New deal just two days before camp opens
He was heading into the final year of his contract. Instead, he is back for several more seasons.
The Minnesota Wild have extended John Hynes this Tuesday. The team did not reveal the exact length, only that it is a multi-year agreement. Training camp opens on Thursday. The timing matters: no one likes heading into a season with a coach in a lame-duck year.
Hynes, 51, was hired on November 27, 2023 to replace Dean Evason. At that point, Minnesota sat at 5-10-4. The season already looked done and dusted.
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The turnaround, then the playoffs
It wasn’t quite over. Under Hynes, the team finished its final 63 games with a 34-24-5 record. Not enough to make the playoffs, but enough to change the mood around the place. The Wild ended up sixth in the Central Division, missing the spring for the first time in four years.
Since then, they have reached the postseason twice in a row. And last spring, they finally won a playoff series for the first time in 11 years, edging the Dallas Stars in six games.
His Minnesota record now reads 125-78-24 across just under three years.
A third stop that looks settled
The Warwick, Rhode Island native is now in his third stint as an NHL head coach. He started in New Jersey before the 2015-16 season and stayed there for nearly five years, until he was sacked after 26 games in 2019-20. Nashville brought him in a month later to replace Peter Laviolette, then fired him in May 2023.
Across his NHL career, he has a 409-333-87 record and six playoff berths in 11 seasons. He also picked up a rather notable line on his resume this winter as an assistant to Mike Sullivan at Milano Cortina 2026. Gold medal, 2-1 over Canada in the final.
The Wild open their preseason on September 19, against the Blackhawks.
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