Minnesota Wild Open To Trading Jesper Wallstedt
The Minnesota Wild “would be open to dealing” top young netminder Jesper Wallstedt “if the right deal comes along,” The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported today. On Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast today, Elliotte Friedman echoed Russo’s report, adding that Wild GM Bill Guerin may have already attempted to deal Wallstedt as part of his longstanding efforts to acquire a top-six center.
As part of Russo’s report, he indicated that “the right deal” to include Wallstedt, from the Wild’s perspective, would be one that brings a pivot capable of filling the No. 1 center role to Minnesota. The Wild are, according to Russo, “aggressively looking” to add a top-six center to their lineup. 
That isn’t exactly fresh news, nor is it something that would come as any real surprise to anyone who takes a look at the Wild’s current depth chart at the position. But what is new are these concrete reports that the Wild are willing to include Wallstedt in a deal that fills their longstanding need.
On one hand, the Wild’s reported willingness to deal Wallstedt is somewhat surprising. That’s largely because of how excellent he’s been this season, which has supercharged his stock league wide. Wallstedt has a .914 save percentage through 21 games this season, and while he’s slowed down a little bit, he earned some votes in NHL.com’s midseason poll of Vezina Trophy candidates.
This breakout season has been a long time coming for Wallstedt, who has long been considered one of the game’s best prospects at the position. The 2021 first-round pick had a tough 2024-25 campaign, but impressed in his first two seasons in the AHL, posting .908 and .910 save percentages in 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively. Under contract through next year at a $2.2MM cap hit, Wallstedt looks to be an emerging starting goalie, and one that could provide a significant amount of surplus value if given the right workload.
But what makes Wallstedt’s name surfacing in trade rumors less of a surprise is the wider situation Minnesota finds itself in at the goalie position. While Wallstedt could indeed provide a considerable amount of surplus value due to his $2.2MM cap hit, Minnesota isn’t positioned to truly take advantage of that. Wallstedt currently operates in a tandem with 27-year-old Filip Gustavsson, who has been one of the league’s better goalies since arriving in the Twin Cities. He has a .908 save percentage in 33 games this season, and is likely to be Minnesota’s go-to option in the playoffs, even if Wallstedt isn’t dealt.
Not only is Gustavsson Minnesota’s No. 1 netminder at this moment, his contract positions him to occupy that role for the foreseeable future, without much room for that to change. The $6.8MM AAV contract extension Gustavsson signed in October 2025 carries a full no-move clause for the first two years of its duration, before morphing into a 15-team no-trade clause. That NMC means the Wild are essentially locked into keeping Gustavsson as their starter for the next few years, a reality that makes trading Wallstedt all the more logical.
Wallstedt has long been projected to eventually become an impactful NHL goalie; As a result, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Gustavsson’s agent, Kurt Overhardt, negotiated the NMC into the first two years of Gustavsson’s deal with an eye towards warding against the possibility that his client could be dealt in order to pave the way for Wallstedt to take the reins as an undisputed No. 1 goalie in Minnesota.
Considering all of those factors, it becomes clear why the Wild are considering dealing Wallstedt, even though they likely know they’d be trading away a player who could be one of the league’s top goalies through the 2030s. The logic behind trading Wallstedt becomes even clearer when one considers how singularly focused the Wild are on maximizing their window to win as long as Quinn Hughes remains a Wild player.
Hughes’ contract is set to expire at the end of the 2026-27 season, and he has not given Minnesota any assurances that he’ll extend his deal and remain there. Consequently, it is in Minnesota’s best interests to not only maximize their chances of winning for the two playoff runs they have Hughes under team control for, but also to try to win as much as possible with Hughes in order to help convince him to sign an extension to remain in Minnesota.
Hughes had to play through some lean years as a member of the Vancouver Canucks, something he acknowledged weighed on him considerably. It’s likely, therefore, that whether or not a team is positioned to legitimately compete for a Stanley Cup will hold a great degree of influence over their odds of signing Hughes. And with Kirill Kaprizov now 28 years old, it’s clear the Wild’s competitive aspirations lie in players more around Gustavsson’s age (late twenties) than Wallstedt’s (early-to-mid twenties.)
