Short-handed Wild have enough to beat Coyotes
TEMPE, Ariz. >> The Wild moved on without Brandon Duhaime on Thursday night, short-handed but with enough to give the Arizona Coyotes a game at Arizona State’s Mullett Arena.
Playing three forwards recently recalled from the American Hockey League, and without veterans Duhaime, Marcus Foligno, Marcus Johansson and Jake Middleton, the Wild still had enough in the tank to beat tanking Arizona 5-2.
Zach Bogosian and Joel Eriksson Ek scored third-period goals, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 23 of 25 shots as Minnesota rallied to beat a Coyotes team that has lost 15 of its past 17 games — including 14 straight from Jan. 24 to Feb. 29.
Mats Zuccarello had three assists, and Brock Faber and Connor Dewar scored empty-netters in the final 1:12 to seal the Wild’s second straight win.
Kirill Kaprizov gave the Wild a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal early in the second period, but Clayton Keller and Michael Carcone scored goals seven seconds apart in the third to take a 2-1 lead 1:28 into the period.
The Wild’s entire player personnel staff is on this trip and general manager Bill Guerin has about half a day to make another deal, if one presents itself, before Friday’s 2 p.m. Central Time NHL trade deadline. Duhaime was sent to Colorado for a third-round pick in the 2026 entry draft.
Asked about the prospects for more deals, Guerin said, “This morning was busy. This afternoon was not. It’s really tough to say. I think it’s kind of wait-and-see. We’ll get an early start tomorrow and see what happens.”
The Wild will see Duhaime Friday night in Denver, but he’ll be wearing blue. He was one of two pending unrestricted free agents who seemed likeliest to attract interest from teams looking to bolster rosters for the playoffs. Guerin signed one of them, Nick Bogosian, to a two-year, $2.5 million contract extension on Wednesday, then completed the Duhaime deal late Thursday morning.
That leaves center Connor Dewar, a restricted free agent at season’s end, and forward Pat Maroon, a UFA at season’s end and three-time Stanley Cup winner, but he is on injured reserve after back surgery.
Nearly every player with term left on his contract has a no-trade or no-movement clause in his contract, giving him the option to veto deals this year and beyond. That includes goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, Marcus Johansson, Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman.
Middleton is not one of them, nor is goaltender Filip Gustavsson.
Guerin said he suspects that if another trade is completed, it will be for a Wild player whose contract runs out at season’s end but added, “Hey, look, I don’t want to make promises or anything like that. We’ll see. We’ll see what happens.”
Minnesota has been plagued by injuries since before the season started, when team captain Jared Spurgeon suffered a serious upper body injury during a preseason game. With just 19 regular-season games remaining, nothing has changed.
Middleton was a late scratch on Thursday because of an upper body injury and was replaced in the lineup by Dakota Mermis. Foligno has been out since Feb. 9 with a lower body injury but could play Friday in Colorado.
Johansson was placed on injured reserve Thursday after he left Wednesday’s practice early because of a lower body injury.
Asked if he was getting calls for any players with no-movement clauses, even on a flier, Guerin said, “People know I’m not doing that. I’m not entertaining any of that.”