Despite having a shot to crack Minnesota's opening night lineup, Charlie Stramel has been reassigned to Iowa (AHL) for the start of the 2025-26 season. The 21-year-old centre is Minnesota's 2023 1st-round pick (21st overall) and had 19 goals and 44 points in 37 games with Michigan State (NCAA) last season.
Minnesota's top-pair defensemen suffered a scary skull fracture in the Wilds' final preseason game and is expected to be out indefinitely after undergoing surgery on Tuesday. The 24-year-old's absence will be felt massively in Minnesota at the start of the season after he put up 15 goals, 51 points, and a +18 plus/minus in 80 games last season while averaging 24:41 TOI.
Faber suffered an upper-body injury in Friday's preseason game and has been retroactively placed on Injured Reserve. He will miss at least one regular-season game before he is eligible to return to the lineup. The 24-year-old Faber had a career-high season in 2025-26, playing predominantly alongside Quinn Hughes and scoring 51 points (15G / 36A) in 80 games.
Schmidt, drafted 96th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, has bounced around teams over the past year and has yet to earn himself a shot at the NHL level. The 23-year-old defenseman scored three assists in the 2025-26 season in 48 AHL games split between the Syracuse Crunch, Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and Iowa Wild.
Primarily an AHL player, Kirkland appeared in at least 20 games for the Calgary Flames the past two seasons and will add some depth for the Minnesota Wild. The 29-year-old forward scored two points (1G / 1A) in 20 games with the Flames last season.
After a couple of successful seasons with Chelyabinsk Traktor in the KHL, Shabanov made his NHL debut in 2025-26 and struggled to find his footing. Regularly a healthy scratch, the talented 25-year-old forward was limited to just 44 games (5G / 13A) while averaging 13:41 time-on-ice. The Minnesota Wild hope that Shabanov can find his scoring touch and gel alongside countryman Kirill Kaprizov in 2026-27.
After spending the first six seasons of his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a steady shutdown defenseman, Maata has struggled to find a permanent home and will join his seventh team in the last eight seasons. That said, the 31-year-old Finnish defenseman remains a reliable bottom-pairing defenseman. Last season, he averaged 17:13 time on ice, scoring 15 points (2G/3A) in 43 games split between the Calgary Flames and the Utah Mammoth.
Coleman's name circulated in rumours before last season's trade deadline, and his departure from Calgary came to fruition early in the offseason, in a trade to the Minnesota Wild. The 34-year-old Texas native has established himself as a heavy-hitting and intimidating middle-six forward who should fit seamlessly into a gritty Minnesota Wild team. In 2025-26, Coleman averaged 17:20 time-on-ice, recording 35 points (20G / 15A) and 152 hits.
