When the Minnesota Wild were shopping for free agents last summer, they needed help at the center position. In the end, they decided to sign Nico Sturm to a two-year deal based on his ability to win face offs, help on the penalty kill and add some experience as a two-time Stanley Cup champion. But one year later, he somehow managed to find himself on the trade block.
According to The Athletic’s Michael Russo, the Wild may have to consider trading Sturm to create cap space for next season. While Russo hinted it may be a precursor to bring back Nick Foligno if he chooses to play next season, it also could apply regardless as the Wild attempt to acquire a top-line center and fill multiple holes in their top six forwards.
Because of that, Sturm’s deal has found a way to haunt the Wild despite a measly annual average value of $2 million and could become an albatross that puts them in their current position.
Nico Sturm’s contract caused a ripple effect that complicates Wild’s offseason
It’s hard to believe a small deal could have a massive impact and that wouldn’t have been the case if Sturm had done his job. The 31-year old was effective in the face-off circle with a 55.1 percent win rate on 372 draws, but he didn’t add much else with five goals and 11 points in 49 games.
Because of that performance, the Wild was still searching for bottom six help at the trade deadline and sent a second-round pick to the Nashville Predators for Michael McCarron. McCarron forced Sturm to the press box for most of the second half of the season and while he scored a goal with five points in eight playoff games, the Wild preferred to use Yakov Trenin, Marcus Foligno and Nick Foligno on their fourth line before Joel Eriksson Ek went down with a lower body injury.
Having to sink a 2028 second-round pick into acquiring McCarron wasn’t ideal. Signing him to a six-year, $20 million contract this offseason made the decision to sign Sturm even worse. In the end, it appears like the Wild could just trade Sturm and move on with their lives, but it has the potential to make a much bigger impact on their offseason plans.
The 2028 second-round pick may seem insignificant but it could have been used as an asset to acquire a top-line center. After the trade for McCarron, the Wild do not have a second-round pick in each of the next three drafts and it forces Bill Guerin to dive deeper into a shallow prospect pool in an attempt to sweeten a deal somebody like Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings or Vincent Trocheck of the New York Islanders.
Sturm’s $2 million AAV also makes things difficult. According to Puckpedia, the Wild have just $9.4 million in cap space and that number could go down if they add Larkin’s $8.7 million AAV or Trocheck’s $5.6 million AAV to the roster. This would also be fine if center was the only hole the Wild needed to fill, but Minnesota also has to replace Marcus Johansson after his return to Sweden and may potentially have to replace Mats Zuccarello and Vladimir Tarasenko if they leave in free agency.
This stings even more if you think the Wild would have never traded and extended McCarron if Sturm did his job. Having an additional $3.3 million in cap space and an additional second-round pick could at least retain a winger or put the Wild in play to retain one of their pending free agents or even trade for a top-six wing like Owen Tippett of the Philadelphia Flyers, but instead, they’ve opened themselves up to financial gymnastics.
The ripple effect could run even deeper if they attempt to trade Sturm this offseason. While his cap hit is manageable, every team in the Western Conference knows the Wild is doing it to create cap space and potentially clear a spot for the top-line center of their choice. Minnesota still has 16 teams in the Eastern Conference that could make a deal, but they may have to attach a draft pick just to get rid of Sturm if they can’t find any takers.
This isn’t to say this is completely Sturm’s fault as the Wild hand out lucrative contracts to bottom six players like candy on Halloween. But it’s an interesting ripple effect as they look to improve this offseason. While it doesn’t completely handicap Guerin, it makes his job even harder and may even take the Wild out of their own bidding process for some of their top targets this summer.
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