The Minnesota Wild have signed head coach John Hynes to a multiyear contract extension, the club announced Tuesday.
Hynes was entering the final year of his current deal to mark his third full season with the Wild, having replaced Dean Evason partway through the 2023-24 campaign. The new pact will kick in for 2027-28.
Since putting Hynes behind the bench, Minnesota has a 125-78-24 regular-season record and is 7-10 through two playoff appearances. The Wild advanced to a second-round series last year for the first time since 2014-15, and while Minnesota was outclassed there by the Presidents Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche through a five-game ouster, general manager Bill Guerin was complimentary of Hynes during his end-of-season availability in May.
"I'm a big believer in John and what he does and how he operates," Guerin said. "I see it firsthand. ... If you could have seen the detail of the work and the time that these guys put in [during a series] to make those adjustments, to deliver the message to the team. That's why I believe in John. It's because of the detail in which he goes through and the messaging. He gives them the reason why -- why we're going to do this, why we're going to have success doing it."
Guerin has been open about seeing this stretch now as the Wild's window to chase a Stanley Cup. He's been aggressive in making moves to boost the Wild's chances of that, including the blockbuster acquisition of star defenseman Quinn Hughes from Vancouver last December to boost Minnesota's back end. Hughes is eligible now to sign an extension with Minnesota ahead of becoming a free agent on July 1, 2027, and Guerin's faith in Hynes to help make Minnesota a winner -- and perhaps, in that process, entice Hughes to stick around -- is a strong endorsement.
Now Hynes and the Wild just have to show last season's success was no fluke -- that meeting with the Avalanche was the first second-round appearance one of Hynes' teams has made in his decade-long NHL coaching career; his other five trips to the playoffs were all one-and-done showings.
The Wild open their 2026-27 regular season Oct. 1 against one of Hynes' former clubs, the Nashville Predators.
