Are the Blues or Wild off to a more concerning start?

We’re nearly three weeks into the 2025-26 NHL regular season, and so far, the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild have come out of the gates slowly.

Both teams were in the playoffs last spring, yet through 18 combined games, the Blues and Wild have a total of six wins. It’s still early and teams typically need at least a month or two before they have an idea as to who they are. But nearly a month into the season, St. Louis and Minnesota are on the outside looking in.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Irfaan Gaffar steps in for Tyler Yaremchuk, and he and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the struggles between the Blues and Wild, and which of the two teams is off to a more concerning start.

Irfaan Gaffar: I want to take a look at the Wild and Blues. My questions is: What worries you more between the two teams? Are the Blues able to turn things around like they have in the past? The Wild re-signed Kirill Kaprizov, but they haven’t gotten off to a good start, either.

Carter Hutton: I think right now, looking at this, maybe I trust St. Louis more because they’ve been in this spot before. They have Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer, and Hofer has been a very good backup goalie that’s been off to a tough start. He hasn’t been able to save much. Binnington’s numbers aren’t great by any means, but he’s a workhorse.

As for the Wild, the fact their backup is a first-round pick who hasn’t really played in the NHL, and you have Filip Gustavsson who signed the big contract. When we talk about Gustavsson year-after-year, it’s been Jekyll and Hyde: He’s coming off a great year, so they give him the big contract and he’s been solid, so far. But when you talk about the backup in Jesper Wallstedt and he’s not able to go in there and give you support, and again, they’ve given him good starts.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here: