With the Stanley Cup behind us -- and still painfully out of reach for the Minnesota Wild -- the NHL offseason is nearly upon us. Before we can get to free agency, which hopefully sees Bill Guerin meaningfully get active in free agency for the first time this decade, the NHL Draft will take place and introduce us to the next generation of stars.
Unfortunately, Wild fans will have to wait until Saturday to see who the team picks, as Minnesota doesn't own a first rounder this year.
That's thanks to the fact that Minnesota traded away its first round pick as part of the David Jiříček deal last November. The Wild moved what ended up being the No. 20 overall pick for a guy who is four years removed from being a Top 10 pick, so it's not entirely a bad thing.
Minnesota sent three other picks and Daemon Hunt to Columbus as part of the deal. The first-rounder in question was conditional at the time, with the Blue Jackets getting it if it fell out of the Top 5 -- which it very much did.
How many picks do the Minnesota Wild have in the 2025 NHL Draft?
While they don't have a first round pick, the Wild have five selections throughout the draft. One of those the team picked up recently, a fourth round pick from the Seattle Kraken as part of the Freddy Gaudreu trade earlier this week.
That pick is No. 102 overall, and it's one of a string of picks the Wild acquired in trades.
Minnesota's other fourth-round pick belonged to the Toronto Maple Leafs but was part of the Ryan O'Reilly trade back at the deadline in 2023. The team's fifth-round pick is from Columbus and is part of the Jiříček trade.
Round (Pick) | Selection | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2 (52) | ||
4 (102) | From Seattle | |
4 (121) | From Toronto | |
5 (141) | From Columbus | |
6 (180) |
This marks the first time since 2017 that Minnesota doesn't have a first round pick in the draft. That year the Wild traded its pick to Arizona in exchange for Martin Hanzal and Ryan White as they tried to make the most of the championship window at that time.
It's a bit of a bummer that we won't see the Wild make a pick until the second day of the draft, but it's not like the pick was burned in a bad deal. Jiříček still has work to do, but he's only 21 years old and has tremendous upside as a defenseman. Let's not gloss over the fact that if he's a former No. 6 overall pick and would likely be picked sooner than 20th overall if he were in this year's class.
So look at it less as the Wild don't have a first-rounder this year and more as they spent it on a Top 6 pick back in 2022. At least, that'll make watching the first night of the NHL Draft a little easier on the stomach for fans in Minnesota.
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