The Minnesota Wild made the Stanley Cup playoffs despite having a little more than $14.7 million of dead cap space, due to the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.
With the dead cap coming off the books, Minnesota is projected to have over $20.5 million in cap space. Armed with ample cap space, the Wild are planning to be aggressive in the offseason, and NHL insider Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff links them to Brock Nelson in free agency.
“According to the source, the Wild are content with their defense and goaltending outlook heading into next season,” Di Marco wrote. “By all accounts, the Wild’s focus is to bolster their forward group, specifically down the middle. Leading up to the deadline, the Wild were tied to Brock Nelson.
“But passed on the hefty haul that was requested by the New York Islanders. Nelson, a Minnesota native, has a history with Guerin with Team USA at this past season’s 4 Nations Face-Off, and it sounds like the Wild will target the 33-year-old in free agency this summer,” Di Marco added.
Nelson, who is from Minnesota, would be a solid second-line center for the Wild. The veteran completed his six-year, $36 million deal.
With the New York Islanders and Colorado Avalanche last season, he recorded 26 goals and 30 assists for 56 points in 80 games.
Wild Plan to be Aggressive in Offseason
Minnesota made the playoffs this past season and is hoping to build on that.
The Wild will finally have cap space to work with. With that, Di Marco says Guerin will be aggressive in looking to add more talent to the roster.
“Speaking with a source close to the situation, I’m told that the Wild plan to be very aggressive this summer with their newfound cap space. According to puckpedia.com, the Wild are set to have a little more than $20.5 million in salary cap space this summer at their disposal,” Di Marco wrote. “They do have to prepare for Kirill Kaprizov’s next contract. He’s eligible to sign an extension as of July 1 of this year. But the Wild project to have more than $49 million of disposable money to play with by that time.”
If the Wild can add more firepower to the roster, Minnesota could be one of the top teams entering the 2025-26 NHL season.
Wild GM Reveals Team’s Need
Minnesota enters the offseason with not many holes, but Guerin believes there are a couple.
Guerin believes the Wild will be in the market for forwards, more specifically a centerman, which Nelson is.
“We’re going to focus mainly on forwards,” Guerin told the Wild on 7th podcast on May 6.. “I mean, I believe our D is set. We’ve got a good mix of veterans and youth. So mainly for me, I’m focused on forwards. Yeah, faceoffs, we need somebody to help with that. We need veteran-type guys who’ve been through it, who’ve got some battle scars and can help in that way. But we could always use more skill too. That’s everybody, but definitely in the forward position.”
Minnesota finished the season with a record of 45-30-7.
Insider: Wild Plan to be ‘Very Aggressive’ in Landing $36 Million Star in Free Agency