Louder for the people in the back

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Addison, Calen	1	$1,000,000
Duhaime, Brandon	2	$1,000,000
Gustavsson, Filip	2	$3,500,000

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
22	$83,500,000	$83,269,421	$0	$850,000	$230,579

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Kaprizov, Kirill $9,000,000$9,000,000 LW UFA - 3	Hartman, Ryan $1,700,000$1,700,000 C, RW NMC UFA - 1	Zuccarello, Mats $6,000,000$6,000,000 RW, LW M-NTC, NMC UFA - 1
Johansson, Marcus $2,000,000$2,000,000 LW, RW NTC UFA - 2	Eriksson Ek, Joel $5,250,000$5,250,000 C UFA - 6	Boldy, Matthew $7,000,000$7,000,000 RW, LW UFA - 7
Gaudreau, Frédérick $2,100,000$2,100,000 C, LW M-NTC UFA - 5	Rossi, Marco $863,333$863,333 ($850,000$850K) C RFA - 2	Foligno, Marcus $3,100,000$3,100,000 RW, LW NMC UFA - 1
Maroon, Patrick $800,000$800,000 LW, RW M-NTC UFA - 1	Dewar, Connor $800,000$800,000 LW, C RFA - 1	Duhaime, Brandon $1,000,000$1,000,000 RW, LW UFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Middleton, Jake $2,450,000$2,450,000 LD UFA - 2	Spurgeon, Jared $7,575,000$7,575,000 RD NMC UFA - 4	Gustavsson, Filip $3,500,000$3,500,000 G UFA - 3
Brodin, Jonas $6,000,000$6,000,000 LD NMC UFA - 5	Faber, Brock $925,000$925,000 RD RFA - 2	Fleury, Marc-André $3,500,000$3,500,000 G NMC UFA - 1
Merrill, Jon $1,200,000$1,200,000 LD UFA - 2	Addison, Calen $1,000,000$1,000,000 RD RFA - 1

Jul. 13, 2023 at 9:26 a.m.

#1

AdrianBestGirl

Joined: Feb. 2022

Posts: 665

Likes: 126

Damn Fletcher screwed you guys up with those two contracts. Holy 15 mill in dead cap

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 9:28 a.m.

#2

SociallyHawkward

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 5,638

Likes: 5,788

I feel your pain. Try being a rebuilding team with cap space on this site. Everyone just dumps their players on the hawks and thinks the hawks are gonna give them draft picks. It should just be known that the cap dump team on Capfriendly is Arizona. It's first alphabetically and it only wastes the time of the 3 Arizona fans in the world. Sorry to piggyback on your rant. Just wanted to scream into the void with ya cus we both know this won't change anything lol

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 9:30 a.m.

#3

JayTea

Thread Starter

14m in dead cap

Joined: Mar. 2019

Posts: 3,582

Likes: 3,064

Quoting: Minnachu

Damn Fletcher screwed you guys up with those two contracts. Holy 15 mill in dead cap

I'm not sure who is to blame for that. Fletcher wouldn't commit $196m of the owner's money without the owner thinking it was a good idea, so did Leipold push for him to make some big moves to push the team forward? They did have a good prospect pool at the time and unfortunately I think only Brodin ended up developing to what he was projected to be out of the entire bunch.

Also worth mentioning the CBA would have just allowed both players to retire with no cap penalties when the deals were signed. I think the expectation was just they both retired when the actual cash due to them was $1m or so. The change in the CBA really changed the dynamic of those contracts IMO.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 9:46 a.m.

#4

CoolHandL

Joined: Jul. 2021

Posts: 433

Likes: 275

I think Lettieri, whom they just signed, will be the 13th forward to make the team out of camp - ahead of Beckman. I hope Beckman gets games at some point, but Lettieri is more versatile and is actually slightly cheaper and thus a bit easier to keep on the team.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 9:55 a.m.

#5

JayTea

Thread Starter

14m in dead cap

Joined: Mar. 2019

Posts: 3,582

Likes: 3,064

Quoting: CoolHandL

I think Lettieri, whom they just signed, will be the 13th forward to make the team out of camp - ahead of Beckman. I hope Beckman gets games at some point, but Lettieri is more versatile and is actually slightly cheaper and thus a bit easier to keep on the team.

Yeah, you could swap Petan out with him and the result is about the same. Both are there to make it so guys like Rossi and Beckman have to earn a spot and if they need to be sent to Iowa will probably be able to make it through waivers. There's also other cheap players that could make the roster, like Walker for example.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 10:06 a.m.

