With less than 24 hours until the beginning of free agency, rumors are flying around the Minnesota Wild. A trade for Dylan Larkin is the biggest headline for the Wild as the new league year begins, but they also need to find wingers, especially if Mats Zuccarello leaves in free agency.
Zuccarello and the Wild seem to be headed toward a divorce as the market is set to open on Wednesday, but they may have had a solution fall into their lap. According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, the New York Islanders were informed that Anders Lee will be headed to the free agent market and his colleague, Michael Russo, added he expects the Wild “to have a lot of interest” when the market opens.
While Russo warned that Lee “will take his time to examine the right team for his next stop,” putting him on the Wild’s radar makes a lot of sense as a player that could lead to a significant shift in how they want to play.
Anders Lee could be the Wild’s pivot from Mats Zuccarello
If Zuccarello leaves, it won’t be an easy task. He scored 15 goals and recorded 54 points in 59 games last season and the Wild struggled with him out of the lineup. The Wild began the season with a 5-7-3 start before his return from a lower-body injury against the New York Islanders on Nov. 7 and they dropped two of three games after he was injured in the first game of the Wild’s playoff series against the Dallas Stars last April.
Wild fans also know that he has a strong bond with star Kirill Kaprizov, but that could be part of the reason they are considering moving on. Russo and fellow Wild beat writer Joe Smith reported last week that “ there’s a sense that Kaprizov depends too much on Zuccarello” and that he “drags Kaprizov into the east-west game that’s opposite of how the Wild want to play.”
While the Wild could still bring Zuccarello back, it’s interesting that information became public and could have them looking toward a player like Lee to fill the spot and change the Wild’s philosophy.
Lee’s game thrives on getting to the dirty areas and it resulted with 308 goals during his 14-year career. He also could create more space for the Wild on the perimeters of the ice and help them put more pucks into the net through tip-ins and greasy goals. His experience on the power play could also come in handy with 83 career goals with the man advantage and he would be another former captain joining the Wild, adding leadership to go with current captain Jared Spurgeon, Quinn Hughes and Nick Foligno (assuming he returns this offseason).
With the added benefit that the Wild can sign Lee, who will turn 36 next week. to a 35-plus deal that’s loaded with incentives, Lee could be a strong addition that not only makes up for Zuccarello if he leaves, but also comes at a price that fits into their current cap situation.
According to Puckpedia, the Wild have $9.4 million in projected cap space and that number could shrink if they acquire Larkin, who has an $8.7 million cap hit. To make it work, the Wild declined to make a qualifying offer to restricted free agent Bobby Brink with hopes of getting him at a price cheaper than the $3.5 million offer or the $4 million he could have gotten in arbitration and could be looking for similar bargains to fill out the roster.
With the potential of over 150 points leaving by the time free agency begins, adding Lee (19 goals, 42 points last season) would be one way to replace that production and it could be the beginning of a significant change that helps the Wild take a step forward – even if Zuccarello leaves.
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