The boringly slow offseason is primarily because the Minnesota Wild had basically zero extra cap space to spend on any of their unrestricted free agents (UFA), no matter how badly they would’ve liked to keep them. Long-term players like Matt Dumba and deadline pick-ups like Gustav Nyquist have all moved on and signed with new teams. A single restricted free agent (RFA) in Calen Addison is left to sign for the upcoming season with his projected deal, leaving the Wild with just enough left to spend on a 13th forward at the league minimum of $775,000. Therefore, they won’t be signing any new players, but they will likely start looking into extending key players on expiring contracts, such as Marcus Foligno and Mats Zuccarello, as early as they can.
Fleury & Goligoski Unlikely to Return
Enjoy them while you can because this is more than likely their last season with the team and potentially their last season in the NHL. Both of these veterans are highly respected players with long, successful careers, but time waits for no one, and they are past their prime with a new wave of rookies trying to push out the very players they grew up idolizing.
Alex Goligoski is still capable of some very effective play on the backend and can come up with some clutch moments both defending and as an offensive threat when he jumps up into the play, but the questions about his ability to play an entire season are well-founded. He just doesn’t appear to have the stamina to maintain that level of effectiveness throughout an entire 82-game campaign, let alone into a deep playoff run.
The illustrious Marc-Andre Fleury is still a very effective goaltender with a style that just isn’t seen anymore with the way the goaltending position has evolved. His animated and aggressive moves are a blast to watch and lead to some absolute monster saves but also some painful goals. Overall, he is still a player you want to have on your team, but with Filip Gustavsson looking to take over the starting role and Jesper Wallstedt on his way, Fleury’s age is his biggest weakness.
Foligno & Zuccarello the First Up
It is hard to imagine a world where both Foligno and Mats Zuccarello are not offered extensions. My guess is Foligno is the first to get the offer as the power-forward alternate captain has become a leader in multiple facets of the team. Whether he is punching someone in the face, chirping from the bench, or putting the puck in the net himself, he is a critical piece of the Wild’s DNA. He has some work to do reigning in some of his inopportune penalties, but overall there is no way the Wild’s general manager Bill Guerin lets Foligno play anywhere else.
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Almost the opposite type of player from Foligno is Zuccarello. Zuccarello is a smaller guy who has some elite puck-moving skills and a mindset that matches perfectly with superstar Kirill Kaprizov. He may be 36, but he is two points shy of being a point-per-game player over the last two seasons at a bargain $6 million cap hit. Some drop in point production is going to happen, but I think at a lower dollar amount on a short one or two-year deal, Zuccarello should be extended.
Hartman & Duhaime Wait and See
Here is where things start to get a little bit interesting. Both Ryan Hartman and Brandon Duhaime could potentially fill the same role and yet are playing on opposite ends of the spectrum. Hartman has been a decent first-line center for a couple of seasons now, but whenever the Wild end up finally getting a number-one center, he likely becomes a second or third-line winger good for 20 goals and 45 points a season. Unless that somehow happens this season, his current role means that he will be after a big increase from his $1.7 million.
Duhaime is bigger, younger, and faster than Hartman but plays a fourth-line winger role. He has shown flashes of a skilled shot, so if he steps up his point production, I can also see him in that same third-line winger role as Hartman, only he will likely cost much less.
In two years, I think both of these players will fill that same hole for the Wild, and keeping both restricts their ability to have open spots for incoming rookies. It’s just a matter of whether they want the proven guy that will cost more in Hartman, or does Duhaime show enough to be worth taking the risk and saving some money? You can’t keep everyone, and it feels like one of these two will have to go.
Dewar & Maroon Next Offseason’s Problem
The only RFA for next season and the one new addition to the team this offseason will have some big question marks over them for the foreseeable future. Maroon should bring a veteran presence and some locker-room vibes that are sorely needed after the departures of Ryan Reaves and Matt Dumba, but he will still have to be a productive member of the Wild to even be considered for an extension.
The arbitration-eligible Dewar has had some success as a key piece of the penalty kill with his close friend Mason Shaw, but with a prospect pool loaded with potential centers, he is going to have to take a big step if he wants to avoid being pushed out by the likes of Marco Rossi, Marat Khusnutdinov, Caeden Bankier, and Charlie Stramel. That being said, I think his current value will get him a shorter-term deal at a low AAV without any sort of trade protection, but it is most likely something that waits until close to arbitration.
Potential for a Lot of Change
It is still very early to be looking at extending most of these players, and a lot of it will come down to how they play this season, but I am sure the Wild would like to avoid a situation where they are heading into next offseason with seven players unsigned. It would not surprise me if Foligno and Zuccarello are treated similarly to Matt Boldy last season, where he got an extension done earlier in the season and out of the way to allow for his full focus to be on playing at the top of his game. Of course, everything could change if the Wild struggle for the first few weeks of the season, in which case more than a few of these players would make some blue chip trade prospects at the deadline.
