Will the Wild re-sign Fiala or use as a trade piece for a center
Shayna Goldman of The Athletic: The Minnesota Wild bought out Ryan Suter and Zach Parise and freed up $10.3 million for next season The Wild also need to re-sign Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala, and that won’t come cheap.
Dom Luszczyszyn’s model has Fiala at $6.9 million over seven years but his market value may be closer to $6.3 million per. Evolving-Hockey has Fiala at five years at $6.1 million.
The Wild locked up Joel Erikson Ek for eight years, what about Fiala and Kaprizov.
“I think it’s just a matter of finding a fair middle ground and what works best (with Kaprizov and Fiala),” Guerin said. “I think that’s true with any deal. Ekky signed an eight-year deal. That might not be the case for Kevin. And it might be the case for Kirill. We don’t know. … It all just depends on years and dollars and what we can afford to pay and what we can fit in.”
The Wild may also look to move more salary out if they can. The Wild could use a top center so moving Fiala for a center is an option. Removing talent from this roster isn’t ideal.
Door will remain open for Danault but will hit the open market
TSN: Pierre LeBrun gets that sense that forward Phillip Danault will hit the open market on July 28th.
“In the meantime, the business at hand for the Montreal Canadiens during a very short off-season is Phillip Danault, their key pending unrestricted free agent, just coming off a terrific defensive performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“They made him an offer last off-season and it was rejected. My sense is that the Habs aren’t planning a new offer at this time. They’re going to let Danault go to free agency on July 28 but keep the door open for him to come back to them after he’s heard from other teams, but it’s a fluid situation. “