- Wild sign forward Maxim Shabanov to a one-year, $1.6 million deal for 2026-27
- The 25-year-old KHL sniper had 18 points in 44 games as an Islanders rookie last season
- Read below for why New York let him walk and what Minnesota is getting
The Wild landed a former KHL scoring star on the cheap Thursday.
Minnesota signed Maxim Shabanov to a one-year, $1.6 million contract, GM Bill Guerin announced. The 25-year-old spent last season with the Islanders, who declined to give him a qualifying offer and turned him loose as a free agent.
The team made it official Thursday afternoon:
Shabanov isn’t a project. He tore up the KHL for four years with Traktor Chelyabinsk, piling up 150 points in 207 games.
In 2024-25 he finished third in the league in scoring with 67 points in 65 games and made the KHL First All-Star Team. He was even sharper in the playoffs, posting 20 points in 21 games while leading the KHL in both goals and plus-minus.
Here’s a look at what he did over there:
The jump to the NHL was more modest. Shabanov had 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 44 games as a rookie on Long Island.
He scored in his NHL debut on October 9 in Pittsburgh and grabbed his first multi-point night in November against Detroit. New York didn’t see enough to hand him a qualifying offer, which made the 5-foot-9 winger an unrestricted free agent this week.
Guerin has been busy. Minnesota already acquired Blake Coleman and Olli Maatta from Calgary this offseason, and Shabanov gives the Wild another low-cost swing at secondary scoring.
The Chelyabinsk native turns 26 in October. On a one-year deal at $1.6 million, there’s almost no risk if the fit doesn’t take.
The KHL numbers say Shabanov can score. At $1.6 million, Minnesota doesn’t need much to come out ahead.
