Following the news that the Minnesota Wild will be buying out the contracts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, Darren Dreger of TSN is reporting that the Wild will make a pitch for disgruntled center Jack Eichel. The buyouts are part of a grand plan by management and Wild ownership, a plan that includes getting out from under those cap dollars in the short term and a focus on adding a top line center this summer.
Dreger notes that the Wild have been connected to Eichel in the past and says, “I believe that that Wild are going to make an offer, a trade offer on Jack Eichel but they’re also not going to blow their cap space and they’re not going to overpay with trade assets.”
The buyouts give the Wild $10 million in extra cap space savings for this coming season. While the dead cap space will hurt the team down the line, in the immediate future, they can use the money not spent on the two veterans and grab that center ice player they’ve long coveted. If it’s Eichel, the team will simply have to deal with the salary cap ramifications of adding a $10 million player and juggle those dead cap issues in years three, four and five of Eichel’s tenure with the team, should he be acquired.
One thing to also consider is that the Wild are struggling to get deals finalized with both Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala. They’ll need to ensure they have cap space set aside for both players. If the Wild could somehow land both Kaprizov and Eichel, that would be a deadly one-two combination for the franchise. It would immediately put them in the playoff conversation when you consider their blue line and some of the other pieces the team has committed to, such as Joel Eriksson Ek.
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