- Wild are closing in on a contract extension for head coach John Hynes
- Announcement is expected as training camp opens next month
- Read below for what Bill Guerin said about his coach in May
John Hynes is not going to coach out the last year of his contract in Minnesota.
The Wild are “closing in on extending” their head coach, Michael Russo of The Athletic reported Tuesday. Russo wrote that the new deal is expected to be announced as training camp approaches next month.
Hynes, 51, took the job in late November of 2023 after Minnesota fired Dean Evason five weeks into the season. He went 34-23-6 the rest of that year and has taken the Wild to the playoffs in both full seasons since.
Last season was the best of his career. Minnesota went 46-24-12 and finished third in the Central, the highest single-season winning percentage Hynes has posted in more than 11 years as an NHL head coach.
Minnesota knocked out Dallas in six games for its first playoff series win since 2015. Colorado ended the run in the second round, and that one stung, because the Wild carried a 3-0 lead into the third period of Game 5 and lost 4-3 in overtime.
Some of the fan base wanted a coaching change anyway. Bill Guerin shut that down at the team’s postseason press conference in May, with Hynes sitting right beside him.
“I thought John did a great job this year. You guys know I’m a big believer in John and what he does and how he operates. I see it first-hand.”
Watch the full session with Guerin and Hynes:
Guerin trusts him enough to hand him another job, too. He put Hynes on the Team USA staff he built for the Milano-Cortina Olympics, and the Americans came home with gold.
Locking up the coach still leaves the bigger piece of business open. Quinn Hughes has one season left before he can hit unrestricted free agency, and owner Craig Leipold guaranteed back in June that the Wild would get him re-signed.
That one has not moved. Elliotte Friedman said this week that talks between Hughes and the Wild have gone quiet, and that he would start to worry if nothing is done by opening night.
One extension is close to done. The Hughes deal is the one Guerin still has to go get.
