2020–21 Minnesota Wild season

2020–21 Minnesota Wild
Division	3rd West
2020–21 record	35–16–5
Home record	21–5–2
Road record	14–11–3
Goals for	181
Goals against	160
Team information
General manager	Bill Guerin
Coach	Dean Evason
Captain	Jared Spurgeon
Alternate captains	Zach Parise Ryan Suter
Arena	Xcel Energy Center
Minor league affiliate(s)	Iowa Wild (AHL) Allen Americans (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Kirill Kaprizov (27)
Assists	Jordan Greenway (26)
Points	Kirill Kaprizov (51)
Penalty minutes	Carson Soucy (51)
Plus/minus	Carson Soucy (+22)
Wins	Cam Talbot (19)
Goals against average	Cam Talbot (2.63)

The 2020–21 Minnesota Wild season was the 21st season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997. This was the first time since the 2005–06 season that Mikko Koivu was not on the roster after he signed a contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Wild played this season in the West Division and only played games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season and the first round of the playoffs.

On April 24, the Wild clinched a playoff berth after a 6–3 win against the San Jose Sharks.

Standings

Divisional standings

West Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – Colorado Avalanche	56	39	13	4	35	197	133	+64	82
2	x – Vegas Golden Knights	56	40	14	2	30	191	124	+67	82
3	x – Minnesota Wild	56	35	16	5	27	181	160	+21	75
4	x – St. Louis Blues	56	27	20	9	19	169	170	−1	63
5	e – Arizona Coyotes	56	24	26	6	19	153	176	−23	54
6	e – Los Angeles Kings	56	21	28	7	19	143	170	−27	49
7	e – San Jose Sharks	56	21	28	7	15	151	199	−48	49
8	e – Anaheim Ducks	56	17	30	9	11	126	179	−53	43

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.

