Minnesota Wild: Best Addition And Worst Subtraction Of The Summer

Now that the off-season seems to be slowing down, we have a pretty good idea of every team's roster heading into this upcoming year. In this segment, we will be going over the best addition and worst subtraction for each of them. Something important to note is that players who were re-signed or given extensions will not be eligible for the "best addition" section. The same applies for picks from this year's NHL Entry Draft.

In this piece, we will be looking at the Minnesota Wild. They had an eventful summer, as they made a lot of significant moves. They re-signed two key RFAs in Joel Eriksson Ek and Kevin Fiala, but also need to lock up Kirill Kaprizov. They also had some notable departures who will definitely be missed. It will be interesting to see how they respond from their very solid 2020-21 season.

Best Addition: Alex Goligoski D

The Minnesota Wild added Dmitry Kulikov and Jon Merrill for more depth on the backend, but their biggest prize is Alex Goligoski. The 36-year-old still contributes well offensively from the backend. In 56 games this past season with the Arizona Coyotes, he scored three goals and recorded 22 points. With the Wild, he should work well in their top-four and will be utilized on the power play.

Worst Subtraction: Ryan Suter D

The Minnesota Wild bought out both Ryan Suter and Zach Parise this off-season, which surprised many. Parise's leadership and offensive ability will be missed, but Suter's departure is more significant. He still is capable of playing top-pairing minutes if needed, but probably works best on the second-pair at this stage. In 56 games this past season, his offense went down, as he had 19 points in 56 games. Yet, he had 48 points in 69 games the season before. Therefore, it is quite possible that he can produce more this go-around. He's been a consistent 40 to 50 point player for many years now.