This is an offseason full of questions for the Minnesota Wild. A team perenially on the verge of taking the next step has now lost seven straight playoff series, and they enter the 2023-24 landscape with only $8.23MM in projected cap space and multiple players to sign.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin spoke with The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith on the unique challenges brought in by their cap situation and commented on the futures of multiple players, including breakout netminder Filip Gustavsson. The 24-year-old Swede will undoubtedly receive some Vezina Trophy votes after posting a .931 save percentage in 37 starts, but he’s also a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights. Guerin told Russo and Smith “there’s always challenges” when it comes to locking in contracts on a team without much maneuverability, but said talks with Gustavsson would start “very, very soon” and he’s confident they’ll reach an agreement.
Other notes from Guerin’s interview with Russo and Smith:
- Guerin highlighted Ryan Reaves as one of the unrestricted free agents he’s focused on retaining this summer. After an early-season trade from the New York Rangers, Guerin said he was impressed with Reaves’ on-ice and off-ice presence, viewing him as integral to the team’s locker room chemistry. Reaves scored 15 points in 61 games this season with Minnesota, his highest scoring total since the 2019-20 season with the Vegas Golden Knights. He’ll need to take a discount on his previous $1.75MM cap hit to stay in a Wild uniform.
- One player who’s not a pending free agent is defenseman Alex Goligoski, but Guerin said he’ll still sit down and have a talk with the veteran defenseman about his future. Locked in through next season with a no-movement clause and a $2MM cap hit, Goligoski, 37, oftentimes found himself as a healthy scratch this season, including in all six playoff games. If he’d be open to a trade somewhere else for more playing time in likely his last NHL season, it would free up some much-needed cap space for the Wild.
The Wild are so far from being a serious contender. A rebuild is probably the best way to go.
And, given your history of being wrong about pretty much everything, the future of the Wild suddenly seems bright.
I wouldn’t go that far. They have goaltending, a top line player + many other good pieces. The issue is those 2 big buyouts that is now putting undo pressure on their current cap situation.
I’d love for the Pens to try the offer sheet route for Gustavsson. The financials would be a nightmare, but it would solve the problem on net. It’s not like they aren’t used to not having draft capital anyway.
@bucsfan—Well, their Offer Sheet slot is basically the $2.1MM-$4.2MM area, with the lowest and highest ranges being ridiculously unrealistic, especially with the Pens’ cap situation. The question is, would Gus consider the Pens as a possible landing spot for $4.2MM or less?
needs to be this slot, as the Pens don’t meet the requirements for the tier above. can’t see it happen, though. but stranger things happened…