Michael Russo of The Athletic: An offseason to-do list for Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin.
Re-sign Kirill Kaprizov, Kevin Fiala and Joel Eriksson Ek – All three are 24 and pending RFAs. Fiala and Eriksson Ek are arbitration eligible. A bridge deal for Kaprizov doesn’t make much sense.
It is believed that Kaprizov received an eight-year offer from the Wild at over $8 million per season. His agent Paul Theofanous may be looking more money or a shorter term. The Wild may not want to go in the $10 million range now.
Can’t see the Wild offering Fiala a seven- or eight-year contract. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Wild test what value Fiala has on the trade market to see if he could get a significant return. Could he help land a top center?
- Michael Russo: Pending RFA Kevin Fiala on his contract negotiations: “I want to win here. Let’s see what happens.”
Deal with the Zach Parise situation – Parise is 36-years old with four years left on his contract at $7.5 million per season. He was a healthy scratch at the end of the season and for three playoff games. Could he accept a much lesser role with the team? Could they find a trade partner?
A buyout would cost a cap hit of approximately $2.37 million, $6.37 million, $7.37 million for two years, and then $833,333 for four years.
Deal with the Seattle expansion draft – Depending on which route the Wild go (7-3-1 or eight skaters – and if nobody waives their NMC), they could lose one of Matt Dumba, Carson Soucy, Jordan Greenway, Marcus Foligno, Ryan Hartman, Nico Sturm, Victor Rask, Kaapo Kahkonen or Cam Talbot.
Guerin may be willing to send a draft pick over prospects to Kraken GM Ron Francis to not select Kahkonen or Talbot. Does Guerin try to protect Dumba or look to trade him before the expansion draft? Dumba’s 10-team no-trade list kicks in on July 28th.
- Michael Russo: Dumba said that he talked with GM Guerin morning and that it went well. Guerin said that he hopes he doesn’t lose him in the expansion draft nor trade him.
- Murray Pam: The Wild may be forced to trade Dumba unless one of Brodin, Spurgeon or Suter waives their no-movement clause.
To get a center or not? The Wild need a center or two if they want to be a contender. Do they go after Jack Eichel or Evgeny Kuznetsov? The UFA market has Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Derek Stepan.
A trade for Eichel may cost Dumba, Fiala or someone like Greenway, and a first-round pick. The Sabres may want a center or a top prospect in any Eichel deal. The Sabres passed on Marco Rossi at the 2020 NHL draft.
Kuznetsov probably doesn’t make sense as Guerin is trying to build a good team culture.
The Wild will likely at least speak to pending UFAs in Nick Bonino, Ian Cole, Nick Bjugstad and Marcus Johansson.