Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Minnesota Wild
Current Cap Hit: $72,858,591 (under the $75MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Joel Eriksson Ek (Two years remaining, $925K)
F Luke Kunin (Three years remaining, $925K)
Eriksson Ek made the team out of training camp last season but was sent back before he triggered the first year of his entry-level deal. However, the team decided to go ahead and burn that first season later on and brought him back for the end of the year and playoffs. He likely slides in as a third line center to start the season. Kunin is only a year from being drafted 15th overall but the fact that Minnesota had him turn pro already would suggest that they plan to use him with the big club before too long.
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level
F Matt Cullen ($1MM, UFA)
D Mathew Dumba ($2.55MM, RFA)
F Mikko Koivu ($6.75MM, UFA)
D Kyle Quincey ($1.25MM, UFA)
F Chris Stewart ($1.15MM, UFA)
F Jason Zucker ($2MM, RFA)
Koivu is the most notable name of the group. He has been with the team since they drafted him back in 2001 and has been the captain for the past six seasons. He also has collected at least 48 points in each of the last four seasons and has provided them with some consistency at that end while being a responsible two-way player. However, he’ll be 35 when his next contract kicks in and given that he hasn’t reached the 20 goal mark since 2009-10, it stands to reason that he’ll be looking at a lower cap hit next season whether that’s with Minnesota or elsewhere.
Zucker took a bridge deal last summer and responded with almost as many points as the previous two seasons combined. He has set himself up to easily double that on his next contract if he hovers around the 45 point plateau once again. Stewart fit in well in a fourth line role last season but won’t likely command a big raise on the open market next summer. Cullen returns for another stint with the Wild and while he’ll likely play on the fourth line, his bonuses aren’t tied to points but rather playoff series.
Dumba has made steady progress since being drafted and has established himself as a top-four defenseman. Considering he’ll have arbitration rights in the offseason, he is positioned to earn a notable pay increase on his next deal. Quincey adds some depth with the trade of Marco Scandella to Buffalo but considering how he has bounced around in recent years, he probably won’t be able to command a much bigger contract a year from now.
Potential Bonuses
Cullen: $700K
Eriksson Ek: $213K
Kunin: $400K
Total: $1.313MM
Two Years Remaining
F Tyler Ennis ($4.6MM, UFA)
D Gustav Olofsson ($725K, RFA)
F Eric Staal ($3.5MM, UFA)
G Alex Stalock ($650K, UFA)
Staal had a great first season with Minnesota, posting his highest point total (65) since 2011-12. This made him one of the top bargains in the 2016 free agency class and that should hold true again in 2017-18 even if his production dips somewhat. Ennis was acquired primarily to match salary more than anything else in the offseason trade with the Sabres. He hasn’t been able to stay healthy the last couple of years and hasn’t been productive when he is in the lineup. If he continues to struggle, his contract becomes a prime candidate to be bought out next summer.
Olofsson inked a one-way deal despite having only 15 games of NHL experience under his belt. He will likely slot in as a sixth or seventh blueliner which won’t give him much bargaining power when it comes to his next contract. Stalock was able to leverage the Expansion Draft into landing a couple of years from the Wild, including a one-way salary this season. If he can hold down the backup job for both seasons, he should be able to command a bit more on the open market a couple of years from now.
Three Years Remaining
F Charlie Coyle ($3.2MM, UFA)
F Mikael Granlund ($5.75MM, UFA)
D Jared Spurgeon ($5.1875MM, UFA)
Unable to come to terms on a long-term deal, Granlund inked what basically amounted to a second bridge contract last month except this one takes him to unrestricted free agency. He’s coming off of a career year and if he can maintain that level of production, he’ll set himself up for a long-term, big money deal at that time. Coyle has seen his production improve every year and he is a quality top-six forward making well below market value. That will change on his next contract.
Spurgeon remains under the radar but there’s a case to be made that he is a top pairing blueliner. He logged over 24 minutes a game in the regular season and set a new career mark in points with 38. His contract raised a few eyebrows last summer but the Wild are getting solid value out of this deal.
Four Or More Years Remaining
D Jonas Brodin ($4.17MM through 2020-21)
G Devan Dubnyk ($4.33MM through 2020-21)
F Nino Niederreiter ($5.25MM through 2021-22)
F Zach Parise ($7.538MM through 2024-25)
D Ryan Suter ($7.538MM through 2024-25)
Parise’s deal (now illegal in the CBA) looked like a steep overpayment then and that hasn’t changed now. The 33-year-old is well past his point-per-game years and is more of a second liner at this point. With three years at $2MM or lower in salary at the end, there’s real potential for significant salary cap recapture at that time. Niederreiter has turned into a quality power forward that the Islanders envisioned when they drafted him fifth overall back in 2010. Considering he typically plays only 15 minutes a game, it could be argued that this is a bit high but he is very productive in that second line role and at 25 (as of later this week), there’s still room to improve which the Wild are likely banking on.
The same concerns exist with Suter when it comes to recapture down the road but the veteran blueliner is living up to his identical contract for now. He continues to be among the league leaders in minutes played every season and is still one of the better defensemen overall. There will come a time where that contract is a negative but that hasn’t happened yet.
Dubnyk has shown that his 2014-15 breakout campaign wasn’t just a fluke and as a result, the Wild have a high-end starter locked up at a well-below market price tag for several more years.
Buyouts
F Thomas Vanek ($2.5MM in 2017-18)
Retained Salary Transactions
None
Still To Sign
Best Value: Dubnyk
Worst Value: Ennis
Looking Ahead
By the time they get Foligno locked up (his qualifying offer was $2.25MM so his contract will come in higher than that), Minnesota is going to be dancing around the cap with very little wiggle room for all of this season. That shouldn’t be the case next year, however.
Zucker, Dumba, and Koivu are the only three expiring contracts of note and the team has plenty of room in 2018-19 (currently $55MM committed to 15 players) to keep or replace them and still fill out their roster without much issue.
Things will get a bit trickier for 2019-20 where they have nearly $44MM locked up in just nine players. They also have to be mindful of the potential cap recapture where they could be faced with a significant cap charge if Suter and/or Parise retire early (it will vary depending on the year they do so) that could restrict their flexibility down the road. That’s still quite a ways away from happening though so it’s not likely to factor into their planning over the next few years.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.