Wild sign Jacob Middleton to three-year, $7.35M extension

Middleton was going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, as he was in the final year of a two-year contract with a $725K cap hit, a deal he originally signed with the San Jose Sharks. The Wild acquired Middleton at the trade deadline for the 2021-22 season along with a 2022 fifth-round pick for goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen.

Middleton had a strong outing in his first full-time season in the NHL. While not known for his offense, he did get four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 66 games this season between the Sharks and Wild. Before this season, he had just 14 games in the NHL, so it is a bit of a risk on the experience end for the Wild.

On the defensive side of the game, Middleton had a 45.74% shot-attempt share and 50.01% expected-goal share at even strength this season, although those numbers improved to 47.72% and 50.87%, respectively, when he joined the Wild. Even then, he’s still solid defensively, as a lot of that is dragged down by his offensive play-driving.

Along with Middleton, the only other prominent free agent the Minnesota Wild need to worry about is goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. The Wild currently only have more than $6.5 million in cap space to work with due to the buyout cap hits of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter jumping up to a combined $12,743,588. Winger Kevin Fiala has already been a casualty of the buyouts, as the Wild traded him to the Los Angeles Kings last week for a first-round pick and defenseman Brock Faber. That first-round pick falls at 19th in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, joining the Wild’s own at 24th to give them two first-round picks this year.