All they need Tuesday is one point. If they can get to overtime vs the Ducks, Minnesota will officially make their 10th playoff appearance in the past 12 seasons. On paper, the Wild — who are heavy -260 favorites — should be able to secure an easy victory tonight over a hapless 35-37-8 Ducks team already thinking about the offseason.

Zeev Buium will NOT debut for Minnesota Wild on Tuesday

So, the Wild are not taking any chances. After signing his entry-level contract Sunday, former Denver Pioneer superstar Zeev Buium — the No. 2 overall prospect in the NHL (according to The Athletic) — is not in the Minnesota Wild lineup for tonight’s regular season finale.

Zeev Buium not in lineup. #mnwild

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) April 15, 2025

The decision is understandable, considering the circumstances mentioned above. As much as the Wild would like to see their shiny new toy in action, it’s too risky inserting him into a brand new lineup with a bunch of teammates he’s never even met, given a playoff berth is on the line.

Tuesday morning, Wild head coach John Hynes called it an “easy” decision to scratch Buium, not only because of the stakes tonight, but also because he just arrived and has yet to participate in a practice with his new team.

Buium could make debut during NHL Playoffs…?

Common sense says that, if he isn’t playing tonight, we probably won’t see Zeev take the ice in a Wild sweater until the start of the 2025-26 season, right? Maybe not. Hynes went on to tell reporters that the 19-year-old Buium could make his NHL debut in the playoffs, should Minnesota make win tonight.

John Hynes said it wasn’t an “easy” decision to not play Zeev Buium. It was combination of factors. Talked about Buium just getting here from Frozen Four, not having a full team practice, the high stakes of this game. Indicated could see action if make playoffs. #mnwild.

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) April 15, 2025

But wait, because I know Minnesota Wild fans will be disappointed that they cannot see Zeev Buium make his NHL debut Tuesday. There was more news that came from today’s press conference with John Hynes.

Related: Wild Division Rival Weirdly Obsessed with Minnesota at NHL Trade Deadline

Part of the reason why their top overall prospect isn’t playing vs the Ducks is because the Wild have gotten healthier since Sunday, when they played without two of their top defensemen vs the Vancouver Canucks.

Jared Spurgeon, Jake Middleton returning for MN Wild

Captain Jared Spurgeon was hit in the throat with a puck on Friday, which resulted in his absence Sunday. Meanwhile, Jake Middleton has been out of the lineup since April 4 with an upper body injury, after he took a nasty head-first spill into the boards 1.5 weeks ago vs the New York Islanders.

Spurgeon and Middleton in, Hynes said

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) April 15, 2025

So, while we all wanted to see Zeev Buium, it’s a good thing he isn’t playing tonight. Had either Middleton or Spurgeon not been able to go Tuesday, it’d be interesting to know whether or not the kid would have gotten a chance. No matter, because in this reality, he’ll be up in the press box.

This season, Jake Middleton (29 y/o) has played in 66 of the Wild’s 77 games, racking up 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists. His 95 shots are a career high, as is his 21:56 TOI. Jared Spurgeon has played 65 games, potting 7 goals and helping on 25 more. He’s averaging a career-low 20:26 TOI.

With just five games remaining, the 41-29-7 (89 points) Wild woke up before Sunday’s afternoon tilt against the Dallas Stars clinging to very flimsy four point lead over the Calgary Flames, who still have six games remaining on their schedule.

Calgary Flames charging fast up Wild Card standings…

The Flames are on a heater, of late (pun intended). They’ve won six of their last ten and they picked up points in two of those four losses (6-2-2). Meanwhile, the MN Wild are 4-4-2 in their last ten games, a record that seems to get worse every time they take the ice. Minnesota and Calgary will meet Friday Canada. The way it’s been going lately, there could very well be a playoff berth on the line.

Will Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek be back in the lineup by then? We still don’t know. But when the Minnesota Wild lost Jake Middleton to an apparent head/neck upper body injury during their last loss against the New York Islanders, it added even more stress onto an already thin starting lineup.

Middleton’s injury happened when Isles center Bo Horvat nudged the Minnesota Wild defenseman from behind, sending him crashing into the boards at an extremely awkward angle (see below). After the spill, the 29-year-old Canadian tough guy took awhile to get up. Eventually, the dazed former 7th round pick (kind of) skated off under his own accord.