As for who the Wild might target in any Wallstedt deal, that becomes more difficult to ascertain. The team is reportedly very interested in New York Rangers pivot Vincent Trocheck. But it’d be surprising to see New York trade Trocheck for a goalie seeing as the team already has star Igor Shesterkin locked into their starting role for the rest of the decade and beyond.
A hypothetical three-team trade could land Trocheck in Minnesota and send Wallstedt to a goalie-needy team, with that third team sending skater prospects to New York. But including a third team is a major hurdle to clear, and one that makes it so Minnesota is likely to need to leverage other assets if they want to acquire Trocheck.
Considering teams that might covet Wallstedt, or at least have a more pressing need in net, a few other potential candidates emerge. On the most recent trade board made by The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, there were five centers listed that most would reasonably consider to be of the top-six caliber Guerin is seeking: Nazem Kadri, Elias Pettersson, Robert Thomas, Ryan O’Reilly, and Trocheck.
Unfortunately for the Wild, nobody in that group appears to be a real candidate to be traded in a deal involving Wallstedt. The Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators (employers of Kadri and O’Reilly, respectively) each have goalies (Dustin Wolf for Calgary, Juuse Saros for Nashville) whose presence would likely limit their interest in Wallstedt. The goalie situation of the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues are more up in the air, but Minnesota may not want to take on Pettersson’s hefty $11.6MM cap hit, and the Blues are unlikely to have much interest in dealing their No. 1 center to a divisional rival.
Among teams who would stand to benefit most from adding Wallstedt, the New Jersey Devils are a clear candidate. While backup Jake Allen has performed admirably, starter Jacob Markstrom has endured a brutal campaign. Adding Wallstedt might stabilize the Devils at a position that has caused them so much trouble in recent years, but it’s not a clean fit. Markstrom signed a two-year, $6.5MM extension in October, and has a full NMC through the end of the season. Allen has a full NTC through 2026-27, and is under contract (at an affordable $1.8MM AAV) through 2029-30. Fitting Wallstedt into that picture might not be realistic.
The Ottawa Senators have a clear need in net, but trading away a key center such as Shane Pinto or Dylan Cozens may be a less optimal route for the team to improve than simply attempting to get incumbent starter Linus Ullmark‘s game back on track.
The Montreal Canadiens have a clear immediate need in net due to the struggles of Sam Montembeault and Jakub Dobes, but the looming presence of top prospect Jacob Fowler could scuttle the possibility of a deal. While Montreal would certainly benefit from adding Wallstedt, trading away the kind of center Minnesota would demand in return (such as promising rookie Oliver Kapanen) might not be in the team’s best interests with Fowler so close to being NHL-ready.
This is all to say that as things currently stand, Wallstedt is one of the most interesting trade candidates heading into this year’s deadline. They have many different factors to contend with when deciding not only whether or not to trade him, but also what kind of deal to construct if he’s indeed traded. The numerous different considerations the club will need to navigate are fascinating, and make Wallstedt a clear player to watch moving forward.
Photos courtesy of John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Wild Recall Liam Öhgren And Cameron Crotty
Minnesota Wild President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin announced today the team has recalled forward Liam Öhgren and defender Cameron Crotty from Iowa on an emergency basis, per a team announcement. The Wild will face-off against the Dallas Stars on Monday, and forward Marcus Foligno (who has missed three straight contests) remains day-to-day as he works his way back from an upper-body injury.
Öhgren was just reassigned to the AHL yesterday after being recalled by the Wild under an emergency loan to fill in for a sick Marcus Johansson who couldn’t suit up in a recent game against the Seattle Kraken. Öhgren has played in 35 games for the Wild this season, recording five points (including a goal in the game against the Kraken). The 20-year-old was Minnesota’s first round selection in the 2022 draft. While he’s struggled to make an offensive impact with the Wild in limited action this season, he has posted 28 points in 29 games in the AHL on the year.
