SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has signed Head Coach John Hynes to a multi-year contract extension.
Hynes is entering his fourth season as Head Coach of the Minnesota Wild, marking his 12th campaign (2015-27) as an NHL head coach. Under his guidance, the Wild has compiled a 125-78-24 record (.604) in 227 games across three seasons (2023-26) since Hynes debuted as Head Coach on Nov. 28, 2023, ranking eighth in the NHL with 274 points during that span. During Hynes’ tenure with the team, Wild players have been named an NHL Star of the Week on 11 occasions and an NHL Star of the Month four times.
In 2025-26, Hynes led the Wild to a six-game First Round series victory over the Dallas Stars, marking the franchise’s first series win in 11 seasons. Minnesota finished the regular season third in the Western Conference with 104 points, tied for the third-highest point total in franchise history. The Wild also set a single-season franchise record with a 25.2 power-play percentage and notched its first-ever season featuring multiple 40-goal and 80-point scorers (Kirill Kaprizov, 45-44=89; Matt Boldy, 42-43=85).
Under Hynes’ watch, Minnesota qualified for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs following a regular season that saw the team earn a franchise-record 51 points (23-13-5) on the road and post a perfect 29-0-0 record when leading after two periods. The Wild began the 2024-25 season by not trailing in regulation for 391:31, the second-longest season-opening mark in NHL history and the second-longest streak at any point in team history.
Hynes owns a career head coaching record of 409-333-87 (.546) in 829 regular season games with Minnesota, the Nashville Predators and New Jersey Devils. He ranks fourth in NHL history among American-born head coaches in both wins and games coached and enters the 2026-27 season in the top 50 overall in all-time games won (40th) and games coached (44th).
Before arriving in Minnesota, Hynes served as Head Coach of the Nashville Predators for parts of four seasons (2020-23), recording a 134-96-18 record in 248 games. His .577 point percentage while leading Nashville ranks second all-time among franchise head coaches. Hynes became the fastest coach in Predators’ history to lead the team to 100 regular season wins, requiring 183 games to do so, and guided Nashville to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in three consecutive seasons (2020-22).
Prior to his time with the Predators, Hynes spent four-plus seasons (2015-19) as Head Coach of the New Jersey Devils, compiling a 150-159-45 record in 354 games. He led the club to the 2017-18 Stanley Cup Playoffs and ranks second in franchise history in coaching wins.
Hynes spent six seasons (2009-15) with the Wilkes-Barre Penguins in the American Hockey League (AHL), including five seasons as Head Coach (2010-15) and one season as Assistant Coach (2009-10). He led Wilkes-Barre to a 231-126-27 record (.636) in 384 games and five consecutive appearances in the Calder Cup Playoffs, including back-to-back trips to the Eastern Conference finals in 2012-13 and 2013-14, while helping the team allow the fewest goals in the AHL in four of his five seasons. Hynes received the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award, annually awarded to the AHL’s most outstanding head coach, at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season.
In between assistant coaching positions at Mass-Lowell (2000-01) and the University of Wisconsin (2002-03), Hynes spent nine seasons on the coaching staff of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, serving as an Assistant Coach (1998-2000, 2001-02) and Head Coach (2003-09). Team USA claimed four medals during his time with the National Team Development Program at the IIHF World Under-18 Championships, including gold medals in 2002 and 2006.
A native of Warwick, R.I., Hynes served as an Assistant Coach for the United States Men’s National Team at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy, helping Team USA win its first Gold Medal since 1980. He also served as an Assistant Coach for the United States Men’s National Team at the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, where Team USA earned a silver medal, and at the 2004 IIHF World Junior Championship, where Team USA won gold for the first time and earned their first medal in the event since 1997. Hynes was also Head Coach of Team USA at the 2024 and 2016 IIHF World Championships, an Assistant Coach at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and an Assistant Coach at the 2019 IIHF World Championship.
Hynes began his coaching career at his alma mater, Boston University, as a graduate assistant under Hall of Fame Head Coach Jack Parker from 1997-98. Hynes played forward at Boston University (1993-97) and helped the Terriers advance to four consecutive Frozen Four appearances and win the 1995 NCAA Championship. Hynes was inducted into the Rhode Island Hockey Hall of Fame on August 23, 2023.
He and his wife, Sarah, have three daughters, Sophia, Julia and Anna.
