2000/01: After 7 years of political squabbling, following the Northstars move to Dallas, on where to build an arena, and if Minnesota should take an existing team, or get an expansion team the NHL returns to the "State of Hockey," home of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, as the Wild are one of 2 new teams, in the last of a 4-team expansion over 3 years. The Wild coached by Jacques Lemaire made debut on the road losing to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 3-1 on October 6th as fast skating rookie Marian Gaborik scores the team's first goal. Five days later the Wild would make their debut at the Xcel Energy Center skating to a 3-3 tie with the Philadelphia Flyers. A week later the Wild would get their first win as Gaborik scored twice in the 3rd period as the Wild beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-5 at home. Marian Gaborik would go on to lead the team in scoring with 18 goals and 18 assists as the Wild finished in last place in the Northwest Division with a typical expansion-like record of 25-39-13-5.  

2003/04: Coming off a trip to the Western Conference Finals there was an air of optimism. However as the season started the Wild were short-handed with Pascal Dupuis and Marian Gaborik holding out. After struggling in the first month the Wild finally got their two young stars signed but both struggled to get back into game shape as the Wild struggled through much of November. In a deep hole the Wild could not climb back into the playoffs despite finishing the season strong with wins in 5 of their last 6 games as they finished last in the competitive Northwest Division with a record of 30-29-20-3. Along the way the Wild began to gear up for the future trading away several of their older players that were apart of the franchise from the beginning including Brad Bombardir, and Jim Dowd.