After finalizing extensions for both Marcus Foligno and Mats Zuccarello today, Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin confirmed to The Athletic’s Joe Smith that things are also “heading that way” regarding an extension for center/winger Ryan Hartman. That confirms a report from The Athletic’s Michael Russo earlier this week that Minnesota had begun extension talks with all three players.
Guerin didn’t give a firm timeline on when we could see an extension for Hartman announced, and there’s likely still a little bit of work to be done, but it could be as soon as early next week. Hartman, a winger for most of his NHL career, shifted to center in his second season with Minnesota out of roster need and quickly ended up on the team’s top unit between Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov. Hartman’s statement season came in 2021-22, exploding for a career-high 34 goals and 65 points while playing in all 82 games. He couldn’t quite follow it up, however, as injuries limited him to 59 appearances in 2022-23, in which he posted 15 goals and 37 points.
While he has been an admirable pinch-hitter for the Wild at an extreme position of need in his prime, he’s not an ideal long-term solution as a pivot given his rather poor performance in the faceoff circle – he’s posted just a 43.6% win rate over the past three seasons despite taking well over 2,000 draws. He does still carry immense value as a versatile middle-six forward, however, and he’s in line to earn a significant raise over his current $1.7MM cap hit. Evolving-Hockey projects an extension for Hartman to come in at around the $5.5MM mark per season with a four-year term as the most likely – a more expensive deal but similar nonetheless to the one Foligno signed earlier today.
Elsewhere around the league tonight:
- Sticking with Minnesota, PuckPedia added some further clarity on the inner workings of Zuccarello’s two-year, $4.125MM cap hit extension signed today. Given the front-loaded structure of the deal, which sees him earn $4.7MM in 2024-25 compared to just $3.55MM in 2025-26, plus its label as a 35+ deal, the contract is essentially buyout-proof and will not earn the Wild any cap relief should they opt to execute one in the summer of 2025. Zuccarello will be 38 entering the final season of the extension, but he’s produced well over market value for the Wild over his four seasons there and, even accounting for some natural decline, should be worth the money given an increased cap ceiling in the final season of the extension.
- Moving East, watchful eyes may have noticed tonight’s preseason Battle of New York between the Islanders and Rangers didn’t go on as scheduled. That’s because the game was postponed earlier today due to the local state of emergency declared due to extreme flooding in Brooklyn and throughout the New York metropolitan area. A home game for the Islanders at UBS Arena, the tilt has been pushed to Saturday night at 6 p.m. CT or 7 p.m. local time.