Wild Sign John Hynes to Multi-Year Extension

The Minnesota Wild have signed head coach John Hynes to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Tuesday. President of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin made the announcement. Terms were not disclosed.

Hynes is entering his fourth season behind the Minnesota bench and his 12th as an NHL head coach. Since taking over on Nov. 28, 2023, the Wild are 125-78-24 in 227 games, a .604 points percentage.

Last spring gave the extension its push. Minnesota beat the Dallas Stars in six games in the first round, the franchise's first playoff series win in 11 seasons. The Wild finished 2025-26 third in the Western Conference with 104 points, tied for the third-highest total in club history, and set a single-season franchise record with a 25.2 percent power play. It was also the first Wild season with multiple 40-goal, 80-point scorers: Kirill Kaprizov (45 goals, 44 assists, 89 points) and Matt Boldy (42-43-85).

Hynes' career record now sits at 409-333-87 in 829 regular-season games across stops with New Jersey, Nashville and Minnesota. He ranks fourth among American-born head coaches in both wins and games coached, and he enters 2026-27 40th all time in wins and 44th in games coached.

The Warwick, Rhode Island native also served as an assistant coach for the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, where Team USA won its first men's hockey gold medal since 1980. He was an assistant for the Americans at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off silver medal run, and he has been a head coach for Team USA at the World Championship twice, in 2016 and 2024.

Before reaching the NHL, Hynes spent five seasons as head coach at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the AHL, going 231-126-27 and winning the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as the league's most outstanding coach in 2010-11. He played four seasons at Boston University and was part of the Terriers' 1995 NCAA championship team.