The Minnesota Wild had a great season last year, but a major reason for that is the cause of the division they played in. Minnesota will be back in the Central Division this season, and will be fighting for a playoff spot with the likes of Chicago, St.Louis, Nashville, Dallas, and Winnipeg. Because of this, the Wild may struggle to make the playoffs this season.
Key moves made in the Offseason:
- Bought out Zach Parise + Ryan Suter.
- lost Carson Soucy to Seattle Kraken in Expansion Draft.
- lost Marcus Johansson, Ian Cole to Free Agency.
- signed Alex Goligoski, Dmitry Kulikov, Jordie Benn, Jon Merrill in Free Agency.
- Re-signed Joel Eriksson to a long term deal.
- Locked up Kirill Kaprizov to a 5 yr deal.
- Re-signed Kevin Fiala for 1yr
Offseason Review:
Coming into this offseason, it was no secret that the Minnesota Wild need to create cap room in order to sign some of their key RFAs like Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Kevin Fiala. To nobody's surprise, the Wild bought out Zach Parise's contract, but shockingly, they also bought out the contract of his Ryan Suter. The departure of Parise and Suter, that marks the start of a new chapter in Minnesota, as the Wild through a youth movement.
The Defense not only lost Ryan Suter, but they also lost two other key defensemen in Carson Soucy and Ian Cole; To fill the voids on defense, they signed Alex Goligoski, Dmitry Kulikov, Jordie Benn, Jon Merrill in Free Agency. In my opinion, the defense is much worse this year than it was last year.
Kirill Kaprizov was in the center of attention most of this offseason due to his contract negotiations with the Wild; at first, it seemed like the two sides were at a stalemate, but the two sides ultimately agreed on a 5 yr deal worth 9 million annually.
Joel Eriksson Ek was an underrated signing for the Wild; they were able to lock him up for 8 years at 5.25 million per season. Eriksson Ek has been one of the more underrated players in the league, and this contract will look like a steal in a few years. Kevin Fiala will be back for at least 1 more year, and this might be his make or break year to score a big contract.
Overall, the Wild had a decent offseason, but the team doesn't seem as good as it did last year unless some of their young players like Marco Rossi and Matthew Boldy take a jump in their development.
In order for the Wild to be contenders, they need to beef up their defense:
Minnesota Wild trade Jordie Benn, 4th round pick '22 to the Buffalo Sabres for Colin Miller. Buffalo Sabres retain 50% of Colin Miller's contract.
The Wild add a veteran defenseman in Colin Miller to help boast the depth on the blueline.
The Wild also needs to add a 2nd line center.
Minnesota Wild acquire Dylan Strome from the Chicago Blackhawks for Victor Rask, 2nd round pick '23. If Strome scores 20+ goals, the Blackhawks get a 2025 2nd round pick.
The Wild get Dylan Strome to center the 2nd line to play alongside Kevin Fiala; this allows Marco Rossi to develop in the minors for a year.
This is how the Minnesota Wild Lineup looks like after the trade:
K.Kaprizov-J.Eriksson Ek-M.Zuccarello
M.Boldy-D.Strome-K.Fiala
J.Greenway-R.Hartman-M.Foligno
F.Gaudreau-N.Sturm-N.Bjugstad
A.Goligoski-J.Spurgeon
J.Brodin-M.Dumba
D.Kulikov-Co.Miller
C.Talbot
K.Kahkonen
This now looks like a contending team that could make some noise in the Central Division.
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