Saturday, October 11, 2025 – 8:00 PM ET
Grand Casino Arena – St. Paul, Minnesota
TV: FDSNOH; Radio: 97.1 FM
Columbus Blue Jackets (0-1-0, 0 points, t-4th Metro, t-9th East)
at
Minnesota Wild (1-0-0, 2 points, t-2nd Central, t-3rd West)
Player to Watch
Kirill Kaprizov
Last month, Kaprizov signed a massive extension that kicks in next season, which will pay him a record of $17M per season. This received some criticism over the last couple of weeks, as other similar-or-better players (Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Kyle Connor) signed extensions at way smaller AAV. Kaprizov is a very good player, but was limited to just 41 games last season. He needs to stay healthy, and he needs to take a step towards being an actual MVP contender. Nevertheless, I don’t mind Minnesota paying whatever it took to keep him in the fold, because finding a replacement would be much more difficult. Keeping Kaprizov with their impressive collection of young players makes them contenders for the forseeable future. It’s also worth considering as the Jackets’ stars become eligible for extensions of their own…
Jackets Notes
No changes to the skaters, but we’ll have to see if the lines get shuffled as all (reunite KJ and Fantilli, please) … the one change is Elvis Merzlikins will make his season debut in goal.
The Other Bench
The Minnesota Wild are, of course, also celebrating their 25th anniversary. Their first coaching staff, led by Jacques Lemaire, will be honored tonight … Jonas Brodin is listed as probable in the injury report, so former CBJ first round pick David Jiricek is a likely healthy scratch. Also among the scratches is Daemon Hunt, acquired last season from Minnesota in the Jiricek trade and reclaimed by the Wild on waivers last week.
2024-25 Stats
| Minnesota | Columbus | |
| 2.74 (25) | GPG | 3.26 (7) |
| 2.88 (15) | GAPG | 3.26 (25) |
| 20.9 (20) | PP% | 19.5 (22) |
| 72.4 (30) | PK% | 77.0 (22) |
| 48.0 (26) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 48.9 (21) |
| 48.3 (24) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 48.8 (19) |
| 7.9 (28) | 5v5 Shooting % | 10.5 (3) |
| 92.2 (6) | 5v5 Save % | 90.8 (19) |
| Matt Boldy (27) | G Leader | K. Marchenko, A. Fantilli (31) |
| Matt Boldy (46) | A Leader | Zach Werenski (59) |
| Matt Boldy (73) | P Leader | Zach Werenski (82) |
| M. Foligno, R. Hartman (75) | PIM Leader | Mathieu Olivier (139) |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Dmitri Voronkov | Sean Monahan | Kirill Marchenko |
| Boone Jenner | Adam Fantilli | Cole Sillinger |
| Kent Johnson | Charlie Coyle | Mathieu Olivier |
| Zach Aston-Reese | Isac Lundestrom | Miles Wood |
| Zach Werenski | Dante Fabbro |
| Ivan Provorov | Damon Severson |
| Denton Mateychuk | Erik Gudbranson |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Jet Greaves |
Minnesota Wild
| Kirill Kaprizov | Marco Rossi | Matt Boldy |
| Marcus Foligno | Joel Eriksson Ek | Vladimir Tarasenko |
| Yakov Trenin | Ryan Hartman | Marcus Johansson |
| Liam Ohgren | Hunter Haight | Vinnie Hinostroza |
| Jacob Middleton | Brock Faber |
| Zeev Buium | Jared Spurgeon |
| Zach Bogosian | Jonas Brodin |
| Filip Gustavsson |
| Jesper Wallstedt |