#6

MNBassman

Joined: May 2015

Posts: 8,146

Likes: 3,571

Quoting: JayTea

I'm not sure who is to blame for that. Fletcher wouldn't commit $196m of the owner's money without the owner thinking it was a good idea, so did Leipold push for him to make some big moves to push the team forward? They did have a good prospect pool at the time and unfortunately I think only Brodin ended up developing to what he was projected to be out of the entire bunch.

Also worth mentioning the CBA would have just allowed both players to retire with no cap penalties when the deals were signed. I think the expectation was just they both retired when the actual cash due to them was $1m or so. The change in the CBA really changed the dynamic of those contracts IMO.

Leipold definitely signed off on it. As I remember, he was more concerned with the business side (jersey sales, attendance, bottom line, etc) than he was about the hockey side.

Also worth noting is it appears Guerin was able to sell Leipold on his patient approach during the interview process. During his reign, Leipold has been nothing but impatient and was way too willing to mortgage the future for what he hoped would be instant success. The entire existence of this franchise has been run poorly…over-valuing what they actually had…going all-in with mediocre teams. Not once has this team been built for sustainable success. Not once, until hopefully now, have they ever played the long game. I hope Guerin stands firm and only goes all-in once, and only if, they ever do become bonafide Cup contenders.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 10:09 a.m.

#7

CoolHandL

Joined: Jul. 2021

Posts: 433

Likes: 275

Quoting: JayTea

Yeah, you could swap Petan out with him and the result is about the same. Both are there to make it so guys like Rossi and Beckman have to earn a spot and if they need to be sent to Iowa will probably be able to make it through waivers. There's also other cheap players that could make the roster, like Walker for example.

Yea, all those guys will be in the mix. IMO Lettieri is the best option of those guys. He can play W or C, play in the top six in a pinch, and otherwise might be Iowa's best player when he's down there, outside of Rossi if he is down there. I see Petan as a career AHLer at this point.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 10:14 a.m.

#8

CoolHandL

Joined: Jul. 2021

Posts: 433

Likes: 275

Quoting: MNBassman

Leipold definitely signed off on it. As I remember, he was more concerned with the business side (jersey sales, attendance, bottom line, etc) than he was about the hockey side.

Also worth noting is it appears Guerin was able to sell Leipold on his patient approach during the interview process. During his reign, Leipold has been nothing but impatient and was way too willing to mortgage the future for what he hoped would be instant success. The entire existence of this franchise has been run poorly…over-valuing what they actually had…going all-in with mediocre teams. Not once has this team been built for sustainable success. Not once, until hopefully now, have they ever played the long game. I hope Guerin stands firm and only goes all-in once, and only if, they ever do become bonafide Cup contenders.

I still remember that day when they signed both in 2012, it was a lot of fun. I don't blame Leipold/Fletcher for making the signings, they were the top two free agents and the org was searching for an injection of relevance - it put the team on the NHL map. And with 13-year contracts, this scenario was bound to happen especially when the CBA was changed to include cap recapture.

And like Bassman said, this now forces them to take the long-term approach of building a team the right way for the first time ever. Silver linings are key in Wild land!

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 10:21 a.m.

#9

MNBassman

Joined: May 2015

Posts: 8,146

Likes: 3,571

Quoting: CoolHandL

I still remember that day when they signed both in 2012, it was a lot of fun. I don't blame Leipold/Fletcher for making the signings, they were the top two free agents and the org was searching for an injection of relevance - it put the team on the NHL map. And with 13-year contracts, this scenario was bound to happen especially when the CBA was changed to include cap recapture.

And like Bassman said, this now forces them to take the long-term approach of building a team the right way for the first time ever. Silver linings are key in Wild land!

If Bettman wasn’t such a vindictive prick, none of this would have ever been a problem. But, like you said, this has forced the Wild to be patient and play the long game. So…it just might turn out to be the best thing that ever happened for this franchise…tbd.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 10:23 a.m.

#10

dannibalcorpse

we miss leo k

Joined: Feb. 2018

Posts: 5,973

Likes: 5,107

Wait, you're telling me that some CF users just look at cap space on the front page without clicking through to look at a team's total roster situation? I'm shocked, I'm outraged, I'm...well, actually yeah, that checks out.

