to imagine they’ll be all over him after watching him put up excellent numbers at various international events in the past. I want to see him get physically stronger at BU, but I like where his game is overall.

8. Charlie Stramel, C, 21 (Michigan State University, NCAA)

Acquired: Drafted 21st overall, first round in 2023

Stramel’s development has been quite fascinating to watch. At 6-foot-3 and more than 220 pounds, he’s got the size teams crave. However, the offense never materialized, and he ultimately left the University of Wisconsin after two years to join Michigan State. Suddenly, he transitioned from a depth player to a key piece of the team’s success, culminating in 27 points during his junior year. I think Stramel is going to be relegated to bottom-six duty in the NHL, but he should be good at it. He’s defensively aware and is a good playmaker, too. I just don’t see too much high-end upside, and I don’t think his senior year will change that.

9. Aron Kiviharju, LHD, 19 (HIFK, Liiga)

Acquired: Drafted 122nd overall, fourth round in 2024

*Aron Kiviharju (Steven Ellis/The Nation Network)*

I’m not ready to write off Kiviharju, who has had to play catch-up after a difficult draft year that saw him limited to just over 20 games total. Kiviharju had just 12 points in 52 Liiga games this past year, with his ice time fluctuating anywhere from 12 minutes a night to 19. He got more confident shooting the puck in the latter stages of the year, but it still looks like all that missed time two years ago really slowed down his development. It doesn’t help that he’s 5-foot-10, either. Still, I love what he does with the puck and I’m not giving up on him.

10. Adam Benák, C, 18 (Youngstown Phantoms, USHL)

Acquired: Drafted 102nd overall, fourth round in 2025

Benák was one of the biggest high-risk, high-reward players in this draft – and it mostly comes down to his smaller frame. But after taking Kiviharju in 2024, the Wild stuck with talent over (a lack of) size and snagged one of the most skilled playmakers available. The 5-foot-7 forward has the most points in Hlinka Gretzky Cup history and has generally been downright dominant at the junior national team level. And after a slow start in the USHL, Benák bounced back by putting up more than a point per game in the USHL while being more physically engaged, too. Benák played last year in Youngstown but was selected second overall in the CHL Import Draft by Brantford – a team I think he’d excel on, thanks to their wealth of talent.

The rest: Caedan Bankier, C (22), Rasmus Kumpulainen, C (19), Hunter Haight, C (21), Cameron Butler, RW (23), Lirim Amidovski, RW (18), Carter Klippenstein, C (18), James Clark, LW (20), Rieger Lorenz, LW (21), Nate Benoit, LHD (22), Aaron Pionl, LHD (22), Sebastian Soini, RHD (19), Justin Kipkie, LHD (19), Theodor Hallquisth, RHD (18), Stevie Leskovar, LHD (20), Carson Lambos, LHD (22), Kyle Masters, RHD (22), Jack Peart, LHD (22), Samuel Hlavaj, G (24), Riley Mercer, G (21), Chase Wutzke, G (18)

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