On the Minnesota Wild …
Chris Hine of Star Tribune: The Wild currently don’t have a GM and may not a lot salary cap space to work with this offseason.
Thomas Vanek’s buyout finally comes off the books. Mikko Koivu’s cap hit goes down to $5.5 million with his new two-year deal kicking in.
If the Wild buyout Tyler Ennis it could save them $2.4 million.
The salary cap could go up to between $78 and $82 million, giving them even more space.
The 26-year old Charlie Coyle has two years left at a $3.2 million cap hit and could be a potential trade target. Coyle had a down year, so they could be moving him when his value is low.
Eric Staal has a partial no-movement clause and is coming off a 42 goal season. He’s 33-years old and his trade value is high. A new GM who is looking to the Wild’s future might consider moving Staal. He has a year left at $3.5 million. Staal provides a list of 10 teams he can’t be traded too.
RFAs Matt Dumba ($2.55 million) and Jason Zucker ($2 million) will be looking for raises.
On Tomas Plekanec …
TVA Sports: (through Google Translate) Toronto Maple Leafs free agent center Tomas Plekanec said that he is hopeful to be able to return to the Montreal Canadiens next year.
“Obviously, as I said before, my priority is to play for the Montreal Canadiens,” said Plekanec. But I do not know what will happen. I do not know the plans of Marc (Bergevin) and Claude Julien. So everything is open from now until July 1st.
“My heart is in Montreal. As I said, my priority is Montreal. But things can happen differently.”
Plekanec played the first 981 games of his career with the Canadiens before being traded to the Maple Leafs at the deadline. He is two games shy of playing 1,000.