Crotty has spent the entire year in Iowa, where he has registered zero goals and eight assists in 56 games. Originally a third-round selection by the Arizona Coyotes, Crotty has laced up in 275 career AHL games but has only skated in one NHL contest – a cup of coffee with the Coyotes during the 2023-24 season. Crotty, 25, also played three years at Boston University.
The Wild did receive good news with the return of defender Jonas Brodin, who played Saturday after being out of the lineup since Feb. 28 with a lower-body injury. Brodin has struggled with injuries throughout the season, suiting up in just 39 games. But when healthy, the 31-year-old has recorded 19 points and a plus-11 rating. And in addition to Brodin’s return, the Wild are expecting superstar Kirill Kaprizov to start skating as soon as this upcoming week, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo. The goal, according to Russo, would be to get Kaprizov a few regular season games to knock some rust off ahead of the playoffs. The return of Kaprizov would no doubt spark Minnesota’s sputtering offensive. Despite currently finding themselves in the top wild card position in the west, the Wild have only scored 195 goals on the season and are the only Western Conference team currently in playoff position with a negative goal differential on the year.
Wild Announce Multiple Front Office Moves
The Wild have promoted Mat Sells, Michael Murray and Chris Kelleher to assistant general manager roles, GM Bill Guerin announced Wednesday. The team also promoted Matt Hendricks to GM of their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.
The moves come after Guerin manned the Wild’s front office without a supplementary staff for most of the 2023-24 season. Director of team operations Andrew Heydt, who’d worked closely with various Wild GMs since assuming the role in 2014, mutually parted ways with the team in December after filing an internal complaint against Guerin alleging verbal abuse, The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported. An investigation concluded Guerin had not committed a firable offense and thus remained with the team, Russo said.
Kelleher’s promotion is the most notable. He’s been with the club for nearly two decades and will serve under Guerin as the director of player personnel for Team USA at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 49-year-old joined the Wild full-time as a pro scout in 2009 and was eventually promoted to their director of professional scouting ahead of the 2019-10 campaign. He was again promoted to director of player personnel two summers ago, making this his third internal promotion in the past six years.
In his AGM role, Kelleher will maintain his scouting and personnel responsibilities. The team said he’ll also support Guerin more closely with trade deadline and free agency prep.
Sells will hold a more technical role, similar to his duties as Minnesota’s director of analytics for the past five seasons. According to the team, he’ll be responsible for “salary cap management, player contract research and negotiations, analytics and hockey strategy and Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) compliance.” Sells, who’s also served as their vice president of hockey strategy for the past three seasons, did not have NHL front-office experience before joining the Wild.
Murray previously served as Iowa’s GM and Minnesota’s director of hockey operations, the former of which is being immediately assumed by Hendricks. Like Sells, the Wild are Murray’s first NHL front-office home. The former Dartmouth College forward joined the Wild as a special assistant to the GM in 2020-21 before being named the GM of Iowa the following season. His AGM responsibilities will revolve around assisting Guerin with day-to-day transactions.
Hendricks steps into his first GM role just five years after wrapping up his 11-year, 607-game NHL career. The former Capitals and Oilers fourth-line fixture also had a brief stop with the Wild in his final season, posting two assists in 22 games there before being traded to the Jets and retiring in the summer of 2019. A Minnesota native, Hendricks returned to his home state in a front-office role immediately after retiring, now logging five years of service as their assistant director of player development under former Wild defenseman Brad Bombardir.
Front Office Notes: Bannister, Dubas, Hynes
The St. Louis Blues have come to a list of finalists for their vacant head coach position, and Drew Bannister is reportedly among the bunch, shares Chris Pinkert of NHL.com. Bannister is St. Louis’ most recent coach, getting promoted from the AHL following Craig Berube’s dismissal in December.
It was the first NHL gig of Bannister’s coaching career and he made good work with it, leading the Blues to a surging 30-19-5 record. He brought the best out of the team’s special teams – improving the power-play from 8.4% to 23.2%, and the penalty-kill from 78.5% to 79.4%. But the push wasn’t enough to get St. Louis over a sub-.500 start to the year, with the team ultimately falling six points outside of a playoff spot.
