Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2024-25 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We begin with a look at the Central Division; next up is Minnesota.
Minnesota Wild
Current Cap Hit: $87,243,590 (under the $88MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
D Brock Faber (one year left on ELC at $925K, has signed extension)
F Marat Khusnutdinov (one year, $925K)
F Liam Ohgren (three years, $886.6K)
F Marco Rossi (one year, $863.3K)
Potential Bonuses
Faber: $250K
Khusnutdinov: $850K
Ohgren: $475K
Rossi: $850K
Total: $2.425MM
Khusnutdinov spent last season in the KHL but with his team there missing the playoffs, he was able to get into 16 games down the stretch with the Wild. He didn’t do a lot with somewhat limited minutes but that’s not entirely surprising for someone making their debut late in the season. A top-six role seems unlikely which makes a bridge deal the most probable outcome, one that’s a bit too early to handicap while hitting his bonuses seems unlikely. Ohgren, meanwhile, also got his feet wet with Minnesota late in the year and held his own. In a perfect world, he finds his way onto the roster, giving the Wild some secondary scoring depth. However, with their cap situation, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him start at AHL Iowa to allow them to bank some early-season cap space but he should be up at some point. It doesn’t seem likely that he’ll hit his bonuses unless he’s a full-timer and makes an impact on the scoresheet.
Rossi made the jump to the NHL full-time last season and turned in a solid rookie campaign with 21 goals and 19 assists although that didn’t stop him from being in trade speculation earlier this offseason. He reached two of his ‘A’ bonuses last season (ATOI and goals) and assuming he has a similar role this year, he has a good chance at reaching those again, counting at $212.5K apiece. Considering the perception of his availability, it stands to reason that Minnesota’s preference is probably going to be a bridge deal. If Rossi has another season like 2023-24, that contract should surpass $3MM per year on a two-year pact while a long-term agreement would likely push past $5MM per season.
Faber is worth a quick mention here due to the bonuses as they weren’t in the first or second year of his deal. If he has anywhere near a repeat performance from a year ago, it’s going to be safe to pencil those into Minnesota’s cap planning.
Jesper Wallstedt (one year, $925K plus $425K in bonuses) isn’t mentioned above as while he’s expected to see some action between the pipes, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to carry him on the roster on a full-time basis. That means the bonuses won’t be hit and with what’s likely to be a limited NHL workload, his next deal likely maxes out at what San Jose gave Yaroslav Askarov (two years, $2MM per season); it wouldn’t be shocking if it came in well below that either.
Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level
D Declan Chisholm ($1MM, UFA)
G Marc-Andre Fleury ($2.5MM, UFA)
F Marcus Johansson ($2MM, UFA)
F Reese Johnson ($775K, RFA)
F Jakub Lauko ($787.5K, RFA)
D Jonathon Merrill ($1.2MM, UFA)
Johansson didn’t light it up like he did after being acquired at the trade deadline the year before although 30 points for this price point isn’t bad value. However, he’s someone who hasn’t had a lot of success on the open market in recent deals before this one so it wouldn’t be surprising to see his next contract land around this one. Lauko was acquired from Boston at the draft and was brought in to add some grit on the fourth line. With a rather limited overall track record (just 83 career NHL games), his next deal shouldn’t cost much more than $1MM barring an offensive outburst in 2024-25. Johnson was signed to a two-way deal after being non-tendered by Chicago to avoid arbitration. He’ll likely see action on the fourth line if he makes the team but with over 140 NHL games, he’s a potential non-tender candidate again as well.
Merrill saw his stock drop a bit last season, averaging less than 13 minutes a night when he was in the lineup. A serviceable depth defender, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Wild tried to run him through waivers to open up a bit of flexibility; all but $50K of the contract would come off the books when he’s in the minors. Looking ahead, he’ll have a hard time pushing past the $1MM mark unless he can re-establish himself closer to the 15-plus minute mark. Chisholm, meanwhile, fared well after being claimed midseason from Winnipeg but a limited track record hurt his market value this summer. If he can stay as a full-time option on the third pairing, doubling his price tag could be doable.
Many expected Fleury to retire but he opted to come back for one final season. He’s coming off a down year but if he can bounce back a bit, Minnesota should get decent value with this price tag being below the top backup options.
Signed Through 2025-26
D Zach Bogosian ($1.25MM, UFA)
G Filip Gustavsson ($3.75MM, UFA)
F Kirill Kaprizov ($9MM, UFA)
F Mats Zuccarello ($4.125MM, UFA)
Kaprizov has emerged as one of the top wingers in the NHL and he will be signing this deal at the age of 29, meaning he will still have some prime years left when the time comes to sign his next contract. As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him surpass Artemi Panarin’s $11.643MM AAV; while his point totals haven’t been as high, the increase in the salary cap between the two contracts should make the difference. Zuccarello signed this extension early and has put up at least 63 points the last three seasons. If that holds up, the Wild will do quite well here. Even if the output starts to drop, it should hold up relatively well. He’ll be entering his age-39 year on his next contract which means it’s far from a guarantee that there will be a next contract.
Bogosian did well in a limited role after being acquired from Tampa Bay. As long as he stays around that fifth slot in terms of usage, they’ll do relatively well with this contract.
