After orchestrating two aggressive trades to climb the draft board, Minnesota capped their weekend by adding massive Czech goaltender Filip Ruzicka to an increasingly physical prospect pool.
The Minnesota Wild didn't make any headlines during the opening night of the 2026 NHL Draft. But on day two of the draft, Minnesota made two trades.
After not picking in the first two rounds, the Wild moved up from their orignal spot of pick No. 89.
Minnesota traded picks 89 and 153 to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for pick 83 and selected Adam Andersson.
Minnesota was not done.
The Wild then sent picks 121 and 185 to the Columbus Blue Jackets for pick 112. With the pick, the Wild took forward Kayden Lemire.
With the Wild's final pick of the draft in round five, Minnesota took a goaltender with pick 137.
Filip Ruzicka is a 6-foot-7, 230-pound goaltender out of Trinec, Czechia. He went 26-14-1 in 42 games for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL) this season with a 3.19 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. He had two shutouts as well.
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