I think that Gustavsson might take a little less AAV on a bridge deal, though - If I'm Bill Guerin I point at the Stuart Skinner/Pytor Kochetkov extensions from this spring as more of a guideline. Getting him down to $2.5-2.8M AAV at least gives you enough to run a full 23-man roster without dumping anyone, but damn, there's not a lot of fat to trim from this roster. The only $3M+ contract I can see being moved is MAF's - and that's if you get him to agree to waive, *and* if you're okay running with two relatively inexperienced goalies next season (assuming you just bring in a street UFA and don't rush Wallstedt.)

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 10:37 a.m.

#11

JayTea

Thread Starter

14m in dead cap

Joined: Mar. 2019

Posts: 3,582

Likes: 3,064

Quoting: dannibalcorpse

Wait, you're telling me that some CF users just look at cap space on the front page without clicking through to look at a team's total roster situation? I'm shocked, I'm outraged, I'm...well, actually yeah, that checks out.

I don't even think they look that far. lol

There was an ACGM either earlier today or yesterday where someone had the Wild retaining salary to help another team make a big trade. When it was pointed out the Wild couldn't afford that, the OP responded with "well they retained on some deals at the deadline so I figured they'd be willing here" or something to that effect. lol

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 10:38 a.m.

#12

MNBassman

Joined: May 2015

Posts: 8,146

Likes: 3,571

Quoting: dannibalcorpse

Wait, you're telling me that some CF users just look at cap space on the front page without clicking through to look at a team's total roster situation? I'm shocked, I'm outraged, I'm...well, actually yeah, that checks out.

I think that Gustavsson might take a little less AAV on a bridge deal, though - If I'm Bill Guerin I point at the Stuart Skinner/Pytor Kochetkov extensions from this spring as more of a guideline. Getting him down to $2.5-2.8M AAV at least gives you enough to run a full 23-man roster without dumping anyone, but damn, there's not a lot of fat to trim from this roster. The only $3M+ contract I can see being moved is MAF's - and that's if you get him to agree to waive, *and* if you're okay running with two relatively inexperienced goalies next season (assuming you just bring in a street UFA and don't rush Wallstedt.)

Foligno is the guy I would be shopping.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 10:43 a.m.

#13

JayTea

Thread Starter

14m in dead cap

Joined: Mar. 2019

Posts: 3,582

Likes: 3,064

Quoting: MNBassman

Foligno is the guy I would be shopping.

Maybe.

With the loss of Dumba, that's a leadership voice in the room gone. Maroon helps, but they still need those guys in the lockerroom. There's also the question of how long did Foligno play hurt last year and what impact did that have. That being said, if I was Guerin I'd kick the tires on an extension discussion and if the numbers make sense to keep Foligno around another couple years, you extend him. If they don't, trade him at the deadline.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 10:43 a.m.

#14

dannibalcorpse

we miss leo k

Joined: Feb. 2018

Posts: 5,973

Likes: 5,107

Quoting: MNBassman

Foligno is the guy I would be shopping.

Completely blanked and thought he wore the "C", not the "A", so discounted him completely from being traded on that thought. I think the age/cap hit/drop in production puts him in a spot where you probably get a really meager return coming back, and at that point I'd just keep him around and ride out the last year of the deal.

Like I said, I think Gus comes in a little cheaper and gives you enough extra room to carry a full 23 and not have to dump a contract, at the end of the day.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 10:51 a.m.

#15

JayTea

Thread Starter

14m in dead cap

Joined: Mar. 2019

Posts: 3,582

Likes: 3,064

Quoting: dannibalcorpse

Completely blanked and thought he wore the "C", not the "A", so discounted him completely from being traded on that thought. I think the age/cap hit/drop in production puts him in a spot where you probably get a really meager return coming back, and at that point I'd just keep him around and ride out the last year of the deal.

Like I said, I think Gus comes in a little cheaper and gives you enough extra room to carry a full 23 and not have to dump a contract, at the end of the day.

It's tough to say for Gus. If he signs a 1 or 2 year deal, they might be able to get him a little cheaper than what I have above. 3 years walks him straight to being a UFA, which is probably fine for the team. That being said, he's coming off a pretty good year and goalies sometimes only have that 1 year to earn their money so he'll rightfully want to ask for every dollar he can. At least he filed for arbitration, so unlike the Kuemper situation years ago, there will be a definite resolution soon.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 11:28 a.m.

#16

MNBassman

Joined: May 2015

Posts: 8,146

Likes: 3,571

Quoting: JayTea

Maybe.

