Islanders at Wild Preview: Shabanov's Homecoming, Schaefer's Workload, Kaprizov's Trigger

The Islanders head into Minnesota facing a Wild team that holds a four-point lead in the Central Division and has won its last three. Three storylines will shape this one, and two of them revolve around individual players whose early-season numbers stand out. The third is a matchup on special teams that looks almost perfectly even on paper.

Maxim Shabanov's return to the other side of the ledger

Back in the summer of 2025, the Islanders made a quiet bet on Maxim Shabanov. Coming out of Russia, the winger had no shortage of NHL suitors, and New York signed him to a one-year contract. That was the start of a relationship that didn't quite take off. Now Shabanov is a member of the Minnesota Wild, and he gets to face his former team tonight.

The split didn't come from a single event. It looks like a combination of three things: declining ice time, the arrival of more forwards competing for minutes, and what may have been a difference in outlook. Ilya Sorokin offered his read on the situation to The Hockey News. "He needed a little more positivity and patience," Sorokin said. "He shouldn't show any dissatisfaction, but simply work and wait for his chance."

That quote tells you a lot about how the Islanders viewed the situation, and it's worth keeping in mind tonight. Shabanov has moved into a far better fit in Minnesota. He has nine points, four goals and five assists, which is a strong start for any winger who has changed teams. He'll be playing with plenty of extra motivation, and the Isles will be watching the shifts where he gets a chance to prove the Islanders misjudged him.

Matthew Schaefer and the follow-up question

It's almost unfair to single out Matthew Schaefer in a preview, because he's the kind of player you could spotlight before nearly any Islanders game. Still, his overtime performance in the win over Nashville two nights before this one earned him the attention. He became the first player ever to play the entire five minutes of an overtime period, and that's a record that will stick around for a while.

The harder question is what comes next. Schaefer is a second-year defenseman, and the hockey world now expects him to keep producing at a high level. He doesn't need to top a moment like that every night. The more realistic goal is to stay steady, which is harder than it sounds for a young blueliner who has been handed heavy minutes. Schaefer is second on the Islanders in points with 11, built on two goals and nine assists. That's the profile of a player who is driving offense from the back end, not just surviving there.

Workload is the other part of the story. Schaefer leads the Islanders in total ice time, logging more than 26 minutes a game. That's roughly five minutes more than Bo Horvat, who sits second on the team at just over 21 minutes. A Hamilton, Ontario, native, Schaefer is a player the Islanders lean on heavily, and every shift draws attention. Teams in this position often see fatigue and decision-making become the real test, so the question for tonight is whether the Wild try to tire him out or pressure him into turnovers.

Kaprizov, the power play and the special teams matchup

If you want to know how the Islanders can slow the Wild down, start with Kirill Kaprizov. The Russian-born winger leads Minnesota in points and goals. His 23 points rank third in the NHL, and his 14 goals sit at the top of the league. During the Wild's current three-game winning streak, he has recorded two points in every game, with a goal and an assist each time. That's the kind of run that turns a team's whole game plan into one question: how do you stop him?

The realistic answer is that you don't stop Kaprizov completely. You make him work for every chance. That means tight gap play, quick support on the puck, and no free looks in the slot. The stakes rise on the power play, where Minnesota sits sixth in the NHL in power-play percentage. Penalties against the Isles will be costly, and staying out of the box matters more than usual.

The special teams picture is more balanced than the raw rankings suggest. New York's penalty kill ranks sixth in the league, which matches the Wild's sixth-ranked power play. That makes this one of the more interesting pairings on the card. Whichever unit wins its matchups on the power play and penalty kill could decide a game that's likely to be close.

My read: the Islanders will need Schaefer to keep handling heavy minutes without his decisions slipping, and they'll need to keep Shabanov and Kaprizov from getting comfortable early. The game will probably turn on which team wins the special teams battle, and watch how quickly New York adjusts after Minnesota's first power play.