The Minnesota Wild’s signing of Matt Dumba to a two-year contract looks to have secured the blueline of the team for years to come. Still impending financial choices could force a defensive player to be moved sooner than you think.
Matt Dumba’s new contract with the Minnesota Wild looks to be a great deal for both the club and player. The Wild got their man at a relatively cap friendly number, and Dumba got that pay increase he was looking for. All the talk aside about if Dumba wanted a longer term, it seems that the Wild and Dumba are looking forward to a harmonious future…well at least for a little bit.
See while Dumba is signed for two years, that’s not a guarantee that he’ll be with the Wild for the length of his contract. Without a no movement clause anything can happen. Moreover though it looks as if the defenders of the Wild as a group are not really free from danger in the near future. As I’ve pointed out before next offseason will be a doozy for the Wild with eight current 23-man roster players up for free-agency.
The defensemen will be the least impacted with only Prosser and Folin needing to be re-upped in Minnesota, in addition to Olofsson and Reilly needing new contracts as well. Prosser will most likely become expendable, with Folin, Olofsson, and Reilly all in the mix for new deals. Still that leaves the core top five defenders all signed with cap hits ranging from Dumba’s $2.55 million to Suter’s $7.5 million. The Wild may need to think about using some of this group to clear cap space.
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With Neiderreiter, Haula, and Granlund all up for contracts with raises next offseason the Wild need to find a place to gain some salary cap space smartly to pay for the likely substantial pay raises they’ll demand. Suter is out of this discussion due to his no-movement clause, so that leaves Spurgeon, Brodin, Scandealla, and Dumba as possibilities to be moved.
The idea here would be to broker a trade using one of these defensive players to gain a player in return that is a smaller cap hit, equalishly skilled, and has a term that does not expire in 2017 offseason. The key here though will be getting as much talent in return for a lower cost.
The Wild will need to eventually draw from the “Bank of the Defensemen” because once Dumba comes out of his bridge deal he’s going to demand a salary closer to $4 million and a longer term. That would leave the Wild with five of six defensemen making over $4 million. Basically something has to give soon and one of these players will need to move. As Jared Clinton of The Hockey News explains “with each of Spurgeon, Brodin, Scandella and Ryan Suter locked up until 2019-20 and earning roughly $21 million per season, it’s not going to be easy to fit another $4-million defenseman under the cap.”
Which player is moved is open for interpretation but player performance and trade partner needs will most likely be the big issues, because in this case the salary numbers are all about the same for all the vulnerable Wild defenders. Dumba might be safer than before with his lower, hit but that’s a bit of a kick the can down the road scenario as he’ll demand the high numbers his defensive mates are getting soon enough.
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Is it an absolute that the defense must be the group to rob to clear some cap space? No, but it’s the group that makes the most sense to draw from given its potential to balloon and possibly pop the Wild’s cap structure. The forward group will be the largest group needing re-signing, and thus removing any other forward pieces to pay for those re-signings might do more harm than good. Just as the logic was this summer the surplus of defensive talent makes it easier pluck a piece out and keep the defensive group as a whole producing at a high level.
One wild card too in all this is the expansion draft could see a high priced contract moved off the books anyways depending on who Las Vegas takes. Still it’s hard to gauge who they would take and if that cap savings would be enough to pay for the free-agent surge next offseason.
Next: Minnesota Wild Ink Dumba to a Two-Year Deal
So as we all stop to breathe a sigh of relief that the Wild blueline will be intact for next season, it would be wise to realize this could only be temporary. The inevitable is still out there that the Wild will need to shed some of its defensive talent eventually to keep the team balanced talent wise and financially. So as we get closer to deadline time this season, get ready because the idea of trading a defender will come up again.