The 2020–21 Minnesota Wild season was the 21st season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 25, 1997. This was the first time since the 2005–06 season that Mikko Koivu was not on the roster after he signed a contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Wild would play this season in the West Division and would only play games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season and potentially the first two rounds of the playoffs.

On April 24, 2021, the Wild clinched a playoff berth after a 6–3 win against the San Jose Sharks. They were eliminated from the playoffs with a 6–2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on May 28, after coming back from a 3–1 series deficit to force game seven.

Standings

Divisional standings

Schedule and results

Regular season The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020. 2020–21 game log: 35–16–5 (Home: 21–5–2; Road: 14–11–3)January: 6–4–0 (Home: 3–3–0; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 14 Minnesota 4–3 Los Angeles OT Talbot 0 1–0–0 2 2 January 16 Minnesota 4–3 Los Angeles OT Talbot 0 2–0–0 4 3 January 18 Minnesota 0–1 Anaheim Talbot 0 2–1–0 4 4 January 20 Minnesota 3–2 Anaheim Kahkonen 0 3–1–0 6 5 January 22 San Jose 1–4 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 4–1–0 8 6 January 24 San Jose 5–3 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 4–2–0 8 7 January 26 Los Angeles 2–1 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 4–3–0 8 8 January 28 Los Angeles 3–5 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 5–3–0 10 9 January 30 Colorado 5–1 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 5–4–0 10 10 January 31 Colorado 3–4 Minnesota OT Talbot 0 6–4–0 12 February: 6–2–0 (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 4–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 11 February 2 Minnesota 1–2 Colorado Talbot 0 6–5–0 12 — February 4 Minnesota – Colorado Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for February 24. — February 6 Arizona – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 16. — February 7 Arizona – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 14. — February 9 St. Louis – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 12. — February 11 St. Louis – Minnesota Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for March 25. — February 13 Minnesota – Los Angeles Postponed due to COVID-19. Rescheduled for April 23. 12 February 16 Minnesota 0–4 Los Angeles Kahkonen 0 6–6–0 12 13 February 18 Minnesota 3–1 Anaheim Kahkonen 0 7–6–0 14 14 February 20 Minnesota 5–1 Anaheim Kahkonen 0 8–6–0 16 15 February 22 Minnesota 6–2 San Jose Kahkonen 0 9–6–0 18 16 February 24 Minnesota 6–2 Colorado Kahkonen 0 10–6–0 20 17 February 26 Los Angeles 1–3 Minnesota Talbot 0 11–6–0 22 18 February 27 Los Angeles 3–4 Minnesota OT Kahkonen 0 12–6–0 24 March: 9–5–2 (Home: 8–0–0; Road: 1–5–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 19 March 1 Minnesota 4–5 Vegas OT Talbot 2,605 12–6–1 25 20 March 3 Minnesota 1–5 Vegas Talbot 2,610 12–7–1 25 21 March 5 Minnesota 5–1 Arizona Kahkonen 2,541 13–7–1 27 22 March 6 Minnesota 2–5 Arizona Talbot 3,141 13–8–1 27 23 March 8 Vegas 0–2 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 14–8–1 29 24 March 10 Vegas 3–4 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 15–8–1 31 25 March 12 Arizona 0–4 Minnesota Talbot 0 16–8–1 33 26 March 14 Arizona 1–4 Minnesota Talbot 0 17–8–1 35 27 March 16 Arizona 0–3 Minnesota Kahkonen 0 18–8–1 37 28 March 18 Minnesota 1–5 Colorado Talbot 0 18–9–1 37 29 March 20 Minnesota 0–6 Colorado Kahkonen 0 18–10–1 37 30 March 22 Anaheim 1–2 Minnesota Talbot 0 19–10–1 39 31 March 24 Anaheim 2–3 Minnesota Talbot 0 20–10–1 41 32 March 25 St. Louis 0–2 Minnesota Talbot 0 21–10–1 43 33 March 29 Minnesota 3–4 San Jose SO Talbot 0 21–10–2 44 34 March 31 Minnesota 2–4 San Jose Kahkonen 0 21–11–2 44 April: 10–3–2 (Home: 4–2–1; Road: 6–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 35 April 1 Minnesota 3–2 Vegas SO Talbot 3,950 22–11–2 46 36 April 3 Minnesota 2–1 Vegas Talbot 3,950 23–11–2 48 37 April 5 Colorado 5–4 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 23–12–2 48 38 April 7 Colorado 3–8 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 24–12–2 50 39 April 9 Minnesota 1–9 St. Louis Kahkonen — 24–13–2 50 40 April 10 Minnesota 2–3 St. Louis OT Talbot — 24–13–3 51 — April 12 St. Louis – Minnesota Postponed due to the Brooklyn Center shooting. Rescheduled for May 12. 41 April 14 Arizona 2–5 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 25–13–3 53 42 April 16 San Jose 2–3 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 26–13–3 55 43 April 17 San Jose 2–5 Minnesota Kahkonen 3,000 27–13–3 57 44 April 19 Minnesota 5–2 Arizona Talbot 3,481 28–13–3 59 45 April 21 Minnesota 4–1 Arizona Talbot 3,736 29–13–3 61 46 April 23 Minnesota 4–2 Los Angeles Talbot 1,091 30–13–3 63 47 April 24 Minnesota 6–3 San Jose Kahkonen 0 31–13–3 65 48 April 28 St. Louis 4–3 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 31–14–3 65 49 April 29 St. Louis 5–4 Minnesota OT Talbot 3,000 31–14–4 66 May: 4–2–1 (Home: 4–0–1; Road: 0–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 50 May 1 St. Louis 3–4 Minnesota OT Kahkonen 3,000 32–14–4 68 51 May 3 Vegas 5–6 Minnesota Talbot 3,000 33–14–4 70 52 May 5 Vegas 3–2 Minnesota OT Talbot 3,000 33–14–5 71 53 May 7 Anaheim 3–4 Minnesota OT Kahkonen 3,000 34–14–5 73 54 May 8 Anaheim 3–4 Minnesota OT Talbot 3,300 35–14–5 75 55 May 12 Minnesota 0–4 St. Louis Talbot — 35–15–5 75 56 May 13 Minnesota 3–7 St. Louis Kahkonen — 35–16–5 75 Legend:

Playoffs

2021 Stanley Cup playoffsWest Division First Round vs. (W2) Vegas Golden Knights: Vegas won 4–3 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 16 Minnesota 1–0 Vegas OT Talbot 8,683 1–0 2 May 18 Minnesota 1–3 Vegas Talbot 8,683 1–1 3 May 20 Vegas 5–2 Minnesota Talbot 4,500 1–2 4 May 22 Vegas 4–0 Minnesota Talbot 4,500 1–3 5 May 24 Minnesota 4–2 Vegas Talbot 12,156 2–3 6 May 26 Vegas 0–3 Minnesota Talbot 4,500 3–3 7 May 28 Minnesota 2–6 Vegas Talbot 12,156 3–4 Legend:

Draft picks

Below are the Minnesota Wild's selections at the 2020 NHL entry draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was held on October 6–7, 2020, virtually via video conference call from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)19 Marco Rossi C Austria Ottawa 67's (OHL)237 Marat Khusnutdinov C Russia SKA-1946 (MHL)239 Ryan O'Rourke D Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)365 Daemon Hunt D Canada Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)5146 Pavel Novak RW Czech Republic Kelowna Rockets (WHL)

Notes

References