Minnesota Wild Rumors: 5 Players Who Won't Be Traded This Offseason
Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin has done a decent job to navigate some expensive buy outs while also trying to upgrade his roster. Guerin had no choice but to move on from Ryan Suter and Zach Parise and now he prepares to enter the final season of the $14.7 million dead cap hit.
Look for Guerin to try and make a couple of trades at the NHL Draft and before July 1 when free agency begins as the Wild only have just under $6 million in available cap space this summer. While goaltender Filip Gustavsson is certainly a prime trade candidate, here's five Wild players who are not going anywhere:
Marc-Andre Fleury
Chalk one up for captain obvious. Fleury re-signed, surprisingly, and now appears destined to retire with the Wild. The Flower is the perfect teammate, he's a wonderful person and he'll be a great mentor to many of Minnesota's young core.
Jesper Wallstedt
Speaking of, Wallstedt is the goaltender of the future and the former first-round pick and 21-year-old is set for NHL minutes next season. It's likely Gustavsson is moved out for some help up front and Wallstedt splits time with Fleury next season. The Swedish tender appears in 45 AHL last season, posting a very respectable .910 SV.%. He also managed to get into three games with the Wild and will push Fleury for the starter's crease come training camp.
Brock Faber
Faber is the real deal and the Wild are lucky to have him. The former LA Kings second-rounder who was brought over in the Kevin Fiala trade burst onto the scene as a rookie last season and now appears to be headed for the #1 defenseman of the future. 47 points in 82 games, expect to see the Wild lock Faber up this summer to an eight-year contract extension.
Kirill Kaprizov
The catalyst of the Wild's offense, Kaprizov has two seasons left on his contract and even though he battled some injuries throughout the year, he managed to collect 96 points in 75 games. His no-movement clause kicks in on July 1 but you have to think Guerin is happy with where is game is at and will look to keep Kaprizov around even longer in Minnesota. We shall wait to see if the feeling is mutual.
Matt Boldy
Boldy was inconsistent throughout the season and still managed to score 29 goals and 69 points in 75 games. He's now completed one year of his seven-year contract extension and even though his trade protection doesn't kick in until 2028-29, don't expect Guerin to give up on the 23-year-old.
Photo credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Post a Comment