Wild Sign Bobby Brink To One-Year Deal

According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, the Minnesota Wild are nearing a one-year, $2.75MM contract for winger Bobby Brink. After being non-tendered by the Wild yesterday, Brink could have hypothetically sought a much larger deal as an unrestricted free agent, but has instead chosen to continue his career with his hometown club. The Wild have since confirmed the signing.

There’s no question that the Wild took a gamble with Brink. To avoid what could have been a $4MM arbitration award, Minnesota chose not to issue Brink a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent as early as tomorrow. If he wanted to, Brink could have very easily told General Manager Bill Guerin to kick rocks and take his talent elsewhere.

In all honesty, it wouldn’t have been all that surprising had he made that decision. Although he appears more than content playing for his hometown team, Brink’s transition to the Wild wasn’t all that smooth. After the team acquired him from the Philadelphia Flyers at the trade deadline, Brink registered only two goals and four points in 13 games with a -2 rating, averaging 13:45 of ice time per game.

His usage dipped even further in the postseason. Looking to have more speed in the lineup, Minnesota chose to make Brink a healthy scratch for much of the playoffs, leaving him with one assist in four games when it was all said and done. It would be a huge benefit to the Wild if Brink returns to his 2024-25 form, in which he scored 12 goals and 41 points in 79 games for the Flyers, but they’ll need to use him a little bit more than they have been.

The acquisition of Brink is one that Minnesota needs to work out. A little over a year after sending the Columbus Blue Jackets a 2025 first-round pick, 2027 second-round pick, 2026 third-round pick, and 2026 fourth-round pick for defenseman David Jiříček, the Wild then sent Jiříček to Philadelphia straight up for Brink. Yes, Jiříček’s value as a top prospect had diminished after he was brought to Minnesota, but that’s still a hefty package to part with for a hardly-used winger in two years.

Regardless, the odds are high that Brink will be put into the top six next season. Having already lost Marcus Johansson, Minnesota is also set to lose Vladimir Tarasenko and Mats Zuccarello on the free agent market. That’s a lot of offense to walk out the door for nothing, and with only $7MM to spend this summer, the Wild will need to find additional offense internally. Brink appears to be a part of that solution.