Bannister previously served as the head coach for the Springfield Thunderbirds, St. Louis’ AHL affiliate. He found plenty of success in the minors, leading the Thunderbirds to two playoff appearances and even making the 2022 Calder Cup Final. That track record, and his early NHL success, could be enough to land Bannister an assistant coaching job on the Blues bench, even if he does miss out on the head role.
St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong shared with the media that the team will have a coach before June’s NHL Draft and that their list of candidates has been whittled to a, “very, very small number”. It will be just a little longer before a decision, though, with Armstrong adding that the team is still waiting on some candidates to finish their season.
Other notes from NHL management:
- Kyle Dubas has been named an associate general manager for Team Canada’s World Championship roster (Twitter link). It will be the first time that Dubas has worked with Team Canada in his six-year career as an NHL GM. The decision was made by Team Canada’s general manager, Rick Nash, with input from Scott Salmond, Doug Armstrong, and Ryan Getzlaf. It’s an exciting announcement that, among many things, could show Canada’s focus on advanced statistics, as they bring in one of the most analytic-savvy GMs in the NHL.
- Team USA general manager Bill Guerin has named John Hynes as the head coach for the World Championship (Twitter link). It’s Guerin’s second time recruiting Hynes this season, having also hired him into the head coaching role for the Minnesota Wild after the team fired Dean Evason. The duo will look to maintain their momentum with Team USA, after the Wild ranked as a top-15 team in record, goals-for, and goals-against under Hynes’ reign.
Team USA Fills Out Management Group For 4 Nations, 2026 Olympics
USA Hockey has announced the remainder of the management group that will complement Wild GM Bill Guerin for next season’s 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Rangers GM Chris Drury, Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald and Panthers GM Bill Zito have been named assistant GMs to Guerin. Wild director of player personnel Chris Kelleher will occupy the same role for the national team as he does under Guerin in Minnesota.
Guerin was confirmed as the GM of both squads in February. Earlier this season, he was reportedly the subject of an internal investigation “following a human resources complaint by an employee who alleged verbal abuse in the workplace,” per The Athletic’s Michael Russo. The investigation later determined he did not commit a fireable offense.
This is Drury’s fifth time holding a management role with Team USA. All his previous national team managerial experience came at the World Championship, where he served as AGM in 2016 and 2017 and GM in 2019 and 2021. Drury-managed teams have only medalled once, capturing a bronze medal in ’21.
As a player, he was no stranger to helping out the national team. In fact, he was quite well-decorated internationally, representing the USA at three Olympics (2002, 2006, 2010), three World Championships (1997, 1998, 2004), and the 1996 World Juniors. He took home two Olympic silvers and one Worlds bronze in that time and was eventually inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016, shortly after taking a director of player development role with the Rangers. He was promoted to AGM and later GM and president of hockey operations ahead of the 2021-22 season.
This is Fitzgerald’s first managerial experience with the national team. He’s held front-office roles in the NHL dating back to 2007 and was named GM of the Devils midway through the 2019-20 season. As a player, he suited up for Team USA at the 1987 World Juniors and in the 1989 and 1991 World Championships.
Zito returns to managing Team USA after GMing their World Championship squad in 2018, back when he was an AGM for the Blue Jackets. It’s his first national team nod since being named GM of the Panthers in 2020, since overseeing the most sustained period of success in franchise history.
Like Fitzgerald, the 49-year-old Kelleher has no international managerial experience, although he did have a cup of coffee as a player with Team USA at the 1995 World Juniors. He predates Guerin with the Wild by a decade, first joining Minnesota as a pro scout in 2009. He’s steadily worked his way up the ranks, earning a promotion to director of pro scouting in 2019 before being named their director of player personnel in 2022.
Bill Guerin Named GM Of U.S. Four Nations And Olympic Teams
Minnesota Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin has been named the general manager of Team USA for the upcoming 2025 NHL Four Nations Face-Off as well as the 2026 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team. The announcement was made official this morning and allows the three-time U.S. Olympian to take some time before selecting his first six players for the Four Nations tournament, which is something the NHL has asked each team to do early this summer.
