Wild 2025-26 Player Report Cards: Danila Yurov

Outside of the 2026-27 NHL schedules coming out and Connor Bedard signing his contract extension, there hasn’t been much noteworthy news in the NHL as of late. The offseason is moving along slowly, and while the new season moves closer, there’s still time to look at the past season in terms of player performances. 

We’re still handing out grades for Minnesota Wild forwards, and the most recent was given to Vladimir Tarasenko. Next up will be a player who was alongside Tarasenko at different points throughout the season, and that was rookie Danila Yurov. He made a strong impression throughout the season, and in this article we’ll take a look at his regular season performance along with his postseason to come up with an overall grade. 

Yurov’s Rookie Debut

Just like the long-awaited debut of Kirill Kaprizov, many Wild fans were eager and couldn’t wait to see Danila Yurov take the ice. There were some bumps along the road, as every rookie deals with, but overall he learned and adapted well. He got his start in the first month of the season, and he clearly made a good impression as he played in 73 games. 

It’s no surprise it took him a few games to get adjusted and warmed up to the NHL game, but he did find his first point, which was a goal in just his fifth NHL game, and it came against the New York Rangers. He went on to register 11 more goals for a total of 12, plus he assisted on 15 others for 27 points, which put him tied for 20th among all of the rookies in the NHL last season. 

Despite being a rookie, he wasn’t reluctant to use his body and had 62 hits. He also knew how to play defense as he stepped up to block 43 shots, which tied him for tenth on the team and more than several of his veteran teammates. 

“The hardest part as a new guy, yeah, I don’t think it’s your rookie year, because you can come in fresh, nobody knows you, you play with emotions. But the more you, the more you become a, you know, regular player, which plays in the big moments in the game, the team starts studying, and they start playing against you not personally, but they will try to do everything to eliminate your, you know, strong sides and pay more attention to you, let’s say this. I think the biggest thing is to like never stop working, you know? He’s, like I said before, he always very hard competitor. He work hard on ice and off the ice. And he have a really good character,” said Vladimir Tarasenko to the media in his end-of-season interview about what he learned as a rookie that could help Yurov.  

Yurov had a strong rookie performance in the regular season, and those stats earned him an A. Obviously, he has more to grow in his game, in all areas, which is why his grade wasn’t higher, but he put on an impressive show and learned from his mistakes quickly. His grade wasn’t lower because he did everything he could in his first season, and he did it quite well. 

Yurov’s Quieter Postseason 

While he was able to put up some impressive numbers during the regular season, Yurov’s postseason was a bit quieter, which isn’t surprising. Players have to find another level when they play in the playoffs; that can be quite an adjustment and could be part of the reason Yurov’s numbers were lower. 

He played in nine of the Wild’s 11 postseason games and recorded one goal plus two assists for three points. Those numbers aren’t very riveting, but a rookie contributing points in the postseason is a bonus. Although his offense slipped a bit, his physicality didn’t as he had 11 hits in those nine games. His defense took a hit as well with just one blocked shot, and the Wild definitely could’ve used more blocks. 

After looking over his stats for the postseason and factoring in he’s a rookie, he earned an A-. It’s lower than his regular season grade because his stats are lower and he proved he’s able to do more. However, it’s not lower because he is a rookie and it was his first postseason with a lot to adjust to. Now that he knows what to expect, hopefully he’ll be able to transfer more of his game the next time around. 

Yurov’s Overall Grade 

Yurov wasn’t at the top of the charts for rookies, but he had a respectable showing regardless. He showed he can score goals but also defend them as a solid two-way player, which is something the Wild can always use more of. He earned an A for the regular season and an A- for the postseason, and combining those two grades means he earned a low A/high A- for his overall grade. 

He showed a lot of potential in his first season, and he’s only 22 years old, so he has a lot of room to continue to improve his game. He fit in well with his linemates and worked well with whomever he was paired with. Of course, he has things to fix, but that’s to be expected since he’s a rookie and it comes with the territory. It’ll be interesting to see who he’s linemates with this next season and what he can bring to the game.