{"id":658281,"date":"2026-05-22T10:31:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/658281\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:31:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:31:20","slug":"will-nick-foligno-return-to-the-wild-mutual-interest-and-marcus-votes-yes-one-more-year-in-minny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/658281\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Nick Foligno return to the Wild? Mutual interest, and Marcus votes yes: \u2018One more year in Minny\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. PAUL, Minn. \u2014 Marcus Foligno figures he\u2019ll have many conversations about his brother Nick\u2019s future around the campfire at their neighboring Sudbury, Ontario, cabins in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

They lived out their dream together of being teammates with the Minnesota Wild this season after Nick got acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks at the March trade deadline. They were able to chase the Stanley Cup together, albeit falling short in the second round against the Colorado Avalanche.<\/p>\n

Marcus believes Nick has plenty more to give and will come back \u2014 and that it will be for a reunion in Minnesota, if so. But he won\u2019t know that for sure until Nick shows up at their first summer workout session.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s up to Nick, his energy level and what he has left in the tank,\u201d Marcus told The Athletic. \u201cI do believe, and we\u2019ve talked about it \u2014 if there\u2019s a chance to come back for one more year, it\u2019d be a no-brainer to come back to Minnesota and try to do this thing to win the Cup. That\u2019s the big thing. We had so much fun together.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loves the guys in the room. Nick showed he\u2019s a great role piece for this team and can do some damage when it matters the most. He likes the makeup of the team. He wants to win the Cup. We all do. But it all comes down to walking into that first workout and saying, \u2018Let\u2019s do this,\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019m done.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick said on Friday that he\u2019d love to come back and play. But as time goes on and reality hits him, he wants to be sure he\u2019s 100 percent committed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI owe it to (my family), I owe it to myself, I owe it to the team I want to play for that I\u2019m all in,\u201d Nick said.<\/p>\n

One of eight pending unrestricted free agents for the Wild, Nick was a good fit after the trade, becoming a fixture in the bottom six and on the penalty kill and a respected voice in the room. Nick and Marcus were often linemates, including when Nick scored two goals in Game 5 against the Avalanche.<\/p>\n

Nick would have to take a big cut on last year\u2019s cap hit of $4.5 million, and Marcus said his brother understands that and would be willing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you get up there in age, you make pretty good coin in your career,\u201d Marcus said. \u201cTo run it back one more year and try to win, finances might be a little bit less. He understands that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick joked, \u201cWell, I\u2019m looking for a little less than Kirill (Kaprizov) \u2014 like $16 million, and then I think we\u2019ll make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNah, you know what, listen \u2014 I got to live out a dream with Marcus, and not just Marcus, with these guys,\u201d he added. \u201cI really enjoyed this group. Take away the fact I finally got to play with my little brother and experience that, which was a thrill of a lifetime for our family, for us. I still think we had moments, even as months went on, of just, \u2018This is really cool. We\u2019re really doing this.\u2019 And then to play in the playoffs, the high stakes, and seeing him out there and how he played and performed and doing that together, it was special.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, yeah, is it something I would love for it to continue? Yeah. I\u2019m invested in this group. But we\u2019ll see where it goes. I\u2019ve got to talk to my family. I\u2019ve got to figure out what\u2019s next. I\u2019m a little longer in the tooth, not in the hair, but in the tooth. So, we\u2019ll see where it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both brothers said the experience of playing together was better than they had envisioned. Nick got to spend more time with his nieces, Marcus\u2019 three daughters. Nick lived in a hotel, but the brothers were inseparable around the rink and on the road, where Marcus said it felt like their childhood. Nick\u2019s family also made three trips from Columbus to visit, including for the brothers\u2019 favorite moment<\/a>, Game 4 of the Dallas Stars series.<\/p>\n

\"Minnesota<\/p>\n

\n Marcus Foligno celebrates his game-tying goal against Dallas on April 25. The Wild\u2019s 3-2 playoff victory marked the first time Marcus and Nick Foligno\u2019s father saw his sons play together on the same NHL team. (Nick Wosika \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Around 30 family members and friends were at that game, and Marcus scored the tying goal. The whole clan congregated in the Wild dressing room afterward to soak it in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe magnitude of the game, all their smiling faces, makes it sweeter, right?\u201d Marcus said. \u201cExcited to do that in front of them. My dad\u2019s first game with us together. It was a great script.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin knew it\u2019d make for a great story when he acquired Nick from Chicago for \u201cfuture considerations,\u201d but the decision wasn\u2019t sentimental. Guerin felt Nick would help the group on the ice, and he did, albeit in a small sample size.<\/p>\n

Over the course of Foligno\u2019s 17 regular-season games, the Wild had a 66 percent expected goals rate, according to Evolving-Hockey<\/a>, and Foligno also had good two-way numbers below the surface. Minnesota didn\u2019t convert on a lot of those chances, and Foligno scored just once, but he also played the penalty kill, won faceoffs and provided versatility, playing center and wing.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of puzzle pieces the Wild have to fit into their roster, and they\u2019re going to make an aggressive pitch to pending free agent Michael McCarron, who was great after getting acquired at the deadline. Minnesota has interest in bringing Mats Zuccarello back, too, Guerin said. Will Marcus Johansson return on another bargain deal? There are only so many spots available, and the Wild are looking to acquire big pieces this summer, too.<\/p>\n

Nick Foligno thinks it could well be a Cup-contending mix.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think so,\u201d Foligno said. \u201cI\u2019ve been around a long time, and I think it gets thrown around a lot, but I\u2019ve genuinely seen a lot of great teams. I\u2019ve seen a lot of bad teams. And I think this team is on the verge of understanding what it takes to win, and I think that\u2019s the biggest thing I\u2019ll take away. Through your failures, you\u2019re trying to learn as much as you can, and I think through this one, it should be how consistent you have to be to win and how important that is. Maybe it\u2019s not the prettiest. Maybe it\u2019s not the sexiest. But it\u2019s effective.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at Colorado and what they were able to do against us, it wasn\u2019t the prettiest at times, but it was effective, and they stuck with their game plan. They stuck with who they are, and I think if we can get to that mindset and this group can get to that mindset and the core that they have, the hunger that they have to win, I don\u2019t see why we won\u2019t be a team that\u2019s in the Stanley Cup Final and vying for that down the road, because the skill\u2019s too great. The want is too great. I think they\u2019re surrounded by a great staff and an organization that\u2019s building it to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Marcus, it\u2019s hard to imagine an NHL without his brother. He said he plays hockey because of Nick and \u201calways wanted to be like him, do everything like him.\u201d Marcus tries to balance pushing Nick to keep playing while knowing his older brother has to do what\u2019s best for him and his family. But he thinks there\u2019s more in the tank.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no doubt in my mind,\u201d Marcus said. \u201cIf he didn\u2019t feel like his game was there, that\u2019s a different story. But Nick is a great player. He\u2019s got more to give, and it\u2019s his want to win a Cup eventually or to be in a position one more time to see it through.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we both would vote, it\u2019s one more year in Minny.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PAUL, Minn. \u2014 Marcus Foligno figures he\u2019ll have many conversations about his brother Nick\u2019s future around the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4828,385,99],"class_list":["post-658281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}