When he showed up at Wild training camp in September, veteran winger Yakov Trenin talked of a summer spent getting into some of the best shape of his career, and hinted that the fitness would translate into a better offensive season than his 2024-25 debut in Minnesota.
Trenin signed with the Wild as a free agent in the summer of 2024 after spending the bulk of his first five NHL seasons in Nashville, and posted seven goals and eight assists in 76 games a year ago.
His offensive numbers are on a better pace this season, as he entered Saturday night’s meeting with Florida having posted three goals and 11 assists in 52 games. But the evolution of Trenin’s game this season has been revealed in his play along the walls, where he’s quickly established himself as one of the NHL’s most prolific hitters.
He entered the meeting with the Panthers leading the NHL with 257 hits, which was 47 more than Kiefer Sherwood of San Jose, who was in second place. And Trenin has been able to deliver all of that punishment while, for the most part, staying out of the penalty box, owning just 23 minutes in solitary confinement this season.
Wild coach John Hynes — who also coached Trenin in Nashville — sees an art to Trenin’s ability to take his physical play up to, but not over, the line. The key, per the coach, is skating and timing.
“He’s moving his feet really well this year. So, you know, when you’re that big and you have the ability to be physical like he does, a lot of times you’re arriving on time. So, your hits are on time,” Hynes said. “They’re clean. They’re when they should be. They’re on arrival the same time as the puck. So, because he’s playing at a good pace, it’s allowing him to use his physicality the way he can without taking penalties.”
Trenin is officially listed as 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, but teammates who once played against him and now have to match up with him in practice say that might be an undercount. Wild defenseman Jake Middleton, who has racked up twice as many penalty minutes as Trenin so far, said you can feel a disrupting presence when No. 13 is on the ice.
“It’s way better than having to go against him, getting hit and having your shoulders touch every time,” Middleton said. “You know when he’s out there. Your best option is probably to dump it in, and he’s going to find a way to get it back while imposing some pain on the other D-corps.”
Trenin’s imposing on-ice presence stands in stark contrast to the friendly, shy smile that he offers in the locker room. Hynes notes that he is getting offensive chances even if the numbers are not eye popping, and some of the things Trenin brings to the Wild cannot be measured on the score sheet.
“Trying to deliver a clean hit. Like, make an impact, but don’t hurt anybody and don’t punish our team in the penalty box,” Trenin said. “(I’ve) always been physical, but this year I have more opportunity, I would say, for hits, and more often go for hits instead of for the puck.”
The end result is a disrupting presence when Trenin’s line is on the ice. When Trenin was asked how this season, and all of the physical play, is going, he had an answer with no hesitation.
“It’s so much fun,” he said, and the big smile returned quickly.
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