Wild sign Maxim Shabanov to one-year contract

After a disheartening first day of free agency for the Minnesota Wild, general manager Bill Guerin made a move on Thursday to address a massive area of need for his team.

According to a report from Michael Russo of The Athletic, the Wild have signed Russian winger Maxim Shabanov to a one-year contract worth $1.6 million.

Shabanov spent the 2025-26 season as a member of the New York Islanders, and he hit the market as an unrestricted free agent as a result of the Islanders’ decision not to tender him a qualifying offer.

The 26-year-old was one of the top forwards in the KHL from 2023 to 2025, and he opted to sign with New York after making the decision to make the transition to North America.

In 44 appearances in the regular season, Shabanov had 18 points on 5 goals and 13 assists. The five-foot-nine winger had five points on the power play and garnered an average of 13:41 of time on ice per game.

In 2023-24 with Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL, he posted 50 points on 25 goals and 25 assists in 64 games, and he followed that up with an even more impressive 2024-25 campaign that saw him surpass the point-per-game mark with 67 points in 65 games.

Now, Shabanov will have the opportunity to command even more ice time, as the Wild are desperate for help on the wings behind their top-line stars in Kirill Kaprizov and Matthew Boldy.

Boldy was Minnesota’s most productive forward on a per-60-minute basis at 5-on-5 last season, and the Wild have lost the three players immediately behind him, with Mats Zuccarello signing with the Los Angeles Kings, Marcus Johansson returning to Sweden and Vladimir Tarasenko still unsigned in free agency.

According to Russo, Minnesota sees him as an option to immediately slot into the team’s top nine.