With the loss of Dumba, that's a leadership voice in the room gone. Maroon helps, but they still need those guys in the lockerroom. There's also the question of how long did Foligno play hurt last year and what impact did that have. That being said, if I was Guerin I'd kick the tires on an extension discussion and if the numbers make sense to keep Foligno around another couple years, you extend him. If they don't, trade him at the deadline.

I would consider a 2 year extension at $1m per max. I believe in intangibles, but they have to be able to play hockey too. Reeves is a good example of this. He USED to be able to play (some) hockey and have additional purposes, but not anymore! Toronto will regret the 3 year deal they signed him to before Christmas.
I do, however, hope it was injuries that hampered Foligno’s play because I was a big fan until this past season.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 11:35 a.m.

#17

TanSor

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 8,697

Likes: 7,071

Cap is extremely tight. I don't feel great about this roster outside of Kaprizov, Ek, Boldy, Brodin, and Faber, and it's almost impossible to make any moves to improve. I wouldn't be all that surprised if we missed the playoffs this season to be honest - unless Rossi has a huge breakout season. Thankfully we'll have a lot more flexibility next offseason with Zucc, Foligno, and Fleury coming off the books, but to be a broken record: we still need a #1 center that can score. To play revisionist history, the cap would have been a nightmare to figure out, but I think missing out on Eichel was a huge mistake.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 11:45 a.m.

#18

JayTea

Thread Starter

14m in dead cap

Joined: Mar. 2019

Posts: 3,582

Likes: 3,064

Quoting: TanSor

Cap is extremely tight. I don't feel great about this roster outside of Kaprizov, Ek, Boldy, Brodin, and Faber, and it's almost impossible to make any moves to improve. I wouldn't be all that surprised if we missed the playoffs this season to be honest - unless Rossi has a huge breakout season. Thankfully we'll have a lot more flexibility next offseason with Zucc, Foligno, and Fleury coming off the books, but to be a broken record: we still need a #1 center that can score. To play revisionist history, the cap would have been a nightmare to figure out, but I think missing out on Eichel was a huge mistake.

I think they can make the playoffs, but that's mostly just due to how open the west largely is. If Rossi, Faber, and Gus all step up, they could win a round maybe. But I would agree it wouldn't overly surprise me if they do miss the playoffs. Gus could regress, Rossi could be a total bust, and Faber could struggle in his first full year. That would make it really hard to win.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 11:45 a.m.

#19

MNBassman

Joined: May 2015

Posts: 8,146

Likes: 3,571

Quoting: TanSor

Cap is extremely tight. I don't feel great about this roster outside of Kaprizov, Ek, Boldy, Brodin, and Faber, and it's almost impossible to make any moves to improve. I wouldn't be all that surprised if we missed the playoffs this season to be honest - unless Rossi has a huge breakout season. Thankfully we'll have a lot more flexibility next offseason with Zucc, Foligno, and Fleury coming off the books, but to be a broken record: we still need a #1 center that can score. To play revisionist history, the cap would have been a nightmare to figure out, but I think missing out on Eichel was a huge mistake.

Was it his shoulder that scared the Wild away?

BTW - I would much prefer the Wild miss the playoffs in order to add one more high end player plus other parts to their cupboard! I know next year’s draft is loaded with defensemen, so maybe they could get a future legit #1 RHD too. I still don’t think a team NEEDS a #1 center if they have 3 #2s, but I do think they need a true workhorse on the backend to shut down the teams that do have a #1 center.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 11:50 a.m.

#20

MNBassman

Joined: May 2015

Posts: 8,146

Likes: 3,571

Quoting: JayTea

I think they can make the playoffs, but that's mostly just due to how open the west largely is. If Rossi, Faber, and Gus all step up, they could win a round maybe. But I would agree it wouldn't overly surprise me if they do miss the playoffs. Gus could regress, Rossi could be a total bust, and Faber could struggle in his first full year. That would make it really hard to win.

I think they also have to be worried about the continued decline of Zuccarello (and Foligno) and the impact that will/would have on their success.

IMO the absolute worst case scenario is they make the playoffs, trade futures for temporary “help” and then bow out of the 1st round again. I am beyond sick and tired of this team spinning its wheels year after year after year!

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 11:59 a.m.

#21

TanSor

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 8,697

Likes: 7,071

Quoting: MNBassman

Was it his shoulder that scared the Wild away?

BTW - I would much prefer the Wild miss the playoffs in order to add one more high end player plus other parts to their cupboard! I know next year’s draft is loaded with defensemen, so maybe they could get a future legit #1 RHD too. I still don’t think a team NEEDS a #1 center if they have 3 #2s, but I do think they need a true workhorse on the backend to shut down the teams that do have a #1 center.

