It has been a problem all season, but recently, it has been looming large. The penalty kill has been a problem for the last three years, it seems.
In the playoffs against the Dallas Stars in 2023, the PK was the reason why the Wild could not beat the Stars in the first round.
Last season, the penalty kill was on pace to break an NHL record for the worst percentage of all-time. It led to two coach firings. Before the 2024-25 season started, the Wild acquired Jakub Lauko from the Boston Bruins and signed Yakov Trenin to help with the PK. They also hired Associate head coach Jack Capuano to run the PK with Pat Dwyer who took over last year after Bob Woods was fired.
On Thursday night, the Wild let up two power-play goals to the Utah Hockey Club in their 6-1 loss. They currently sit in 31st for PK% at 70.9. Only the Detroit Red Wings have a worse PK at 70.0%. They have allowed 44 power-play goals this year and 111 in the last two seasons. Only the Anaheim Ducks have allowed more since 2023.
Ever since the Wild allowed nine power-play goals in six playoff games to the Stars, they have had one of the worst penalty kills in the entire league.
They have gone through three coaches to run the PK and have deployed many different players. They even took their captain, Jared Spurgeon, off the PK this season for more size in Zach Bogosian.
The 6-foot-3 defenseman has recorded the most shorthanded time on ice this season for the Wild and has the highest power-play goals against per 60 minutes (PPGA/60) at 11.84. Only Moritz Seider, Kevin Bahl, and Rasmus Anderson have a higher PPGA/60 than Bogosian in the entire NHL (min 110 SH minutes).
Having three different coaches run the PK in the last two years means the Wild have tried all they can to improve the penalty kill, along with acquiring players for the sole purpose of playing on the penalty kill. At the end of the day, systems don’t mean anything if the players can’t go out and execute it. And right now, they aren’t.
It also doesn't help that their best penalty-killing center, Joel Eriksson Ek, has a face-off percentage of 36.14. Marat Khusnutdinov has a 34.43 face-off percentage and their best center for face-offs on the PK this season is Freddy Gaudreau at 47.71.
Nonetheless, it needs to be better, and it needs to be better quickly. Or it could be the third-straight season that the penalty kill is the reason why they either miss the playoffs or lose in round one.
Photo Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images.