The Minnesota Wild’s playoff run came to a stunning end and there were many factors to blame including some questionable decisions by head coach John Hynes.
Because of those choices, many have felt that Hynes should be on the hot seat despite leading the Wild out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2015. But The Athletic’s Michael Russo dumped cold water on that theory by responding “No. Hynes is safe,” when asked about his job security on the social media platform X.
Keeping Hynes for next season isn’t an awful move. But with the possibility of a contract extension coming this summer, it could be the first big mistake the Wild make during an important offseason.
John Hynes’s case for an extension is far more complicated after Wild’s playoff collapse
The buzz of the Wild extending Hynes began back in March. Pierre LeBrun, who covers the NHL for The Athletic and TSN, listed Hynes as a candidate for an extension as he enters the final year of a three-year deal and instead of having him as a lame duck, it’s more likely Minnesota pays up to keep him around.
“He’s in pretty darn good shape to get an extension at some point. I can pretty much guarantee that,” LeBrun wrote. “The Wild under him have ascended as Cup contenders, aided by his [Wild general manager Bill Guerin’s additions.”
The case to extend Hynes is also aided by the improvement the Wild have shown over his first two full seasons as head coach. After posting 73 points (34-24-5) after taking over for Dean Evason during the 2023-24 season, the Wild recorded 97 points (45-30-7) during the 2024-25 campaign and 104 points (46-24-12) this season.
Getting out of the first round was also a big boost to Hynes’s case for an extension. But what happened in the second round should give the Wild some hesitation.
The Wild fell into an early series hole by dropping the first two games against Colorado, but had a chance to even the series in Game 4 after defeating the Avalanche 5-1 in Game 3. Instead of carrying that momentum over, Marcus Foligno suggested the Wild suffered from “brain fog” and lacked the “mental commitment to our game” via The Athletic's report by Russo and Joe Smith. This resulted in a 5-2 loss that put them in a 3-1 series deficit and while part of that is on the players, it’s fair to question whether Hynes’s message was getting through to his team.
The answer was “yes” for the first period of Game 5 when the Wild jumped out to a 3-0 lead. But Minnesota played prevent hockey for the rest of the game and allowed the Avalanche to come back for the 4-3 victory. In addition, Hynes went back to a leaky defensive pairing of Jake Middleton and Jared Spurgeon late in that game, which cost them the game and their season.
There are other small issues that were prevalent throughout the series including Kaprizov having one shot over the final two games, Boldy residing on a milk carton with one empty-net goal over the first four games and embarrassing performances on the penalty kill and special teams. But even if it’s dismissed as an outlier, Hynes is still a coach with an 11-25 record in the playoffs and an 0-6 record in elimination games.
Extending Hynes is a fine move. But it’s also a half-throttle one when the Wild should be flooring it to claim a Stanley Cup. They even have more appealing options as Kris Knoblauch, who led the Edmonton Oilers to back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances before being fired on Tuesday, and Bruce Cassidy, who won the Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights during the 2022-23 season, are available.
Instead, the Wild may be happy with extending Hynes. But it would be extending a status quo that wasn’t good enough to claim the Cup this season and must improve this summer.
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