Minnesota Wild release Jake Middleton injury update

On Sunday, MN Wild head coach John Hynes gave an update on Middleton’s injury, following an MRI and a couple days rest. Thankfully, it appears the 29-year-old avoided serious injury on that scary-looking fall.

No Jake Middleton today (upper body) but he is considered day to day as Hynes says: “he avoided major injury.” #mnwild

Chisholm in for him, Gus starts.

— Jessi Pierce (@jessi_pierce) April 6, 2025

Horvat, Middleton incident. pic.twitter.com/vNb4GhMlE4

— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) April 5, 2025

This season, Jake Middleton has played in 66 of the Wild’s 77 games, racking up 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists. His 95 shots are a career high, as are his 21:56 TOI. Seven years into his career, he is also averaging a career-high 21:56 minutes of ice time per game.

Wild need to get healthier, not vice versa…

Declan Chisholm, also Canadian, is starting in Middleton’s place vs the Stars. He has played 62 games this season, which highlights the trouble Minnesota has had staying healthy on their blue line. Chisholm has scored a pair of goals to go along with ten assists.

As mentioned, Middleton’s injury is just the latest example of an extremely difficult season for the MN Wild, in that department. They are still waiting on the return of both Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek, a patience that could prove futile if they don’t wind up making the NHL Playoffs.

Related: When Will Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek Return to MN Wild? We Still Don’t Know…

Minnesota is running out of time to get healthy, and they certainly aren’t in a position to be losing more players. It’s been a war of attrition this season, and the Wild are just trying to make it out alive.

With five games remaining, the Wild’s losing streak hit four games on Friday night, in the latest devastating loss of the past few weeks, this time at the hands of the also-crashing New York Islanders. At this point, the first wild card feels impossible. Instead, this looks like a team just trying to limp its injury-riddled roster to the finish line before anyone else catches them.

Still without forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov, the Minnesota Wild didn’t just lose the game last night, they lost one of their top defensemen, Jake Middleton, just two weeks after Jonas Brodin returned to the blue line. He missed the end of February and three weeks of March with a lower body injury

Jake Middleton becomes latest Minnesota Wild injury

The injury happened when Middleton was pushed into the boards from behind by Isles center Bo Horvat, who knew immediately afterwards that he had screwed up. His push wasn’t aggressive. No matter how subtle it might have been, the nudge caused Middleton to lose his edge and tumble head-first into the boards.

Middleton tried to brace for impact, putting his arms up to the boards, but he immediately crumpled to the ice after impact. Horvat immediately came to check on his victim, before calling for Minnesota Wild trainers. No punches were thrown and Middleton was gingerly helped off the ice a few minutes later.

Horvat, Middleton incident. pic.twitter.com/vNb4GhMlE4

— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) April 5, 2025

To John Hynes’ dismay, the penalty was only called a minor… and the MN Wild coach was livid, as was general manager Bill Guerin. After cooler heads prevailed, focus turned to the greater concern, which is obviously Middleton’s health. Horvat doesn’t have a reputation for being a dirty player, which is part of the reason why retaliation was so light.

Related: When Will Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek Return to MN Wild? We Still Don’t Know…

The Wild will put Middleton through additional tests on Saturday, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo, to assess the damage of his “upper body injury”. Minnesota is back home on Sunday against the Dallas Stars. If Middleton has to miss time, it’ll be the second stretch he’s lost due to injury.

On the season, Jake has 8 goals and 12 assists on 21.56 TOI per night, two minutes more per night than ever before during his seven-year NHL career. He isn’t the only one, though.

At one point or another, every key contributor of the MN Wild’s blue line has missed notable time with injury. That includes Brock Faber, whose four games missed was shorter than his linemates. Jonas Brodin has sat out missed 32 regular season games, Jared Spurgeon 15 and Middleton 11 (so far).

Minnesota goal!

Scored by Jake Middleton with 18:17 remaining in the 3rd period.

Minnesota: 2
Vancouver: 2#VANvsMIN #mnwild #Canucks pic.twitter.com/tyL5O4FY8w

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 4, 2024

Final stretch gets tougher for Wild

Minnesota is currently two points behind St. Louis (91 points) for the top wild card spot. Calgary is just five games back of the Wild’s final playoff spot, with 84 points. The Flames also have a pair of games in-hand. In other words, the Minnesota Wild are far from a cinch playoff team, with only five games left to play.

The Wild follow up Sunday’s home contest with one at The X on Wednesday against San Jose. Then, they cross the border to Canada to try and douse Calgary’s surging flame. That game will have massive implications.

