Wild need help. Was some of it already here?
Bill Guerin has built a team that proved to be one of the NHL’s best this season, finishing third in the stacked Western Conference Central and among the last eight teams standing in the playoffs. But the Wild had designs on competing for a Stanley Cup, and with the exception of one game were outclassed by a Colorado Avalanche team that looked like the real deal in a 4-1, second-round series victory. So, how do the Wild become the real deal?
That’s what Guerin is trying to figure out. With the NHL salary cap raised to $104 million for 2026-27, and with a cap hit of $90. 5 million — still including $1.
6 million for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter — he has about $13. 5 million to play with when free agency begins July 1. That’s a decent war chest for a team with a lot of talent under contract for next season, including top forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, and defensemen Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber.
But with a cap up, and projected at around $113 million for 2027-28, the top free agents will be looking for substantial multiyear deals. Guerin’s first order of business — more than likely already taken care of — is deciding whether the free agents currently on the roster, unrestricted and otherwise, are part of the plan moving forward. That’s a long list that includes mainstays such as Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson and Zach Bogosian, and some of the players he added as rentals before and during the season, such as Vladimir Tarasenko, Nick Foligno and Bobby Brink.
With that in mind, here is a look at the Wild players — by position and last year’s salary — who will become free agents on July 1 and who we think would help the team get past the second round in 2026-27. Guerin gave John Hynes his full confidence during a news conference on Monday, so it’s safe to assume the Wild will remain a forechecking team that fortifies its top-end talent with tenacity on the boards and that Guerin will be looking for guys that take losing individual battles personally. Mats Zuccarello, RW, $4.
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