2020–21 game log: 35–16–5 (Home: 21–5–2 ; Road: 14–11–3)
January: 6–4–0 (Home: 3–3–0 ; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 14 Minnesota 4–3 Los Angeles OT Talbot 0 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 January 16 Minnesota 4–3 Los Angeles OT Talbot 0 2–0–0 4 Recap 3 January 18 Minnesota 0–1 Anaheim Talbot 0 2–1–0 4 Recap 4 January 20 Minnesota 3–2 Anaheim Kahkonen 0 3–1–0 6 Recap 5 January 22 San Jose 1–4 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 4–1–0 8 Recap 6 January 24 San Jose 5–3 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 4–2–0 8 Recap 7 January 26 Los Angeles 2–1 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 4–3–0 8 Recap 8 January 28 Los Angeles 3–5 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 5–3–0 10 Recap 9 January 30 Colorado 5–1 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 5–4–0 10 Recap 10 January 31 Colorado 3–4 Minnesota OT Talbot 0 6–4–0 12 Recap
February: 6–2–0 (Home: 2–0–0 ; Road: 4–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 11 February 2 Minnesota 1–2 Colorado Talbot 0 6–5–0 12 Recap — February 4 Minnesota – Colorado Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for February 24. — February 6 Arizona – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 16. — February 7 Arizona – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 14. — February 9 St. Louis – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 12. — February 11 St. Louis – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 25. — February 13 Minnesota – Los Angeles Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 23. 12 February 16 Minnesota 0–4 Los Angeles Kahkonen 0 6–6–0 12 Recap 13 February 18 Minnesota 3–1 Anaheim Kahkonen 0 7–6–0 14 Recap 14 February 20 Minnesota 5–1 Anaheim Kahkonen 0 8–6–0 16 Recap 15 February 22 Minnesota 6–2 San Jose Kahkonen 0 9–6–0 18 Recap 16 February 24 Minnesota 6–2 Colorado Kahkonen 0 10–6–0 20 Recap 17 February 26 Los Angeles 1–3 Minnesota Talbot 0 11–6–0 22 Recap 18 February 27 Los Angeles 3–4 Minnesota OT Kahkonen 0 12–6–0 24 Recap
March: 9–5–2 (Home: 8–0–0 ; Road: 1–5–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 19 March 1 Minnesota 4–5 Vegas OT Talbot 2,605 12–6–1 25 Recap 20 March 3 Minnesota 1–5 Vegas Talbot 2,610 12–7–1 25 Recap 21 March 5 Minnesota 5–1 Arizona Kahkonen 2,541 13–7–1 27 Recap 22 March 6 Minnesota 2–5 Arizona Talbot 3,141 13–8–1 27 Recap 23 March 8 Vegas 0–2 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 14–8–1 29 Recap 24 March 10 Vegas 3–4 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 15–8–1 31 Recap 25 March 12 Arizona 0–4 Minnesota Talbot 0 16–8–1 33 Recap 26 March 14 Arizona 1–4 Minnesota Talbot 0 17–8–1 35 Recap 27 March 16 Arizona 0–3 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 18–8–1 37 Recap 28 March 18 Minnesota 1–5 Colorado Talbot 0 18–9–1 37 Recap 29 March 20 Minnesota 0–6 Colorado Kahkonen 0 18–10–1 37 Recap 30 March 22 Anaheim 1–2 Minnesota Talbot 0 19–10–1 39 Recap 31 March 24 Anaheim 2–3 Minnesota Talbot 0 20–10–1 41 Recap 32 March 25 St. Louis 0–2 Minnesota Talbot 0 21–10–1 43 Recap 33 March 29 Minnesota 3–4 San Jose SO Talbot 0 21–10–2 44 Recap 34 March 31 Minnesota 2–4 San Jose Kahkonen 0 21–11–2 44 Recap
April: 10–3–2 (Home: 4–2–1 ; Road: 6–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 35 April 1 Minnesota 3–2 Vegas SO Talbot 3,950 22–11–2 46 Recap 36 April 3 Minnesota 2–1 Vegas Talbot 3,950 23–11–2 48 Recap 37 April 5 Colorado 5–4 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 23–12–2 48 Recap 38 April 7 Colorado 3–8 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 24–12–2 50 Recap 39 April 9 Minnesota 1–9 St. Louis Kahkonen — 24–13–2 50 Recap 40 April 10 Minnesota 2–3 St. Louis OT Talbot — 24–13–3 51 Recap — April 12 St. Louis – Minnesota Postponed due to the Brooklyn Center shooting. Rescheduled for May 12. 41 April 14 Arizona 2–5 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 25–13–3 53 Recap 42 April 16 San Jose 2–3 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 26–13–3 55 Recap 43 April 17 San Jose 2–5 Minnesota Kahkonen 3,000 27–13–3 57 Recap 44 April 19 Minnesota 5–2 Arizona Talbot 3,481 28–13–3 59 Recap 45 April 21 Minnesota 4–1 Arizona Talbot 3,736 29–13–3 61 Recap 46 April 23 Minnesota 4–2 Los Angeles Talbot 1,091 30–13–3 63 Recap 47 April 24 Minnesota 6–3 San Jose Kahkonen 0 31–13–3 65 Recap 48 April 28 St. Louis 4–3 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 31–14–3 65 Recap 49 April 29 St. Louis 5–4 Minnesota OT Talbot 3,000 31–14–4 66 Recap
May: 4–2–1 (Home: 4–0–1 ; Road: 0–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 50 May 1 St. Louis 3–4 Minnesota OT Kahkonen 3,000 32–14–4 68 Recap 51 May 3 Vegas 5–6 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 33–14–4 70 Recap 52 May 5 Vegas 3–2 Minnesota OT Talbot 3,000 33–14–5 71 Recap 53 May 7 Anaheim 3–4 Minnesota OT Kahkonen 3,000 34–14–5 73 Recap 54 May 8 Anaheim 3–4 Minnesota OT Talbot 3,300 35–14–5 75 Recap 55 May 12 Minnesota 0–4 St. Louis Talbot — 35–15–5 75 Recap 56 May 13 Minnesota 3–7 St. Louis Kahkonen — 35–16–5 75 Recap
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)       Postponement

Playoffs

2021 Stanley Cup playoffs
West Division First Round vs. (W2) Vegas Golden Knights: Vegas won 4–3 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 16 Minnesota 1–0 Vegas OT Talbot 8,683 1–0 Recap 2 May 18 Minnesota 1–3 Vegas Talbot 8,683 1–1 Recap 3 May 20 Vegas 5–2 Minnesota Talbot 4,500 1–2 Recap 4 May 22 Vegas 4–0 Minnesota Talbot 4,500 1–3 Recap 5 May 24 Minnesota 4–2 Vegas Talbot 12,156 2–3 Recap 6 May 26 Vegas 0–3 Minnesota Talbot 4,500 3–3 Recap 7 May 28 Minnesota 2–6 Vegas Talbot 12,156 3–4 Recap
Legend:       Win       Loss

Draft picks

See also: List of Minnesota Wild draft picks

Below are the Minnesota Wild's selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was held on October 6–7, 2020, virtually via video conference call from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	9	Marco Rossi	C	Austria	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
2	37	Marat Khusnutdinov	C	Russia	SKA-1946 (MHL)
2	39	Ryan O'Rourke	D	Canada	Soo Greyhounds (OHL)
3	65	Daemon Hunt	D	Canada	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
5	146	Pavel Novak	RW	Czech Republic	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)