From what I remember, it was a combination of things. Cap, the neck injury where he wanted to get a surgery that hadn't been used much for athletes, there were rumors he was bad in the locker room (which now seem to have been false), and the apparent unwillingness to give up a better package than what Buffalo got. On that last point, I think we absolutely could and should have offered a haul. That offseason before he was moved, we had two first round picks in the draft, Rossi, and Fiala. I wouldn't be too upset with having lost all those assets.

I'm sort of with you on missing the playoffs. We have a deep pool, but right now there aren't really any prospects that have a good shot at becoming a legitimate star player - especially on defense. I just think Guerin is going to do whatever he can to get us into the tournament if we are in the mix at the trade deadline.

Jul. 13, 2023 at 12:21 p.m.

#22

JayTea

Thread Starter

14m in dead cap

Joined: Mar. 2019

Posts: 3,582

Likes: 3,064

Quoting: TanSor

From what I remember, it was a combination of things. Cap, the neck injury where he wanted to get a surgery that hadn't been used much for athletes, there were rumors he was bad in the locker room (which now seem to have been false), and the apparent unwillingness to give up a better package than what Buffalo got. On that last point, I think we absolutely could and should have offered a haul. That offseason before he was moved, we had two first round picks in the draft, Rossi, and Fiala. I wouldn't be too upset with having lost all those assets.

I'm sort of with you on missing the playoffs. We have a deep pool, but right now there aren't really any prospects that have a good shot at becoming a legitimate star player - especially on defense. I just think Guerin is going to do whatever he can to get us into the tournament if we are in the mix at the trade deadline.

You know as well as I do that if we traded Rossi, Fiala, and the picks used for Lambos and Wallstedt, the Sabres would have formed a core that goes on to win 4 Stanley Cups with those players and Eichel would have never been the same post surgery. It's the Minnesota sports way.

Jul. 13, 2023 at 12:51 p.m.

#23

MNBassman

Joined: May 2015

Posts: 8,146

Likes: 3,571

Quoting: TanSor

From what I remember, it was a combination of things. Cap, the neck injury where he wanted to get a surgery that hadn't been used much for athletes, there were rumors he was bad in the locker room (which now seem to have been false), and the apparent unwillingness to give up a better package than what Buffalo got. On that last point, I think we absolutely could and should have offered a haul. That offseason before he was moved, we had two first round picks in the draft, Rossi, and Fiala. I wouldn't be too upset with having lost all those assets.

I'm sort of with you on missing the playoffs. We have a deep pool, but right now there aren't really any prospects that have a good shot at becoming a legitimate star player - especially on defense. I just think Guerin is going to do whatever he can to get us into the tournament if we are in the mix at the trade deadline.

I agree! The Wild have a lot of future NHLers in the cupboards, but most (maybe all) are middle 6 forwards or 3rd/2nd pairing defensemen. One true stud added to this group would really set them up for a very bright future!

I am, however, intrigued from reading the Wild have some interest in Yurov playing center down the road…

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 12:52 p.m.

#24

TanSor

Joined: Jun. 2017

Posts: 8,697

Likes: 7,071

Quoting: JayTea

You know as well as I do that if we traded Rossi, Fiala, and the picks used for Lambos and Wallstedt, the Sabres would have formed a core that goes on to win 4 Stanley Cups with those players and Eichel would have never been the same post surgery. It's the Minnesota sports way.

Lol, maybe. We traded up to get Wallstedt, we can't say the Sabres would have done the same, but even knowing the we took Wallstedt I'd still make that deal in hindsight. We were losing Fiala anyways, Rossi is still a huge question mark, and Lambos looks fine but probably is a bottom pairing guy in the NHL. I'll take the 24 year old PPG center.

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Jul. 13, 2023 at 12:54 p.m.

#25

MNBassman

Joined: May 2015

Posts: 8,146

Likes: 3,571

Quoting: JayTea

You know as well as I do that if we traded Rossi, Fiala, and the picks used for Lambos and Wallstedt, the Sabres would have formed a core that goes on to win 4 Stanley Cups with those players and Eichel would have never been the same post surgery. It's the Minnesota sports way.

A pessimist’s bliss is being wrong.

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Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2024
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Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Petan, Nicolas $762,500$762,500 C, LW, RW UFA - 1
Goligoski, Alex $2,000,000$2,000,000 LD/RD NMC UFA - 1

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