2020–21 Minnesota Wild season

The 2020–21 Minnesota Wild season was the 21st season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997.^[1] 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 would play this season in the West Division and would only play games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season and potentially the first two rounds of the playoffs.

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)
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

On April 24, 2021, the Wild clinched a playoff berth after a 6–3 win against the San Jose Sharks.^[2] They were eliminated from the playoffs with a 6–2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on May 28, after coming back from a 3–1 series deficit to force game seven.

Standings

Divisional standings

West Division

Pos	Team v t e	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

Source: National Hockey League^[3]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
e – Eliminated from playoff contention; p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.^[4]

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 [5] 2 January 16 Minnesota 4–3 Los Angeles OT Talbot 0 2–0–0 4 [6] 3 January 18 Minnesota 0–1 Anaheim Talbot 0 2–1–0 4 [7] 4 January 20 Minnesota 3–2 Anaheim Kahkonen 0 3–1–0 6 [8] 5 January 22 San Jose 1–4 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 4–1–0 8 [9] 6 January 24 San Jose 5–3 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 4–2–0 8 [10] 7 January 26 Los Angeles 2–1 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 4–3–0 8 [11] 8 January 28 Los Angeles 3–5 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 5–3–0 10 [12] 9 January 30 Colorado 5–1 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 5–4–0 10 [13] 10 January 31 Colorado 3–4 Minnesota OT Talbot 0 6–4–0 12 [14]
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 [15] — February 4 Minnesota – Colorado Postponed due to COVID-19.[16] Rescheduled for February 24.[17] — February 6 Arizona – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 16.[17] — February 7 Arizona – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 14.[17] — February 9 St. Louis – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 12.[17] — February 11 St. Louis – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19.[18] Rescheduled for March 25.[17] — February 13 Minnesota – Los Angeles Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 23.[17] 12 February 16 Minnesota 0–4 Los Angeles Kahkonen 0 6–6–0 12 [19] 13 February 18 Minnesota 3–1 Anaheim Kahkonen 0 7–6–0 14 [20] 14 February 20 Minnesota 5–1 Anaheim Kahkonen 0 8–6–0 16 [21] 15[A] February 22 Minnesota 6–2 San Jose Kahkonen 0 9–6–0 18 [22] 16 February 24 Minnesota 6–2 Colorado Kahkonen 0 10–6–0 20 [23] 17 February 26 Los Angeles 1–3 Minnesota Talbot 0 11–6–0 22 [24] 18 February 27 Los Angeles 3–4 Minnesota OT Kahkonen 0 12–6–0 24 [25]
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 [26] 20 March 3 Minnesota 1–5 Vegas Talbot 2,610 12–7–1 25 [27] 21 March 5 Minnesota 5–1 Arizona Kahkonen 2,541 13–7–1 27 [28] 22 March 6 Minnesota 2–5 Arizona Talbot 3,141 13–8–1 27 [29] 23 March 8 Vegas 0–2 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 14–8–1 29 [30] 24 March 10 Vegas 3–4 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 15–8–1 31 [31] 25 March 12 Arizona 0–4 Minnesota Talbot 0 16–8–1 33 [32] 26 March 14 Arizona 1–4 Minnesota Talbot 0 17–8–1 35 [33] 27 March 16 Arizona 0–3 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 18–8–1 37 [34] 28 March 18 Minnesota 1–5 Colorado Talbot 0 18–9–1 37 [35] 29 March 20 Minnesota 0–6 Colorado Kahkonen 0 18–10–1 37 [36] 30 March 22 Anaheim 1–2 Minnesota Talbot 0 19–10–1 39 [37] 31 March 24 Anaheim 2–3 Minnesota Talbot 0 20–10–1 41 [38] 32 March 25 St. Louis 0–2 Minnesota Talbot 0 21–10–1 43 [39] 33 March 29 Minnesota 3–4 San Jose SO Talbot 0 21–10–2 44 [40] 34 March 31 Minnesota 2–4 San Jose Kahkonen 0 21–11–2 44 [41]
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 [42] 36 April 3 Minnesota 2–1 Vegas Talbot 3,950 23–11–2 48 [43] 37 April 5 Colorado 5–4 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 23–12–2 48 [44] 38 April 7 Colorado 3–8 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 24–12–2 50 [45] 39 April 9 Minnesota 1–9 St. Louis Kahkonen —[a] 24–13–2 50 [46] 40[A] April 10 Minnesota 2–3 St. Louis OT Talbot —[a] 24–13–3 51 [47] — April 12 St. Louis – Minnesota Postponed due to the Brooklyn Center shooting.[48] Rescheduled for May 12. 41 April 14 Arizona 2–5 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 25–13–3 53 [49] 42 April 16 San Jose 2–3 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 26–13–3 55 [50] 43 April 17 San Jose 2–5 Minnesota Kahkonen 3,000 27–13–3 57 [51] 44 April 19 Minnesota 5–2 Arizona Talbot 3,481 28–13–3 59 [52] 45 April 21 Minnesota 4–1 Arizona Talbot 3,736 29–13–3 61 [53] 46 April 23 Minnesota 4–2 Los Angeles Talbot 1,091 30–13–3 63 [54] 47 April 24 Minnesota 6–3 San Jose Kahkonen 0 31–13–3 65 [55] 48 April 28 St. Louis 4–3 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 31–14–3 65 [56] 49[B] April 29 St. Louis 5–4 Minnesota OT Talbot 3,000 31–14–4 66 [58]
May: 4–2–1 (Home: 4–0–1; Road: 0–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 50[C] May 1 St. Louis 3–4 Minnesota OT Kahkonen 3,000 32–14–4 68 [59] 51 May 3 Vegas 5–6 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 33–14–4 70 [60] 52 May 5 Vegas 3–2 Minnesota OT Talbot 3,000 33–14–5 71 [61] 53 May 7 Anaheim 3–4 Minnesota OT Kahkonen 3,000 34–14–5 73 [62] 54 May 8 Anaheim 3–4 Minnesota OT Talbot 3,300 35–14–5 75 [63] 55[B] May 12 Minnesota 0–4 St. Louis Talbot —[a] 35–15–5 75 [64] 56[B] May 13 Minnesota 3–7 St. Louis Kahkonen —[a] 35–16–5 75 [65]
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)   Postponement

