After a quiet opening night, Minnesota maneuvered into the third round to snag a physically dominant Swedish playmaker who vastly outranked his draft position on Tony Ferrari’s board.
The Minnesota Wild didn't make any headlines during the opening night of the 2026 NHL Draft. Without a first-round pick the Wild did not make a pick or any type of trade.
Minnesota entered Friday night without a first-round pick after trading it to the Vancouver Canucks as part of last season's blockbuster deal for star defenseman Quinn Hughes.
Vancouver took Adam Novotný with the pick.
They did not have a second-round pick either as a result of the Gustav Nyquist trade. Minnesoya traded a 2026 to the Nashville Predators for Nyquist. That pick was traded yesterday to the Carolina Hurricanes for the Preds to add another first-rounder.
On Saturday, the Hurricanes flipped the pick to the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens took Timofei Runtso, a right-handed defenseman.
Minnesota traded up from 89 to 83 and added pick 153 to the trade.
The Wild's first pick in the draft was pick 83. Minnesota selected Adam Andersson. The Los Angeles Kings hold picks 89 and 153 now as a result of the trade.
Andersson is a 6-foot-4 and 218-pound center from Sweden who had three goals and 17 points in 30 games for Leksands IF U20. He ranked 8th in scoring in the legue.
THN's Tony Ferrari had him ranked 40th. He is a physical center who is good on the dot.
"Andersson is a big centerman with strong work ethic," said Wild Director of European Scouting Ricard Persson. "Heavy and hard to play against. Relentless worker that understands the game both offensively and defensively."
Minnesota has three more picks in the draft. (121, 137 and 185).
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