Ex-Rangers forward on track to make season debut following latest move by the Central Division team
Photo credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images
Ex-New York Rangers forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel is on track to make his NHL season debut with his newest team, the Minnesota Wild. He was signed to the Minnesota Wild in July 2025. Could he make an impact?
The Minnesota Wild have recalled ex-Rangers forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel from the AHL's Iowa Wild.
Aube-Kubel will be occupying the bottom-six role that injured forward Vinnie Hinostroza held, which they had placed him in a corresponding move.
The former 48th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers has become a journeyman in his professional hockey career.
He played six games split between both the New York Rangers and Hartford Wolfpack during the 2024-25 season and tallied 1 one point with the Wolfpack.
Aube-Kubel made his Rangers debut last March and got a playing slot over forward Brett Berard last season. It's apparent who was the true survivor there.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel's struggles to establish himself as an NHL ready forward
Since then, he's failed to make the opening night roster of each team he's signed a contract with for the second time in the last three seasons.
The 29-year-old forward played 19 games for the Sabres before being traded to the Rangers, and hasn't played more than 67 games in his entire career, with the Colorado Avalanche during the 2021-22 Stanley Cup-winning season.
In July, the former Philadelphia Flyers draft pick signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Minnesota Wild in July which pays him a league minimum of $775K AAV (average annual value).
Initial projections labelled him as a bang-and-crash top-nine winger with enough offensive upside for third-line duties. While he's satisfied the former part of that description, he's rarely demonstrated enough offensive utility to push above a fourth-line job.
Aube-Kubel hasn't been able to find the brilliant offensive weaponry to shake off the reputation of being a purely defensive winger in the league.
It's hampered his career trajectory as a result, and since then has been a misfit in the NHL, traveling from team to team.
He's played a total of 304 games in the NHL, and scored 80 points (32-48) and 202 penalty minutes.
Previously on NY Hockey Insider
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 27 | 61 ANSWERS Ex-Rangers forward on track to make season debut following latest move by the Central Division team Do you think forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel, an ex-New York Ranger, is worth a spot in any NHL lineup? | ||
| Yes | 16 | 26.2 % |
| No | 45 | 73.8 % |
| List of polls | ||