Hynes needs his squad to pick up at least three wins over their final stretch of games, if they are going to avoid getting bumped out of the playoffs at the final horn of the regular season. Losing Jake Middleton would make the task all that much more difficult.

Jake Middleton activated for the Minnesota Wild vs St. Louis Blues

But on Tuesday, we got huge news regarding the blue line. After missing nearly a month with a broken finger that required surgery, the Minnesota Wild leading shot-blocker Jake Middleton — who was having the best season of his career before injury — has been activated off long-term injured reserve.

Joe Smith of The Athletic reported that Middleton was skating well in practice, Monday. So much so that you couldn’t tell he’d been out a month with a broken finger. He reportedly delivered a check on teammate Matt Boldy and was “stickhandling as he usually does.”

The #mnwild has activated defenseman Jake Middleton from Long-Term Injured Reserve and reassigned forwards Travis Boyd and Brendan Gaunce and defenseman Carson Lambos to the @IAWild.

— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) January 7, 2025

Jake Middleton moving around well in his first practice back #mnwild pic.twitter.com/BnEkaBjHee

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) January 6, 2025

This is a huge boost for a Wild blue line that is now without Middleton’s normal defensive partner, Jared Spurgeon, who was placed on injured reserve Monday, where he is expected to stay for two or three weeks.

What are Wild getting back with Middleton’s return?

Spurgeon is tied with Jonas Brodin for second on the team in shots blocked with 47, but neither come close to Middleton’s team-leading 65, despite him missing 11 games. The Wild are 6-5-0 in their games without Middleton patrolling the blue line, but they’ve won five of their last six, despite missing their superstar and Hart Trophy candidate, Kirill Kaprizov.

The big surprise for Minnesota has been the continued offense coming from the blue liners despite the loss of Middleton, who led the team’s defensemen in points with 11 before getting hurt.

Since then, Brodin has picked up five points to lead Wild defensemen, Declan Chisholm has contributed three points, Brock Faber and Zach Bogosian have added two each, and Jon Merrill has one.

Related: Minnesota Wild Upgrade Contract of AHL Goalie Due to Quiet Jesper Wallstedt Injury

The surprise addition of Middleton to a blue line that was effective in upsetting the entries of the highest shot volume team in the NHL (Carolina) should make for an even more stifling defense, too.

But on Thursday evening, before the Wild dropped the puck against the Caps, president of hockey operations Bill Guerin gave an update on all of the team’s biggest injuries. Let’ start with Kaprizov, who hasn’t played since December 23, when he suffered what Guerin would not confirm as a groin strain.

Minnesota Wild injury updates: Kirill Kaprizov day-to-day

All Billy would tell Wild reporters tonight is that Kirill’s injury is of the day-to-day variety, which makes sense since the Wild backdated his stay on injured reserve to before Christmas, meaning he can be removed any time.

Billy’s update on the Wild superstar wasn’t all positive, though. He still seems uncertain on how long Kirill Kaprizov will be out of the lineup, or how bad the injury really is. Nonetheless, it appears his extended absence is mostly out of precaution.

“We’re just still trying to work through what he has. The thing is that we don’t want him to come back and push through. He could, but it could make something worse. We need him for the long haul. We don’t just need him for a couple games in January.

Bill Guerin on Kirill Kaprizov’s injury – via The Athletic

As of Thursday night, Kirill Kaprizov still held the 2nd best odds for 2024-25 MVP (Hart). In 34 games prior to his injury, the 27-year-old Russian had just reached 50 points on the season (23 goals, 27 assists).

We also got updates on two injured Minnesota Wild defensemen on Thursday. Jake Middleton is trying to return from a shattered finger. According to Michael Russo (The Athletic), he has resumed skating and handling his stick, but has not returned to practice yet.

Jared Spurgeon, Jake Middleton good news

Jared Spurgeon got some good results back from his MRI. Guerin is not happy about the hit that injured the Wild captain, but the president of hockey operations labeled the injury “week-to-week”, which came off as positive news, compared to what they expected.

Bill Guerin told reporters Thursday night in the bowels of Capital One Arena that Spurgeon’s injury isn’t as bad as the team originally thought. “But it’s still bad enough because he’s not in our lineup,” Guerin said. “And obviously, that’s not great for our team.” Guerin listed the Wild captain as week to week, but he later said the team hopes to get Spurgeon back in two to three weeks.

