The Florida Panthers have reportedly acquired forward Vinnie Hinostroza from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for future considerations.
Hinostroza, 31, has three goals and 10 points in 48 games with the Wild this season. The Athletic‘s Michael Russo was the first to report the news of the impending trade on Friday morning.
The Wild needed to move out a forward after acquiring Bobby Brink and Nick Foligno in separate trades on Friday. Hinostroza, who previously appeared in nine games with the Panthers in 2020-21, is under contract through the end of the 2025-26 season at a $775,000 NHL cap hit.
Hearing #mnwild have traded Vinnie Hinostroza to the Florida Panthers for future considerations
Hinostroza first joined the Wild midway through the 2024-25 season after being claimed off waivers from the Nashville Predators. The 5’10” forward scored five goals and eight points in 25 games with Minnesota to finish the regular season and also dressed in one playoff game.
The Chicago Blackhawks originally selected Hinostroza in the sixth round (No. 169 overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft. The Chicago-born forward played with the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks before spending two seasons at Notre Dame.
After turning pro with Chicago, Hinostroza made his NHL debut in the 2015-16 campaign and ultimately appeared in parts of three seasons with the Blackhawks before being traded to the Arizona Coyotes in 2018. He set career highs in goals (16), assists (23), points (39), and games played (72) with the Coyotes in 2018-19.
Hinostroza played two seasons in Arizona before splitting the 2020-21 campaign between Florida and Chicago. He then spent the following two seasons with the Buffalo Sabres before bouncing back and forth between the AHL and NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Predators.
In 460 career games over parts of 11 seasons with Chicago, Arizona, Florida, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Nashville, and Minnesota, Hinostroza has collected 62 goals and 171 points. He’s added two assists in nine playoff games with the Blackhawks, Coyotes, and Wild.