Playoffs

Main article: 2021 Stanley Cup 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 [66] 2 May 18 Minnesota 1–3 Vegas Talbot 8,683 1–1 [67] 3 May 20 Vegas 5–2 Minnesota Talbot 4,500 1–2 [68] 4 May 22 Vegas 4–0 Minnesota Talbot 4,500 1–3 [69] 5 May 24 Minnesota 4–2 Vegas Talbot 12,156 2–3 [70] 6 May 26 Vegas 0–3 Minnesota Talbot 4,500 3–3 [71] 7 May 28 Minnesota 2–6 Vegas Talbot 12,156 3–4 [72]
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	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
3	65	Daemon Hunt	D	Canada	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
5	146	Pavel Novak	RW	Czech Republic	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)

Notes

1. Spectators were in attendance, but the exact number was not reported.

1. The following games have been rescheduled:^[17]
   

   • Minnesota at San Jose originally scheduled for April 23, is now scheduled for February 22.
   • Minnesota at St. Louis originally scheduled for April 11, is now scheduled for April 10.
2. The following games have been rescheduled:^[57]
   

   • St. Louis at Minnesota originally scheduled for April 26, is now scheduled for April 29.
   • Minnesota at St. Louis originally scheduled for April 30, is now scheduled for May 12.
   • Minnesota at St. Louis originally scheduled for May 1, is now scheduled for May 13.
3. Minnesota's home game vs. St. Louis, originally scheduled for February 9, was rescheduled three times: first to April 12,^[17] then to May 12,^[48] and then finally to May 1.^[57] The schedule change was made due to COVID-19 protocol and the Daunte Wright shooting.