Well, here we are. It’s mid-May again, which means the Minnesota Vikings are going through their offseason, and the Minnesota […]
Well, here we are. It’s mid-May again, which means the Minnesota Vikings are going through their offseason, and the Minnesota Wild are definitely out of the playoffs. To the Timberwolves’ credit, this is the first time since 2023 that the team’s season has ended at this point in the year.
Perhaps it’s even unfair to the Wolves to lump them in with the Wild and Vikings in recent years. The Timberwolves have at least been to consecutive Western Conference Finals in recent years. The Wild just won their first playoff series in 11 years, and the Vikings haven’t won a playoff game since right before we all masked up for COVID-19.
Those were the days.
Wild and Timberwolves Again Sent Home With Hopes and Dreams for Another Year
It was a magical season for the Wild. The acquisition of Quinn Hughes in December sent a message to the State of Hockey that they were really going to try and make a run at a cup. To their credit, they made it further in the playoffs this season than they had since the Obama administration.
And also in their defense, the NHL playoff format is horrid. The Wild were the third-best team in the Central this season, which coincidentally made them the third-best team in the Western Conference. As a reward, they got to play the Dallas Stars in the first round, the second-best team in the Central and West. They kicked Dallas out in six games and were rewarded even greater than before with a series against the best team in the Central and West, the Avalanche. Minnesota lost in five.
The Timberwolves had their second full season of the post-KAT era after a trade with the New York Knicks brought them Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle, most notably, at the cost of Karl-Anthony Towns and some other garnishments went to New York and Charlotte. The Wolves weren’t the team they were in 2023 and 2024, but still rattled off a series win over the Denver Nuggets.
DiVincenzo would tear his Achilles during the Denver series, and Anthony Edwards had some knee issues as well. These weren’t the exact reasons why Minnesota got eliminated by San Antonio in the second round, but they sure didn’t help.
Vikings Don’t Even Make the Dance
Then, there’s the Vikings. Awful QB play was the main ailment of their 2025 season that ended with them not even notching a playoff spot. Now, they look to band-aid over that with the Kyler Murray signing, getting him essentially for free after the Arizona Cardinals decided to eat most of his contract and part ways.
Not all hope is lost for J.J. McCarthy, as Tom Pelissero has reported that the claims from Kevin O’Connell of their QB competition this offseason really are based in reality. Minnesota’s defense should still be in the neighborhood of the “very good” it was in 2025. Still, the season as a whole was disappointing, and now a million questions surround the future of the Vikings franchise.
Oh, yes, the Minnesota Twins exist, as well.