Guerin is no stranger to donning the American sweater as he suited up for three Olympics in 1998, 2002, and 2006, winning a silver medal in 2002. He was also a member of the 1996 Team USA World Cup team that shocked the hockey world and created one of the most iconic moments in USA hockey history when they beat Team Canada to win the tournament. Guerin is a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, having been inducted back in 2013.
Guerin retired from playing in 2010 as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins and then spent eight seasons with the team in management, winning two Stanley Cups. He was then named general manager of the Wild in August 2019 and guided Minnesota to four consecutive playoff appearances before being named president of hockey operations and general manager last July.
Guerin made sweeping changes in Minnesota during his nearly five years with the franchise with his biggest moves being the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. Now he is tasked with putting together a collection of American players who can bring home gold in two separate tournaments and could be the favourite in both. Team Canada will have arguably the best forward group in both tournaments; however, the Americans will likely boast the most well-rounded team, something that Guerin and his staff will start to look at in the coming months.
Evening Snapshots: Wild, Capitals, Drysdale
Earlier today, the Minnesota Wild announced that defenseman Jared Spurgeon would be missing the rest of the season due to back and hip surgery, and Joe Smith of The Athletic speculates that the organization may use their newfound cap space to improve their situation. Only two days ago, General Manager Bill Guerin publicly stated that he is unwilling to give up on the 2023-24 season, and fully expects this team to compete for a playoff spot over the next couple of months.
If Minnesota is going to operate as a buyer come trade deadline time, there are a few options at defense they could look to acquire. Assuming the team looks for a right-handed defenseman to replace the lost minutes left by Spurgeon, they could become a dark horse contender for a defenseman such as Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames, or even look to acquire Tyson Barrie from their division rivals, the Nashville Predators.
In the next few weeks leading up to the trade deadline, the status of the Wild’s playoff chances should come into much clearer view for Guerin, which should help him steer the ship in a more concrete direction. Whatever the case may be, if Minnesota decides to make a major move to replace Spurgeon for the rest of the season, they will have approximately $5.1MM in cap flexibility to do so.
Other snapshots:
- In tonight’s game for the Washington Capitals, they saw the return of their captain, Alex Ovechkin, who had missed the last three games with a lower-body injury. Unfortunately, the team will be without a few players, as Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network reported that defenseman Joel Edmundson would not play in tonight’s game with an upper-body injury, and forward Beck Malenstyn is out due to personal reasons.
- Moving on to another team in the Metropolitan Division, even though Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reported earlier that newly-acquired defenseman Jamie Drysdale was not seen at practice today, he was able to draw into the lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers this evening. Suiting up for the team in two games, Drysdale came down with an illness shortly after arriving in Philadelphia and subsequently missed the next two contests for the team. Drawing back in the lineup against the Dallas Stars, Drysdale has already skated in over 14 minutes of the game and has put two shots on the net.
Central Notes: Wild, Murphy, Wedgewood
On November 28th, the Minnesota Wild became one of a handful of teams to change behind the bench, firing former head coach Dean Evason after a disastrous 6-10-4 start to the season. After John Hynes took over as the new head coach of the team, the Wild appeared to be turning a corner, producing a 10-3-0 record in the next 13 games, re-entering the wild card conversation in the Western Conference. Unfortunately, since that hot stretch in December, Minnesota is 2-7-1, falling to 27th in the league standings and now sits six points behind the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with four more games played.
With a decent majority of the team playing on contracts with term, it would be difficult for the Wild to sell at this year’s deadline, although it would be reasonable for them to do so in hopes of resetting for the 2024-25 season. However, in an article by Michael Russo in The Athletic, the General Manager of the Wild, Bill Guerin, has no plans to wave the white flag on the season and is still holding out on this team to make the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Although the faith coming from Guerin is appreciated by the players, the pathway for Minnesota to make the playoffs is dwindling if it hasn’t already dissipated completely. The top three in the Central Division are some of the best teams in the league, and the Wild are failing to maintain pace with the Seattle Kraken, Nashville Predators, and the red-hot Edmonton Oilers. Even though Guerin is relying heavily on the team rebounding as they become healthier, his mindset may change in the next several weeks leading up to the trade deadline.
