The Kirill Kaprizov era continues for the Minnesota Wild as the team’s 22nd season commences.
In 2021-22, most Wild games will be televised in local markets on Bally Sports North, while some games will be nationally televised on NHL Network (usually out of market only, but those will also be on Bally Sports North), TNT or ESPN.
Additionally, every out-of-market game (and some nationally broadcast games) will also stream on ESPN+, which replaces NHL.tv this season.
Whether you live in the Wild market or somewhere else in the United States, here’s a full rundown of the different ways you can watch every Wild game live online without cable in 2021-22:
Note: Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
If You’re in the Wild Market
Note: A couple Wild games this season will stream exclusively on ESPN+ nationally with no blackout for in-market viewers. The following option is for how to watch all other in-market games:
DirecTV Stream
This is the only streaming service that has Bally Sports North
DirecTV Stream (formerly AT&T TV) has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” ESPN and TNT are included in all of them, Bally Sports North (local markets) is in “Choice” and up, and NHL Network is in “Ultimate” and up.
You can sign up right here:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch Wild games live on the DirecTV Stream app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the DirecTV Stream website.
If you can’t watch live, DirecTV Stream also comes with 20 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours).
If You’re out of the Wild Market
ESPN+
You can watch every out-of-market, non-nationally televised NHL game (over 1,000 games total) on ESPN+, which replaces NHL.tv this season and is a must-have for any NHL fan in the United States:
ESPN+, which also includes about 75 exclusive national NHL games, plus dozens of other live sports, every 30-for-30 documentary in existence and additional original content (both video and written), costs $6.99 for a month or $69.99 for a year (or about seven cents per NHL game if you want to look at it that way).
If you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $13.99 per month. Separately, the three streaming services would cost a total $20.97 per month, so you’re saving about 33 percent:
Get the ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu Bundle
Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch every out-of-market Wild game live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, Oculus Go, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Wild Season Preview 2021-22
Minnesota secured its young prodigy Kirill Kaprizov under contract this offseason after a stellar debut in 2020-2021.
The Wild left wing scored 27 goals and assisted on 24 in 55 games. The NHL Rookie of the Year entered the offseason as a restricted free agent, and his re-signing took longer than anyone wanted as the Star Tribune’s Michael Rand put it.
Wild players such as defenseman Matt Dumba are excited to see what year two with Kaprizov brings in a full 82-game slate.
“The standard that he holds himself to is a little bit nuts,” teammate Matt Dumba told the Star Tribune’s Sarah McLellan. “I don’t think everyone could do that. This guy literally expects to score every time he shoots the puck.”
Minnesota made seismic changes through buying out the contracts of longtime veterans Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. The Wild also let Carson Soucy go in the expansion draft.
Dumba and fellow defensemen Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin will need to step up in Suter and Soucy’s departures. Last season, Dumba had a plus-minus score of one, and he tallied 21 points. Brodin posted a plus-minus of two, and he had 23 points. Spurgeon had a -2 plus-minus score, and he amassed 25 points.
Offensively, the Wild will want forward Joel Eriksson Ek to step up after Parise’s departure. Eriksson had 30 points last season and hopes to get more “gritty goals” according to the Associated Press’ Dave Campbell via Sports Illustrated’s The Hockey News.
“Just trying to bring a little bit of that to my game, and just being around the net and getting those rebounds,” Eriksson Ek said per Campbell. “I hopefully can get to those areas this year too.”
Left wing Jordan Greenway taking things to another level could boost the Wild, too. Greenway had a career high in points with 32 last season.
The Wild could use another strong season from left wing Kevin Fiala. He posted 40 points in 50 games last season after tallying 54 points 64 games the year before.
“I’m very, very motivated,” Fiala said per Wild.com’s Dan Meyers. “I got my fire in my eyes. I’m looking forward to the season badly.”
Minnesota made a big change in goal by trading away Devan Dubnyk and promoting Cam Talbot. Last season, Talbot went 19-8-0 with a .915 save percentage and had a 2.63 goals allowed average.
The Wild also have Kaapo Kahkonen and Andrew Hammond. Kahkonen went 16-8-0 last season for the Wild with a .902 save percentage and 2.88 goals against average. Hammond hasn’t seen regular season action since the 2017-2018 season.
Last season’s Wild pushed a Stanley Cup-contending Vegas Golden Knights team to the brink in the playoffs last year. This season’s Wild will look to build on that and avoid sinking into mediocrity.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had such a close-knit crew,” Dumba said per Campbell. “I think it’s just very exciting to see what we can do this year.”
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