3 Takeaways From Day 2 of 2026 Minnesota Wild Training Camp

The second day of Minnesota Wild training camp was a good day to be at the rink, as it was a rainy and dreary day outside. The first day was pretty intense, and usually the second day wanes a bit, but not this camp. With the shorter amount of time to prove themselves, the players kept the intensity up, if not increased it a bit. 

They continued with more basics but added more puck movement and different situations throughout their practice sessions with their two groups. As day two unfolded, there were a few things that stood out about this Wild team, and in this article we’ll take a look at those things, starting with the mix of size in the younger players. 

Wild’s Size Not an Issue

When watching the Wild at training camp, the majority of the players look fairly big compared to the average fan watching on the sidelines. They do have a few players that truly stand out, like 6-foot-6 Michael McCarron and his defensive counterpart, who is the same height and has yet to earn a roster spot but is trying to during this camp: Viking Gustafsson Nyberg. 

Those two are obviously noticeable because they clearly stand above everyone else by a few inches at least. McCarron has shown he knows how to use his size, but Gustafsson Nyberg is about to turn 23 years old and still has time to learn that side of his game. The Wild have quite a few players in the 6-foot-2 to 6-foot-3 range, and while that’s not as big as 6-foot-6, they can still throw their weight around with some solid hits, and that was seen a lot during both days of training camp. 

While it’s great to have guys who can use their bodies, it’s also great to have players who can use their size in terms of speed. Quinn Hughes is a player on the smaller side, which benefits him in terms of speed and mobility, allowing him to dodge players and still have the puck. Then there’s Kirill Kaprizov, who is on the shorter side but has a bit more muscle and is not easily moved off the puck, but has some speed as well. 

In between Hughes and Kaprizov is newcomer Maxim Shabanov, who hopefully has a bit of speed to his game as well as muscle that allows him to move quickly and keep the puck. Several of his teammates have already talked about how strong his game is, including Ryan Hartman.  

“Great, skilled, fast, he’s got a real good shot. Just kind of first couple days just trying to build some chemistry and go from there,” said Hartman to the media after his practice session on day two when asked about his first impression of Shabanov, and added when asked about if Kaprizov and Shabanov speak Russian to each other on their line, “ All Russian, I’m learning, I’m getting there….Yeah we’re doing a complete 180 from when Kirill got here, we’re all going to be speaking Russian.” 

Wild Can Switch Things Up

The Wild have a number of young players vying for a roster spot, and the majority of them will not make the cut. Charlie Stramel has been one of the players most watched and talked about among the youngsters, along with Hunter Haight and Riley Heidt. All three have shown promise throughout these early days of camp, but there are limited spots, and it’s likely they may have to start the season with the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League. 

Once the injuries come into play as they always do, or a player isn’t playing up to expectations, then Stramel, Haight, and Heidt will get their chance to truly show what they can do. With Blake Coleman and Shabanov sliding into the top-six, there really are no open slots unless a veteran is sidelined. It would be pretty surprising if they didn’t at least start the regular season with Shabanov on the roster, as he’s shown he’s pretty confident working with Kaprizov and Ryan Hartman. 

However, that is what training camp is all about: switching things up and seeing who fits best with who. It gives them a chance to try out different line combinations with younger players as well as veterans without having to worry about points being on the line, but still having actual competition involved against other teams instead of just scrimmaging themselves. 

“…I think we would look, you know that Hartzy (Hartman) and Kirill (Kaprizov) have good chemistry and I think a little bit of that is what training camp is about, is to look at some different lines and different combos but Yurov is someone we will take a look at,” said head coach John Hynes to the media following the practice sessions for day two of training camp when asked about putting Danila Yurov on the top line. 

Wild’s Yurov Growing Confidence

Unless something dramatically changes, Yurov is going to be on the opening night roster, and so far he’s shown he is ready to make an impact on the lineup. Last season was his rookie season, and he played 73 games that were full of ups and downs as he adjusted to the lineup and the league. 

Now that he’s in his second camp, he’s showing a lot more confidence and has been willing to take charge of plays more rather than just passing the puck. He obviously still has a lot of room to grow his game, but he’s taken big steps from when he first started to now. He has chemistry with the entire team and can play on almost any line and adapts his game to which line he’s on. 

It’s going to be interesting to see where he lands on opening night, but he should have a guaranteed roster spot as he’s earned it. The more playing time he gets, the better he becomes and can really take his game to the next level that everyone is looking for. Hopefully this season he’ll be able to find even more confidence and start putting even more points on the board. 

This was just day two of training camp, and although it’s shorter, there is still some limited time for these players to show what they can do. However, once that first preseason game is over, time is going to start to fly, and the roster will be set before we know it. The Wild need to take another big step this season, and hopefully these younger players are part of that future.