According to Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic, the Minnesota Wild, specifically GM Bill Guering, is gearing up for a busy offseason. After losing out to the Dallas Stars in their first-round Central Division series, there’s a lot on Guerin’s to-do list and the two scribes likened to an autopsy on the entire organization. Among the things Guerin needs to analyze, the salary cap and the status of pending free agents are a priority. No less than seven players are up for unrestricted free agency, with another six or so RFAs. The biggest names include Filip Gustavsson, Matt Dumba, John Klingberg, and Oskar Sundqvist.
Russo and Smith suggest that many of these names will likely be traded. They write:
It’s likely pending UFA’s Matt Dumba, John Klingberg and Oskar Sundqvist and pending RFA Calen Addison will be traded. But can they open up other space by trading Jon Merrill ($1.2 million) or Alex Goligoski ($2 million) or maybe even go to Marc-Andre Fleury ($3.5 million) to see if he’d want them to facilitate a trade to another team like Pittsburgh?
It’s been known for some time that Dumba likely wouldn’t be coming back. Guerin wasn’t willing to trade him as the Wild geared up for a playoff run, but he’s not been in the long-term plans of the organization for some time. Instead of letting him walk, the team will try to get some kind of return for him ahead of or at the NHL Entry Draft.
The same can be said for Klingberg, who might have a better shot of sticking put depending on the type of contract he’s willing to sign. If he’s looking for a high-value deal as he did last summer, he won’t get it in Minnesota, even if his numbers were better with the Wild than they were in Anaheim where the Ducks loved to bleed chances against.
What About the Goaltending Situation?
Will Fleury be back? With the netminder saying he’s going to play out the final season of his deal, but the Wild likely making Gustavsson a priority, the question about how that will sit with Fleury and if the Wild can afford both goaltenders is a legitimate question.
The goaltender has a no-move clause in his deal and he’s not keen on uprooting his family again. He’ll have the ultimate say as to where he winds up, but his decision may affect what the Wild can afford to offer Gustavsson and how they structure that deal.
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