Michael Russo – The Athletic

Prior to his injury, Middleton was enjoying the best season of his career, and playing like one of the best defenseman on the Minnesota Wild roster. Many forget that “Middsy” is only 29. And newly turned, too. Today is his birthday.

Related: Marco Rossi Just Keeps Getting Better… and the Minnesota Wild Need Him Desperately

In 29 games this season, Middleton has 5 goals and 8 assists. He posted 25 points last season, the highest of his career. It’s never good when your captain, and arguably best defender, is on the shelf. But it was very good to hear that the Wild got good news back on his tests yesterday. Two to three weeks is a lot better than two to three months.

Middleton’s 13 points this season are only one shy of his total from 2021-22 and two shy of the 15 points he gained all of 2022-23. The 29-year-old Canadian has also piled up a +22 point differential, when on the ice, easily the best of his career.

Related: How to Watch the NHL Winter Classic in 2024

Unfortunately, all of that changed rather quickly on Thursday night, when Middleton used his wrist to block a point shot from Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard. In the video below, you can see Middleton look down at his wrist/hand right, immediately when the puck ricochets away, and he knows something is wrong.

Jake Middleton is going on Minnesota Wild Long-Term Injured Reserve

Shortly after, the Wild’s top-4 blossoming defenseman skated to the bench, and never returned. On Friday, we got the bad news that Jake Middleton’s injury requires surgery, and a stint on Long-Term Injured Reserve, which means he must miss at least 10 games and 24 total calendar days.

Here is Jake Middleton’s injury. His night ended 37 seconds into his first shift. Struck on hand by one of the NHL’s hardest shooters pic.twitter.com/CmLT5RdQQ3

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 13, 2024

The #mnwild has placed defenseman Jake Middleton on Long-Term Injured Reserve.

— Minnesota Wild PR (@mnwildPR) December 13, 2024

This is just the latest blow the Minnesota Wild have taken, on the injury front. They’ve lost some of their best talents for large stretches of the 2024-25 season, including Jared Spurgeon early on, then forward staples like Mats Zuccarello and Joel Eriksson Ek, more recently.

Related: Minnesota Wild Trade 1st Round Pick for Top NHL-Ready Defenseman

Thursday, all three of those guys were back in the lineup, but the defense core was still missing Jonas Brodin. And now, that same group has lost Jake Middleton, just a quarter of the way through what was looking like by far the best season in his 6+ year NHL career.

But this weekend, the offseason heats up with the NHL Draft taking place on Saturday and Sunday. Then on Monday, free agency officially opens. The Wild have the 13th pick in the 1st round and six picks, in total, on the weekend.

Don’t get your hopes up for fireworks out of St. Paul, come Monday in free agency, or throughout the offseason, for that matter. President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin is digging under the seats at Xcel Energy Center trying to find more money to spend under the salary cap.

Minnesota Wild, Jake Middleton have contract extension tee’d up

But that doesn’t mean there won’t be any news on Monday morning. According to Michael Russo (The Athletic), the Wild have pretty much agreed to a long-term contract extension with defenseman Jake Middleton. It’s expected to be worth ~4 years, between $4 to $4.5 million per year.

Russo also notes that Guerin has yet to sit down with Brock Faber’s representation to talk about a possible record-breaking contract extension that could happen at some point this offseason.

Monday, Faber and Jake Middleton will be eligible to sign contract extensions (Middleton is close, I believe, while sources on both sides say they haven’t begun negotiations yet on Faber)

I think [Middleton’s] contract extension is already agreed upon and will be announced Monday or soon after in the four-year range for term and $4 to $4.5 million range for salary.

Michael Russo on Jake Middleton’s contract extension with Minnesota Wild – The Athletic

In 2024, Jake Middleton played more games than any of his five NHL seasons prior, posting 25 total points (7 goals, 18 assists), both career highs, as well. Of course, the MN Wild were short on both offensive and defensive talent last season, which is why Brock Faber was forced onto the first defensive line.

Related: Wild Reportedly in the Market for an Aging Big Name ‘Top-6’ Winger

That lack of back-end depth also meant more minutes and more reliance on Middleton, who finished with over 1,500 minutes of time on ice in 2024, nearly 300 minutes more than any other year of his career. He finished with a -15 +/-.