Other notes:
- Joining the growing list of injured members of the Chicago Blackhawks, defenseman Connor Murphy is out with a lower-body injury according to Mark Lazerus of The Athletic. He will not play in the team’s game tonight against the San Jose Sharks, but the team is hoping Murphy can draw back in tomorrow against the Buffalo Sabres. Now one of the longest-tenured Blackhawks on the team, Murphy has scored two goals and eight points in 43 games, averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game.
- Radio host of the Dallas Stars, Owen Newkirk, reports that the injury to goaltender Scott Wedgewood is not serious, and he is only considered to be day-to-day. Before the return of Jake Oettinger on January 13th, Wedgewood was the de facto starter in Dallas for nearly a month, producing a 6-3-2 record in 12 games played.
Central Notes: Wild, Savoie, Moose
In an effort to restructure and strengthen their executive pyramid, the Minnesota Wild announced a series of promotions this morning. The most high-profile promotion will go to Matt Majka, most recently serving as the President and Alternate Governor of the Wild organization, who will now serve as the Chief Executive Officer overseeing all the properties in the Minnesota Sports & Entertainment conglomerate. Such assets include the Wild franchise, the Iowa Wild, Saint Paul Arena Company, and Xcel Energy Center, among others. Majka will still report to Wild Owner Craig Leipold, but will now be tasked with leading the innovative effort to take the franchise into the future.
On the hockey side of operations, current General Manager Bill Guerin will now add on President of Hockey Operations as a title, now being given an executive advisory role with the club, as well as still controlling his team-developmental duties. Leipold gave high praise to Guerin for his performance up to this point, saying, “Four years ago, Bill brought his championship pedigree to our organization and the improvements he’s made to our hockey team and organization are self-evident. The results are both tangible and intangible and he continues to demonstrate his talent for building a Stanley Cup contending team. We are excited about what the future holds for fans in the State of Hockey”.
Lastly, the third and final promotion went to Mitch Helgerson, who had been serving as the organization’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Broadcasting. Going forward, Helgerson will become the new Chief Revenue Officer, overseeing much of the revenue streams coming through the organization.
Other notes:
- Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago reports that the Chicago Blackhawks have signed prospect Samuel Savoie to a three-year, $2.63MM ($878.3K AAV) entry-level contract. Savoie was drafted by the Blackhawks organization with the 81st overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, coming out of the Gatineau Olympiques program of the QMJHL. In his final season with the Olympiques, Savoie expanded greatly on his playmaking abilities, scoring eight more goals and 18 more assists in four fewer games compared to his draft year.
- The AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets, the Manitoba Moose, announced two signings today, bringing in Thomas Caron and Mark Liwiski on separate one-year deals. The former captain of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts, Caron has seen much of his career crippled by injury, only managing one full season in the last five years. Liwiski, on the other hand, played his first full professional season last year with the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL, becoming one of the most feared players to line up against, racking up 192 PIMs in 67 games.
Minnesota Wild Sign Frederick Gaudreau To Extension
The Minnesota Wild announced that they’ve taken care of some offseason business early as they have inked forward Frederick Gaudreau to a five year $10.5MM extension. Gaudreau was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, but his extension will keep him with the Wild for the next five seasons.
Gaudreau originally signed a two year $2.4MM contract with the Wild in July 2021 after spending a single season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. While that contract carried some risk, it turned out to be an absolute bargain for Minnesota. The 29-year-old has put up 80 points in 157 games for Minnesota and added some cheap depth scoring.
While getting the Gaudreau contract done early is a tidy piece of business for the Wild, they do have some other pending free agents who will be much more difficult to extend and just $6.8MM in cap space to do it. John Klingberg, Matt Dumba, Gustav Nyquist and Oskar Sundqvist are all unrestricted, while defenseman Calen Addison and goaltender Filip Gustavsson are restricted free agents. Minnesota will likely have to make some tough decisions this summer, but with one of the best farm systems in the NHL, they should be able to remain competitive while getting younger and cheaper.