Given that the Minnesota Wild have actively managed to shed a nice chunk of change against the salary cap, you have to wonder whether they’re shoring up for a big deal.
The recent swap with the Boston Bruins of Charlie Coyle for Ryan Donato and a draft pick opens up over $2 million, whilst the deal that saw Nino Niederreiter traded to the Carolina Hurricanes saw another $1.25 million opened up, though Victor Rask hasn’t exactly offered a great deal in return, since swapping to Minnesota Wild colours.
Either way, that is no small sum of money that has been opened up by Minnesota Wild General Manager, Paul Fenton. An additional $3.25 million, along with Matt Dumba and Mikko Koivu sitting on injured reserve means that the team could go big on a rental should they wish.
Alternately, if they’re also open to dealing Eric Staal and his $3.5 million cap hit and possibly Jonas Brodin at $4.1 million; you’ve suddenly got a team that can go a little crazy with free agents or maybe even offer sheets, given the pickings expected to be available this summer.
A lot of the decision-making obviously weighs on whether the Minnesota Wild are actually in the market for rentals and a potential play-off run or whether they’re to the point of cutting their losses and focusing on rebuilding ahead of next season.
Either way, despite the lack of faith seemingly shown by many fans in the current General Manager; you have to say he’s doing a half-decent job of making the Wild a team with some room to invest on a bigger name.
A run at Matt Duchene as a first line centre would be something I’d like to see; likewise taking a shot at bringing someone like Micheal Ferland across if there is still a chance of making the play-offs this year.
Right now, it’s certainly a curiosity to see so much cap space being made available; time will tell whether there are actual plans in place or whether it’s just been a necessity in trying to make the roster younger, faster and more built for today’s NHL.