Ryan S. ClarkMay 9, 2026, 08:00 AM ETCloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.Follow on XMultiple Authors
play0:48Welcome to Minnesota! Quinn Hughes scores his first goal for the WildQuinn Hughes scores his first goal for the Wild to give them a 4-0 lead vs. the Bruins.
play0:58Matt Boldy’s two empty-netters seal series win for MinnesotaThe Wild crowd erupts as Matt Boldy’s two empty-net goals seal it for the Wild to surpass the Stars in Game 6.
Kirill Kaprizov takes just 6 seconds to equalize for Minnesota (0:39)Kirill Kaprizov takes just 6 seconds to equalize for Minnesota (0:39)
Welcome to Minnesota! Quinn Hughes scores his first goal for the WildQuinn Hughes scores his first goal for the Wild to give them a 4-0 lead vs. the Bruins.
Matt Boldy’s two empty-netters seal series win for MinnesotaThe Wild crowd erupts as Matt Boldy’s two empty-net goals seal it for the Wild to surpass the Stars in Game 6.
The Wild crowd erupts as Matt Boldy’s two empty-net goals seal it for the Wild to surpass the Stars in Game 6.
They could have left whenever it came time to enter free agency, or when the Wild underwent a coaching change or there was a new general manager. Instead, they chose to stay through trying times with the intent of helping the Wild become a team that could make a serious push to win the Western Conference, and perhaps, a Stanley Cup.
So what was it that made them decide to stay loyal, while also developing the sort of culture so that when they leave the Wild, the club is in a better place than how they found it?
“It can be the training staff, everyone within the dressing room or even everyone who works in the building. When you see the same people every day, you treat them with respect and that’s something we’ve done so guys do the same thing when they’re trying to find their own way.”
SPURGEON WAS DRAFTED by the New York Islanders in 2008 but did not sign with them; he inked a deal with the Wild in 2010. Brodin was the Wild’s first-round pick in 2011, and Eriksson Ek was a first-rounder in 2015. Foligno was traded to Minnesota in 2017, and Zuccarello signed as a free agent in 2019 after playing for the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars.
That group has gone through at least three different head coaches and numerous assistants in that time. They’ve heard different visions from different general managers like Chuck Fletcher or Paul Fenton.
They’ve had to suffer through seasons when the Wild didn’t have the salary cap space to make a major move. They’ve had to be part of teams that had to use everything within reach just to qualify for the playoffs. They’ve also been on teams that have done a lot only to then miss the playoffs.
So why stay? What made them each sign multiple contracts with the Wild, if this is what came with playing for the club? Why continue to go through that when they were each more than talented enough to go elsewhere?
Guerin, who played 18 seasons in the NHL, was hired by the Wild in August 2019. He joined the organization at a sensitive time. The Wild, who missed the playoffs the season before they hired Guerin, were a perennial playoff team that hadn’t made it to the second round since 2015.
At the time Guerin took over, there were other concerns. Brodin, Foligno and Spurgeon were all within a year of the Wild no longer having team control. That meant they could potentially leave if they were to reach the open market.
Marcus Foligno expressed some similar thoughts when it came to Guerin, his message and how he got everyone to buy into what he was trying to build with the Wild.
Guerin signed Spurgeon to a seven-year deal worth $7.575 million annually in September 2019, and signed Brodin to a seven-year contract worth $6 million annually in September 2020. He then signed Foligno to a three-year deal worth $3.1 million annually in January 2021. Eriksson Ek signed an eight-year deal worth $5.25 million annually in July 2021.
That 2021 summer, the Wild bought out the identical 13-year contracts worth $98 million that were signed by Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in 2012. A year after those contracts were signed, the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement that limited maximum contracts to eight years.
Those buyouts, which had four years remaining, brought immediate savings to the Wild. They were able to recoup more than $10 million in cap space. But it came with the caveat that the second year of those buyouts went from costing a combined $4.7 million against the cap to $12.743 million, before surging to $14.743 million in the third and fourth years.
That salary cap strain amplified the need for the Wild to build one of the NHL’s strongest farm systems. Guerin hired Judd Brackett as the Wild’s director of amateur scouting, which led them to draft players like Zeev Buium, Marat Khusnutdinov, Liam Ohgren, Marco Rossi and Boldy.
