Wild 2025-26 Report Cards: Jake Middleton

The Carolina Hurricanes are the winners of the 2026 Stanley Cup after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in six games. The season has officially concluded, but the Minnesota Wild have been in offseason mode for nearly a month now. The Wild have been in the headlines over the past week or so due to Dylan Larkin requesting a trade, Michael McCarron re-signing with the Wild, and Marcus Johansson deciding to go back to Sweden. 

The last report card was given to Zach Bogosian, which means we are still working through the Wild’s defensemen. Next up is Jake Middleton, who spent some time alongside Bogosian and others throughout the season as the injuries made their way through once again. In this article, we’ll take a look at Middleton’s regular-season performance and his postseason to come up with an overall grade. 

Middleton’s Fluctuating Regular Season

Jake Middleton had an up-and-down season that ended more on the down side than up. He had his fair share of strong moments, but he couldn’t keep it going consistently. He played in 75 games, which was more than the season prior, but he scored fewer goals and therefore fewer points. This season, he scored just two goals and 14 assists for 16 points overall compared to 21 points last season. 

Of course, it’s important to point out that Middleton isn’t known for his scoring abilities, but instead his defense. He’s not necessarily a stay-at-home defenseman like some of his teammates, but he’s also not the opposite. He’s more of a jump into the play when he knows he can, but also makes sure to stay back when needed. 

Middleton led the Wild defensemen in hits with 87, and surprisingly, right behind him was Jared Spurgeon with 82 hits. Middleton was fourth among Wild defensemen when it came to blocked shots with 117. While that is a very strong number, it should’ve and could’ve been better, as he showed two seasons ago when he blocked 148 shots. 

When looking over Middleton’s stats, he did deal with injury issues, but when he was in the lineup, the Wild needed more consistency. He put up okay numbers, but they weren’t an improvement on the season prior despite playing more games. After looking at his stats, he earned a C as he had an average season. He didn’t go above and beyond, but he also didn’t go dramatically worse either, which is why it isn’t higher or lower than a C. 

Middleton’s Rough Postseason

While Middleton had an average regular season, he had a fairly rough postseason. He played in all 11 games but only had one assist. However, his defensive stats stayed fairly decent with 17 hits and 16 blocked shots. His numbers were okay and probably would’ve been received better if it weren’t for the couple of glaring mistakes that stuck out and will for some time, especially the final two goals of the series. 

The first one of the two was a Nathan MacKinnon shot that he wasn’t in the greatest position for, and that goal sent them to overtime. Then, in overtime, he got caught following the forward around the back of the net and couldn’t block the pass that led to a one-timer past the goaltender for the win and the series. 

“Yeah, I don’t know. That 6-on-5, that’s a hell of a shot, too, right? The open net he had for Team Canada, same kind of spot. Just crazy to see. Which one he scores and which one he didn’t. But no, 6-on-5, we have to stay as D kind of closer to the net there, right. Just if there’s a rebound there and it’s loose in front, they got an extra attacker. Yeah, I don’t know. That was a great shot. Not many guys in the league can do it, and he’s one of them,” said Middleton to the media in his end-of-season interview when asked about MacKinnon’s goal. 

Although Middleton had okay stats throughout the postseason, it’s hard to ignore those final two goals that ended up ending the Wild’s season. Of course, there were a number of other reasons they got themselves into that hole, but his defense didn’t help them the way they needed. After looking everything over, he earned a D+. It wasn’t higher because of the obvious mistakes, but it also wasn’t lower because he did make some good impacts during the postseason. 

Middleton’s Overall Grade

After looking at Middleton’s entire season from start to finish, he had some solid moments and some really difficult ones, as most players do. However, he struggled to stay consistent, and that affected his numbers. He is a solid second-to-third-pair defenseman, and when he finds a way to play with his normal consistency, he’s even better. 

When putting his regular-season grade together with his postseason grade, he earned a C- for his overall grade for the season. Again, he had a decent season overall, but the Wild needs better than decent. Although he had an explanation for his positioning for one of the goals, he still could’ve found a way to be better, but also worse, so that’s why his grade is a C-, no better, no worse. 

“Yeah, we played two awesome teams in the playoffs. We were fortunate to play those two teams, too. We got to learn a lot, like you said. I guess one thing you can take away is the margin for error is so slim when you get into those against those really great teams. That’s one thing I would say, you’ve got to be really detailed for the whole 60 minutes,” said Middleton to the media in his end-of-season interview when asked about what they learned from the Colorado series. 

Hopefully, Middleton will have a chance to rest up and improve himself for next season. The Wild will need him to step up if they hope to have another postseason run, but further next time.