Gustavsson wasn’t expected to necessarily repeat his breakout numbers from 2022-23 but he didn’t exactly come close to them either. He dropped 32 points on his save percentage while his goals-against average went up by nearly a full goal per game. The end result was a stat line that was below average, even for a second-stringer. It’s safe to say they’ll be counting on some sort of rebound.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Ryan Hartman ($4MM, UFA)
D Jared Spurgeon ($7.875MM, UFA)
Hartman didn’t get back to his output from 2021-22 but he still reached the 20-goal mark. As long as he can stay there and play down the middle, this contract should age well.
Spurgeon, meanwhile, is coming off an injury-plagued year. When healthy, he’s a top-pairing player but whether he can still be one for the final three seasons of this contract remains to be seen as he’ll turn 35 in late November. It’s possible as a result that this one could become an issue for Minnesota down the road.
Signed Through 2027-28 Or Longer
F Matt Boldy ($7MM through 2029-30)
D Jonas Brodin ($6MM through 2027-28)
F Joel Eriksson Ek ($5.25MM through 2028-29)
D Brock Faber ($8.5MM from 2025-26 through 2032-33)
F Marcus Foligno ($4MM through 2027-28)
F Frederick Gaudreau ($2.1MM through 2027-28)
D Jacob Middleton ($2.45MM in 2024-25, $4.35MM from 2025-26 through 2027-28)
F Yakov Trenin ($3.5MM through 2027-28)
Boldy bypassed a bridge contract to ink this deal, one that gets the Wild a below-market price for what they hope will be a consistent top-line winger (early indications suggest he’s on his way to doing so). In return, Boldy gets to hit the open market at the age of 29; like Kaprizov, he should still have some prime years left, meaning a max-term agreement should be doable. At this point, it’s still too early to forecast where it lands but it should be a substantial one.
Eriksson Ek’s contract felt like a bit of a risk at the time given that his career high in points at the time was 30. He’s only gone up since then, reaching 64 last season while becoming a legitimate two-way center. All of a sudden, this isn’t a risk at all but rather a club-friendly deal that seems to be getting better by the year. That can’t be said about Foligno’s contract, however. He signed this contract coming off a 21-point injury-riddled season, then proceeded to miss 27 games in 2023-24. When healthy, he’s an effective third liner who can move up to the second line in a pinch. But four years at an above-market price with the injury history could be a problem down the road.
Trenin’s contract this summer also raised some eyebrows. His career-high in points is 24 and while physicality is a bit part of his game which upped his market, few saw him commanding that price tag a few months ago. He’ll need to find another level offensively for Minnesota to get some value in this contract. Gaudreau wasn’t a full-time NHL player until 2021-22 and had two impressive seasons to earn this deal, one that gave him long-term security and the potential for a club-friendly deal if he could keep averaging around 40 points. That didn’t happen last season, flipping the value to a negative, at least for 2023-24. If he can get back to even 30 points though, they’ll do okay with this deal.
The value of post-entry-level contracts for defensemen has gone up significantly in recent years but even with that, there was usually at least a couple of years of high-level play before one of those agreements was handed out. That wasn’t the case here as Faber only has one full season under his belt, one that saw the 22-year finish as the runner-up in Calder Trophy voting. Granted, it was a very strong rookie campaign as he logged nearly 25 minutes a night of action and quickly became Minnesota’s top defender. GM Bill Guerin clearly feels this is either sustainable or a sign of things to come and felt that the price could go higher had they waited until next summer to sign. We’ll find out in the coming months if that works out as the correct approach.
Brodin has never been a high-end point producer but has been counted on as a key shutdown piece for more than a decade now. The limited offensive upside makes it difficult for this agreement to become a team-friendly pact but as long as he can fill the role he has now, they’ll be content with the value. Middleton has fit in well on the second pairing since being acquired in 2022, adding some grit and strong defensive play. This price feels a little high considering it’s a year early but again, as long as he can hold down that role, they’ll do okay with this contract.
Buyouts
F Zach Parise ($7.372MM in 2024-25, $833.3K from 2025-26 through 2028-29)
D Ryan Suter ($7.372MM in 2024-25, $833.3K from 2025-26 through 2028-29)
Retained Salary Transactions
None
Still To Sign
None
Best Value: (non-entry-level) Eriksson Ek
Worst Value: Foligno
Looking Ahead
The buyouts of Parise and Suter have strongly limited Minnesota’s flexibility in recent years and will do so again for the final time in 2024-25. They’ll once again be quite tight to the cap if they carry a full-sized roster but with several players on entry-level deals, they could be active on the transaction front, shuttling them back and forth from Iowa to try to back some extra in-season flexibility. How much (or little) they do will go a long way towards determining what they might be able to do closer to the trade deadline.
Guerin has already spent a big chunk of the lowered buyout cost on Faber’s new deal but they will have some cap space to work with next summer with a little under $73MM in commitments for 2025-26 with no big-ticket contracts up for renewal at that time although Kaprizov will become extension-eligible at that time; they’ll want to leave long-term space available to get him locked up. But even with that, the Wild should be bigger players when it comes to roster movement next summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.