Brackett was instrumental in helping the Wild identify Faber as a prospect they wanted in return as part of the trade that sent Kevin Fiala to the Los Angeles Kings in 2022.
Although Boldy is the only one from that particular group who’s on the roster, the players that Brackett drafted helped Guerin build the team that’s currently trying to change its fortunes and advance to the Western Conference finals.
The Wild used Buium, Ohgren and Rossi as part of the package that landed them Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks earlier this season, a move that pushed the Wild into the conversation as one of the West’s top contenders.
Welcome to Minnesota! Quinn Hughes scores his first goal for the Wild
Quinn Hughes scores his first goal for the Wild to give them a 4-0 lead vs. the Bruins.
“He’s always joking, but at the same time, he’s honest with you and that’s real. You don’t get that very often. You don’t get someone that’s just like the culture they’re trying to build. But he’s also put this in our hands where you know that this is your team and this is your foundation.”
It has all the amenities of a contemporary NHL dressing room with the gigantic wooden stalls and padded leather seating. There’s also a spacious players’ lounge and a strength and conditioning facility that’s designed to make players feel welcome whenever they spend countless hours at work.
The stalls of Brodin, Eriksson Ek, Foligno, Spurgeon and Zuccarello are part of the mural, along with those of Boldy, Faber and Kaprizov. This is how the Wild show — and not just tell — who is at the heart of their organization.
“I love it here and I think it’s the same thing with those guys,” Boldy said. “We have an unbelievable core that wants to win here and make a difference here and loves to be here. The way we’re treated, the staff that we have. It’s everyone from top to bottom. That’s equipment managers, coaches, chefs, everything. It’s the top of the line. I don’t know it any other way but it’s one of those things where the grass isn’t always greener. We got it pretty good.”
Boldy, who debuted during the 2021-22 season, said that the Wild’s veterans have created a culture that has allowed every player who has come into the dressing room to feel comfortable and confident to be themselves.
“Nobody wants to come here and try to be somebody they’re not,” Boldy said. “I think that’s been the biggest thing ever since my first day. … You’re not just showing up and putting on a face. Jared, Marcus, all these guys, that’s a big thing for them. If you’re able to show up as yourself, you can perform like yourself.”
Matt Boldy’s two empty-netters seal series win for Minnesota
Nick Foligno said his brother’s time in Minnesota has allowed him to understand why players feel the need to remain with the Wild. He has seen how Wild fans have treated his brother and how they have nicknamed him “Moose” in a way that bellows throughout the Grand Casino Arena walls.
He has seen the way they have taken those younger players like Boldy, Faber and Kaprizov and treated them as if they’ve been with the Wild forever. Nick Foligno said having fans who care that much does “trickle into our game” while adding how playing for the Wild means something to a lot of people.
His brother Marcus, for example, had a second chance to leave in free agency when the three-year deal he signed with the Wild was slated to end in 2024. Instead, he signed a new four-year deal worth $4 million annually in 2023 that will see him remain with the team through the end of the 2027-28 season.
“When you feel like you have an opportunity to be a core piece of an organization, I think you exert all options,” Nick said. “And I think Marcus felt that. He could be a real difference-maker and understood that impact. There’s not a lot of guys who play like Marcus, and every team wants a guy like that. He’s someone who fights for his teammates and he’s got an identity that’s respected here.
And what was Marcus wearing the day before they faced the Avs? A black hat that read “THE NEXT LEVEL” in white cursive script.
“I’ve been fortunate to be here for nine seasons,” Marcus said. “It’s been an absolute blast. Do I want to complete it and keep pushing here? Absolutely.”
Kirill Kaprizov takes just 6 seconds to equalize for Minnesota (0:39)Kirill Kaprizov takes just 6 seconds to equalize for Minnesota (0:39)
Ryan S. ClarkMay 9, 2026, 08:00 AM ETCloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.Follow on XMultiple Authors
Each gives various answers, and it all starts with one person: Wild general manager Bill Guerin.
This is, in a sense, another example of what loyalty looks like.
Kirill Kaprizov takes just 6 seconds to equalize for Minnesota (0:39)
CloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.Follow on X