Who: Pittsburgh Penguins (24-31-10, 58 points, 8th place Metropolitan Division) @ Minnesota Wild (36-23-4, 76 points, 4th place Central Division)

When: 3:30 p.m. ET

How to Watch: SN-PIT and TVAS for local markets, national on TNT, truTV and MAX

Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins return to Pittsburgh after this one for a weeklong homestand at PPG Paints Arena. Next up is the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, followed by meetings with the St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Opponent Track: The Wild, previously the third team in the Central, slipped down to a Wild Card spot after losing four of their last six games. Most recently, Minnesota dropped a 3-1 decision to the Canucks in Vancouver after former Penguin Teddy Blueger put the dagger into the empty net.

Season Series: The Penguins led early, but allowed four unanswered Wild goals in a 5-3 loss at home on Oct. 29.

Hidden Stat: The Penguins hold 30 total draft picks in the next three drafts, including an NHL-high 18 picks in the first three rounds, per Pens PR and team reporter Michelle Crechiolo.

Getting to know the Wild

Projected lines (from Friday’s game)

FORWARDS

Marcus Johansson – Frederick Gaudreau – Mats Zuccarello

Gustav Nyquist – Ryan Hartman – Matt Boldy

Marcus Foligno – Marco Rossi – Vinnie Hinostroza

Yakov Trenin – Devin Shore – Justin Brazeau

DEFENSEMEN

Jacob Middleton / Brock Faber

Declan Chisholm / Jared Spurgeon

Jon Merrill / Zach Bogosian

Goalies: Filip Gustavsson, Marc-Andre Fleury

Scratches: Brendan Gaunce, David Jircek, Jonas Brodin (injured)

IR: Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek

• Geurin said last week that Brodin is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. He left last Sunday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche after blocking a shot by Martin Necas.
• The Wild indicated Saturday that Kirill Kaprizov could return before the end of the regular season, but he’ll likely be out for today.
• Joel Eriksson Ek was placed on IR with a lower-body injury on Feb. 25. The Wild described his status as “week-to-week.”
• Ryan Hartman recently returned to the lineup after serving out an eight-game suspension for hitting Tim Stutzle’s head into the ice.

Player stats

(via hockeydb)

• This could be the last time the Pens are facing an old friend in Marc-Andre Fleury, who is expected to start tonight for the Wild, per NHL.com’s Kevin Woodley. Fleury has previously said he will retire at the end of his 21st NHL season this spring.

“It’s always still weird when I play against them. Obviously I like to win against them to get a little bit of bragging rights, but they’ve been such great teammates and good friends and so it’s fun to cross paths.”

“You see guys every day for 12-14 years and then you don’t see them anymore pretty much, so it’s hard. It’s hard when that happens, right? But still, I always keep such a good memory and when we see each other, it feels like no time has passed, so it’s like back to our time there together.” —Fleury on Thursday about his final game against the Penguins, per Woodley

Trade deadline recap

It was a quiet trade deadline for the Wild.

After claiming Vinnie Hinostroza off waivers last month, the Wild added Gustav Nyquist and Justin Brazeau at the deadline.

The team meanwhile parted ways with Marat Khusnutdinov, Jakub Lauko and two 2026 picks draft picks.

Given that Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek are on the long-term injured reserve, the Wild had more than $9 million in LTIR space to make a move at the deadline.

But general manager Bill Guerin noted at the deadline that the Wild are at a “different stage” than the Dallas Stars or Colorado Avalanche.

He also indicated the Wild are hoping to use the cap space on Kaprizov if the winger is able to return before the end of the regular season.

Here are some of Guerin’s comments about the Wild’s deadline moves, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo:

“Yeah, you want to be involved, but you know what? We’re just at a different stage than those teams. We’ll have our day, but it was the same thing this summer when you’re watching other teams load up. For some reason we still have to play the games. If we’re going by that, we might as well just pack our s— and go home. But I think we’ll show up and play the games and see how it checks out.”

“Did you see the prices on guys? I’m not here — and I’m not being a wiseass — I’m not here to make your trade deadline better. I’m running a business. I’m running a team. We have assets. Our time will come. This is not so you guys can write great stuff on trade deadline day and have an exciting day. We’ve had a plan going for four years. And I’m not going to screw that up just being shortsighted. That’s where I am.”

And now for the Pens

Projected lines (from Saturday’s practice)

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Kevin Hayes – Evgeni Malkin – Emil Bemstrom

Connor Dewar – Tommy Novak – Philip Tomasino

Boko Imama – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Ryan Shea / Kris Letang

Matt Grzelcyk / Erik Karlsson

Vladislav Kolyachonok / Connor Timmins / Ryan Graves

Goalies: Alex Nedeljkovic, Tristan Jarry

Potential Scratches: Connor Timmins or Ryan Graves (?), Danton Heinen (?)

Injured Reserve: P.O. Joseph (upper-body injury)

• Trade deadline recap: the Pens parted ways with Michael Bunting, Vincent Desharnais, Anthony Beauvillier, Cody Glass and Jonathan Gruden, as well as briefly acquired and then flipped Luke Schenn. Into the roster comes winger Conor Timmins and defenseman Connor Dewar. Forwards Chase Stilman and Max Graham are off to the minors.
• Kyle Dubas said there was “lots of interest” in Rickard Rakell at the deadline, but the Pens ultimately decided keeping the their leading goalscorer was in the team’s “best interest.”
• It sounds like Rakell wasn’t so sure he was staying in Pittsburgh. He said Saturday that it had been a “stressful” last 24 hours, per Pens Inside Scoop’s Michelle Crechiolo.
• Nickname update from Crechiolo:

• Mike Sullivan is one win away from No. 400 in his career. Rakell is one goal away from No. 30 on the season.