Similarly to the Florida Panthers, the Wild don’t have much to be ashamed of. I was really hoping they were going to upset Vegas in Game 7, they started the series hard, skated right along with the Golden Knight and got the first win in a thrilling overtime 1-0 game. Unfortunately in the games following that big win, there was a huge lack of scoring, Vegas turned it up and all of a sudden the Wild were down three games to one. Minnesota lived to see another day after trailing by one in the first period, Minnesota turned it around immediately following with three goals to eventually win 4-2.
Game 6 and Minnesota kept it going with that same do or die attitude, pulling out a huge 3-0 victory to force a game 7. I have to say, I love to see Cam Talbot having success like he has in this series. Ever since he was with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the Rangers organization I knew there was potential there. He worked his way up to being Lundqvist’s back up and to this day my Dad and I still preach that he should have gotten the Game 7 start against the Lightning in 2015 or whatever year it was. Alas, he has bounced around in the years following his days in New York and has been very solid with the Wild, shutting out the Golden Knights twice in this playoff series.
Unfortunately, an explosive second period followed by Mattias Janmark completing his hat trick in the third of game seven sent the Minnesota Wild packing. The Wild gave a very good Vegas team a run for their money despite being very obvious underdogs. I do really like the balance this team currently has of younger guys mixed with seasoned vets and some in between talent. Defensively, they are a very solid team, they have a great goalie duo and have found a superstar in Kirill Kaprizov There are some things to consider moving forward but overall, you have to think Minnesota will look to build off this first round exit.
So going forward, what is the best course of action? Minnesota does not have much cap space to work with and Zach Parise and Ryan Suter are a main cause of that. Combined, the two veterans take up 18.4% of their current cap hit, have four more years on those deals and are both 36 years old. Minnesota needs to hope and pray that these guys can still play at the NHL level or else a buyout might be in store. Dedicating almost 20% of your team's cap hit for the next four years to two 36 year olds is not the greatest of looks. Granted, these aren’t just ordinary guys, they are two vets with storied careers but it still warrants concern.
Especially for the fact that the Wild will need to give Kaprizov, Joel Erikkson EK, and Kevin Fiala new deals as they will become restricted free agents this off season. That’s a whole first line right there so it’s fair to say that will be a priority of Bill Guerin’s this summer. As far as UFA’s go the Wild have Ian Cole, Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, and Marcus Johnason on the brink of becoming free agents. In a perfect, non flat cap world, I think the Wild would absolutely like to bring some, if not all of those guys back but with their cap situation and considerations of the big picture in mind, I’m not sure if they’ll be able to bring any of them back unless they’re willing to take less money. What it’ll cost to get Fiala, Erikkson EK, and Kaprizov under contract will certainly determine what they can afford to do but it’s safe to assume those four names will be playing elsewhere come October.
You have to think Minnesota will definitely look to explore the trade market in hopes of freeing up cap space. There are a couple other names on the roster who carry decent cap hits they might look to clear out. Victor Rask, who is 28 and has 2 years left on his $4 million a year deal comes to mind. However, it’s more realistic that they look to move a Parise or Suter who has a much larger hit. At the end of the day, it all depends on what their RFA’s will ask for and what the Wild’s direction is moving forward.
I do think Minnesota is in a solid position, as I mentioned early they have a great goalie tandem for the near future in Talbot and Kahkonen, they have great balance throughout their line up. If they keep the majority of this group together going into next season and add a couple key pieces, look for them to get right back into the playoff picture and potentially make a bigger splash than they did this season. They have lots of young talent, two first round picks in the upcoming draft, I would absolutely keep an eye on this team for years to come as they could sneakily become a very talented, threat of a team.
Chris Feldman
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