3 Wild Players Who Won’t Be Back Next Season

While the Minnesota Wild are still in the playoff hunt, this is a down year for them. The team has been impacted by injuries and the final year of the two glaring former buyouts looming over their cap space. The Wild already sold at the trade deadline, but there are more upgrades to come in the offseason as the team has lots of space to work with. Let's take a look at some more players who won't be back.

Marc-Andre Fleury

This feels like Marc-Andre Fleury's final year in the NHL before retiring. His contract is up after the season and he has had a long and successful run. He said that he didn't want to be traded this season and leave his Wild teammates in the midst of a playoff chase, so it looks like he is going out with the team he has spent the past couple seasons with. Filip Gustavsson has proven that he can handle starting duties and Fleury has been a great mentor for him.

Jacob Lucchini

Since the Wild are going to have a lot more space to upgrade in the offseason, the team will likely move on from fourth liner Jacob Lucchini. He is currently just a placeholder and I would consider him a fringe NHLer. On many teams he wouldn't be amongst the top-14 forwards and be on the NHL roster. But with multiple trades recently occurring, the 28-year-old has gotten some playing time. He is a UFA in the summer, and while he could be re-signed for organizational depth, it's likely he won't be and the Wild will look elsewhere to upgrade.

Alex Goligoski

In his first season with the Wild, Alex Goligoski had a career resurgence and played very well. That was two seasons ago and he has struggled a lot last season and this season. During the struggle, he has been a healthy scratch a lot and the Wild seem to just be riding out the remainder of his contract that is up after this season. Goligoski has only played 30 games this season and hasn't played a game since Feb. 7. This parting of ways is inevitable.