The Wild has corrected a longstanding burden they have imposed on themselves – Minnesota Wild

As the dynamics of an NHL season continue to evolve, trends and patterns begin to form.

Only ten games per year, early trends may not hold up over an 82-game season. What is true now may not be true later, and vice versa. However, the Minnesota Wild would be wise to stay out of the box all season.

A key ingredient of the Wilds formula that fueled their fast start was their disciplined approach to limiting pointless penalties, which had put them at a disadvantage.

Through nine games in 2024-25, the Wild have won the least time in the NHL penalty box. They have only played 41 minutes in eight games, a stark contrast to last season.

The team had yet to take a major penalty until they visited Pittsburgh, where Brock Faber thought he would have some words with Sidney Crosby. However, he had to drop the gloves with Jack St. Ivany as payment.

The Wild were one of six teams in the league without a major until Faber was given five for fighting. They added nine extra penalty minutes to three penalties on an unusual evening. Still, Minnesota's intent is clear this season. They want to limit penalties to maintain full strength and take advantage of the power play. That's simple enough, and it works 6-1-2 in the first month.

Last spring, The Athletics reported that the Wild have coughed up seven third-period leads by one or two goals, good for eleven points lost in the standings.

By the end of the year, they missed a playoff spot by exactly 11 points. Last season the Wild were the third highest penalized team in the NHL with 938. They had the third-worst penalty kill at 74.5%. A combination that can derail a season and has contributed to the Wilds' disappointing year.

Several teams in the league prefer to keep their opponents honest. The New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins and Utah are all push 120 PIM in 10 games or less this season. Still, there are several reasons why Wilds' newfound approach makes sense.

First, it indicates discipline. That comes from Hynes, a detail-oriented coach. It's no coincidence that the Wild finished as the third-most penalized team last season. They also started the first ten games this year tied as the least penalized team, largely with the same group. That reveals their intentions, and they reap the first results of their disciplined approach.

The Wild completed a seven-game road trip and logged just 31 penalty minutes while winning five of seven games one in overtime. That's just 4.4 penalty minutes per game, including their nine minutes in Pittsburgh. Last week they defeated defending champion Florida Panthers at their rink 5-1, without committing any penalties.

Many Western Conference teams are disciplined, and those are the teams the Wild are competing against now and could likely face in the postseason. As of Wednesday, the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights, St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets are among those top 10 lowest penalty minutes this season.

The Wild also try not to expose their gruesome penalty killing. A worrying part of last season's team has carried over into this campaign. The team's PK% stands at 70.6%, fifth worst in the league, and lower than last year's unit third worst. Ultimately, the team can't afford to be in the box.

Conversely, the Wilds have been elite when they have been able to make the power play. With eight power-play goals coming into Tuesday, they were tied for sixth in the league with a 30.8% success rate with the extra man. That number dropped to 25.8% and seventh overall after failing to score with the man advantage in Pittsburgh. Still, it's a good sign to see the team finding chemistry on their power play.

The Minnesota Wild are doing very well early in the season. Now that they have proven that they can win with a disciplined approach, they need to ingrain this into the team's identity and rely on it.

Hynes want to the team to play fast and organized. That requires discipline and consistency to execute effectively, and it does. They want to get out of their zone quickly and use speed to allow their wingers to jump into the attacking zone. However, they cannot execute that style of play from the penalty area.

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