Matt Boldy makes it a 1-0 #mnwild lead off the feed from Jake Middleton pic.twitter.com/ZfYNDzQA6D

— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) February 24, 2024

Middleton still has one season left ($2.45M) on the three year contract that he signed in Minnesota back in 2022, but Guerin clearly doesn’t want to wait another year to lock him in long-term. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Once you are in Billy G’s clubhouse, he takes care of you. We all know that.

Related: Minnesota Wild Rebranding to North Stars Colors? Not So Fast…

In reality, this is probably one of the smarter veteran extensions Guerin has inked in recent years, but that isn’t saying much. Russo doesn’t mention whether or not Jake’s new deal will include a no trade clause or strong no-trade list… but if recent history is any indicator, you know it’ll have something attached to protect the veteran defenseman.

Jake Middleton gets Logan Stanley good in this tilt #mnwild #gojetsgo pic.twitter.com/Cd4woRqxzX

— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) February 21, 2024

The MN Wild have one year left in the cap hell created by the Parise/Suter contract buyout penalties that have dragged down the organization for the better part of five years (even before they were shipped out of town)

President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin is mostly stuck with what they have on roster, unless Guerin decides to shake things up with a Marco Rossi or Filip Gustavsson trade.

Minnesota defenseman Jake Middleton, who just dropped 6’7″ Logan Stanley (Winnipeg) last week, wouldn’t let that happen. The 28-year-old Canadian was thirsty for more violence tonight and found a willing participant in Nashville’s Jeremy Lauzon, who leads the NHL in penalty minutes. Ding. Ding. Ding. Let the haymakers fly.

Jake Middleton Beats Up Jeremy Lauzon

Saw this one coming a mile away. #mnwild #NHL pic.twitter.com/G7RNoBie6d

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) March 1, 2024

Look, a hockey fight is a hockey fight. Much like pizza, sex and video games, a bad fight is better than no fight at all. But this jam session between Middleton and Lauzon wasn’t just a good scrap… it was one for the books, mostly thanks to #5 in the Minnesota Wild sweater.

Related: Wild Sign Top KHL Prospect Marat Khusnutdinov to Help Immediately

Haymaker after haymaker landed and most of them were from Jake’s right hand; unofficially counting at least 13 successfully landed punches to Jeremy’s 2. The Wild defenseman completely dominated the scrap, but the punches he did take landed nicely. All and all, this fight was a solid 8.9/10.

I can’t stop watching… I’m upgrading it to a 9.1.

Related: Wild Score 10 Goals in Huge Win vs NHL’s Best; Kaprizov, Ek Both Pot Hat Tricks

Fast forward more than a month later and nobody was really sure how tonight was going to go. But when the puck dropped on the first period… hockey happened. No fights, no retribution, just hockey. That was, until just over two minutes remained in that initial period.

That’s when Jake Middleton could have killed Jets’ centerman Mark Scheifele, when his skate got caught in the ice right in front of the boards, causing him to trip and start head-first toward serious danger, with Middleton’s momentum pushing him from behind.

Minnesota Wild’s Jake Middleton drops Jets’ Logan Stanley with righty haymaker

At first glance, the hit looks egregious. But when slowed down, you can tell that Middleton hesitates with his hit at the last moment, a slight pause that very well may have saved Scheifele from serious bodily harm.

But again, a lot was happening in a short period of time and Winnipeg ‘enforcer’ Logan Stanley skated over to (politely?) protect his guy. Middleton immediately obliged and we had a scuffle on our hands.

Jake Middleton vs. Logan Stanley pic.twitter.com/bnBhFe8imQ

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) February 21, 2024

The first thing you noticed when these two started skating closer to each other, was just how big Logan Stanley is. At 6’7″ (without skates) the 25-year-old defenseman towered over Middleton. And when he got ahold of Jake’s #5 Wild jersey, it felt like sure doom was inevitable.

Related: Barring Collapse, Marc-Andre Fleury Has No Interest in ‘Bailing’ on Minnesota Wild

But then, Stanley let his guard down momentarily and Middleton got two or three quick shots in. Just like that, goodnight Irene, and Stanley was falling like a redwood pine. Tiimmmmmberrrrr!!! On the way down, Middleton got Stanley one more time with a righty haymaker.

Remember kids, it’s not always the size of the lion, but the size of the lion’s heart that matters. And on Tuesday night, even as he was getting whipped around by Hagrid from Hogwarts, Jake Middleton found a way to land one lights out blow, which is all it takes if you get them good enough. Unfortunately, the Wild couldn’t pull out a win in Winnipeg, losing 6-3.