Armed with new contract, Wild wing Marcus Foligno sharpens his edge
Marcus Foligno is an amiable, and affable, person — likely a big reason he has become a veteran leader on a Minnesota Wild team that begins its regular season Thursday night against the Florida Panthers at Xcel Energy Center.
But it’s not just about being a nice guy for Foligno, a power forward who seemed to find an immediate home in Minnesota after being acquired in the June 2017 trade that sent Jason Pominville and Marco Scandella to Buffalo.
Foligno, 32, isn’t afraid to throw his weight around on the ice. In fact, it’s a major part of a role he plays so well that general manager Bill Guerin signed the 6-foot-3, 226-pound left wing to a four-year extension that will kick in next season.
“Guys like Marcus,” Guerin said after completing his extension, “there’s not a ton of them anymore.”
Teammates know that Foligno will throw his body into the corners, finish his checks, rush the crease and, if necessary, drop the gloves. After a training camp practice at TRIA Rink last week, Foligno was asked how an amiable, affable guy can get into so many fights.
“I’ve got a short fuse,” he said.
“I can’t really chirp guys and do that sort of stuff because either we’re fighting or we’re not,” Foligno said. “I think that’s what helps with my game being physical. I just know that it makes me a better player, honestly.”
While that has been Foligno’s bread and butter over 12 full NHL seasons, he’s not without considerable skill. In 2021-22, he scored a career-high 23 goals to go with 19 assists in what was statistically his best NHL season. But Foligno knows he’s a throwback player. He and his older brother, Chicago winger Nick Foligno, learned about pro hockey by watching their father, Mike, play 18 NHL seasons with Buffalo, Toronto, Detroit and Florida.
Marcus, Guerin said, “plays an emotional game. He plays a physical game, and the big thing is he’s always watching everybody’s back. That’s one of the things that I love about Marcus is that he stands up for everybody.”
Mike Foligno scored a lot of goals (247) and racked up a lot of points in the NHL, but he also wasn’t afraid to drop the gloves for a teammate, averaging 132.8 PIM in his first 14 seasons. His youngest son is made of the same cloth.
“You have to play with that edge,” Marcus said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a good game where I was in the faceoff circle and joking with someone on the other team. I can’t play like that, never could. It’s just that old-school feel I have in my game. It’s what’s made me tick and it’s helped me play in this league for a long time.”
Since arriving in Minnesota, Foligno has led the Wild in PIM (415) and hits (1,159), and ranks fourth in games played (396) and goals (67). He had a team-high 237 hits and 97 penalty minutes last season, but his production fell off, to seven goals and 14 assists in 65 regular-season games.
Foligno was never entirely healthy, even at the start of the season, and a hip issue hampered him further starting in late December. From then on, his training was focused on being healthy enough to play each night.
But he also acknowledged that after scoring 23 goals, his offensive game changed a little bit before the injuries took over.
“I got a lot of goals around the net (in 2021-22), and maybe I was looking to be the guy to get open rather than the guy who gets the puck to the guy that’s open,” he said.
During his 42-point season, Foligno logged a career high in penalty minutes with 112 in 74 regular-season games. Another reminder that the goals and physical play — the checking, the hitting and the sparring — aren’t mutually exclusive.
“He can’t get away from who he is, and that means he needs to be a physical presence first,” head coach Dean Evason said. “He needs to get in on the forecheck, finish checks, have a good stick, use his grittiness to get to the net to dictate scoring goals like that first. And then the other ones — off of the rush, from outside — will come.”
In any case, Foligno knows the Wild just want him to play his game. He knew that before the Wild signed him through the 2026-27 season, and he certainly knows it now.
“Is there pressure on me? Yeah, I want to win a (Stanley) Cup here,” he said. “There’s tons of pressure in this room. But in that sense, that’s all I’m focused on, being a piece of the puzzle to help this team win. So, I’m not putting any expectations on myself in terms of, ‘I need this many points.’ I just need to be a factor in every game, and that will take care of itself.”
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