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Minor Free Agent Signings: Central Division

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With over 180 deals signed during the first day of free agency yesterday, some smaller names may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here’s a list of names that have inked two-way deals with Central Division clubs since the market opened yesterday, per CapFriendly. Some of these may have been included in our main coverage yesterday, while others went under the radar. All contracts carry the league-minimum $775K cap hit unless stated otherwise). Those listed here are likely to begin 2024-25 with each team’s AHL affiliate.

Chicago Blackhawks

none

Colorado Avalanche

F Joel Kiviranta (one year)

Dallas Stars

D Kyle Capobianco (two years)
F Cameron Hughes (one year)
F Kole Lind (one year)

Minnesota Wild

F Travis Boyd (one year)
D Joseph Cecconi (one year)
D Cameron Crotty (one year)
F Brendan Gaunce (two years)
G Troy Grosenick (one year)
F Ben Jones (two years)
F Devin Shore (one year)
F Reese Johnson (one year)

Nashville Predators

D Nick Blankenburg (two years)
F Vinnie Hinostroza (two years)
F Jake Lucchini (two years)
G Matt Murray (one year)

St. Louis Blues

none

Utah Hockey Club

D Kevin Connauton (two years)
F Miko Matikka (three years, $870K entry-level cap hit)

Winnipeg Jets

none

Wild Extend Jacob Middleton

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7/1: According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Wild have signed Middleton to a four-year, $17.4MM extension at a $4.35MM AAV.

6/27: The Wild are likely to announce an extension for defenseman Jacob Middleton soon after he becomes eligible to sign one on Monday, The Athletic’s Michael Russo wrote earlier this week. It’s likely to come in at four years between $16MM and $18MM total, working out to a cap hit between $4MM and $4.5MM.

Middleton, 28, faced increased responsibility in 2023-24, his second full season in Minnesota. The shutdown blue-liner averaged a career-high 19:49 per game, with captain Jared Spurgeon missing most of the season due to multiple injuries and top matchup defender Jonas Brodin missing significant time as well.

With increased opportunity came increased production for Middleton, who posted a career-high 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in 80 games. His -15 rating was a career-low, but he’s one of more than a few Wild skaters whose ratings were negatively impacted by poor seasons from goaltenders Marc-André Fleury and Filip Gustavsson.

He’s never had spectacular possession numbers on his own, but he did prove to be a good partner for Spurgeon in 2022-23 when the two were healthy at the same time. Skating in 76 games, they controlled 53.5% of expected goals when deployed together, per MoneyPuck. The same couldn’t be said for him and rookie Brock Faber this year, who controlled only 48% of expected goals and was Minnesota’s most commonly deployed pairing at over 800 minutes together.

Middleton has certainly proven he can hold his own as a complementary top-four piece, but with him set to turn 29 midway through next season, there’s little room left for further development. Considering a four-year, $4-$4.5MM AAV deal is likely similar to what the much more established Chris Tanev will land this summer, it seems a little steep. Evolving Hockey’s projections concur that it’s a tad above market value, pegging a four-year extension for Middleton in the $3.8MM AAV range.

Wild general manager Bill Guerin also has a recent history of handing out premature extensions that are not aging well. He inked depth center Frédérick Gaudreau to a five-year, $10.5MM extension with trade protection after last season ended, and he proceeded to have his worst year in the State of Hockey with just 15 points and a -23 rating in 67 games this year. A four-year, $16MM deal set to kick in next season for Marcus Foligno also looks a tad steep after the 32-year-old struggled with injuries last season and had only 10 goals and 22 points in 55 games.

That said, the Wild will have some cap flexibility opening up when Middleton’s extension would go into effect for the 2025-26 season. The combined penalties from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts will drop from $14.744MM to just $1.667MM, where they’ll remain annually through 2028-29. Middleton, whom Minnesota acquired from the Sharks at the 2022 trade deadline, is entering the final season of a three-year, $7.35MM deal with a $2.45MM cap hit.

Wild Sign Eight Players To Two-Way Deals

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The Wild have signed forwards Travis Boyd and Devin Shore, supplementing their depth on offense after bringing in Yakov Trenin on a four-year deal earlier today. Both are two-way deals. Boyd’s pays him $775K in the NHL with a $550K guarantee, per The Athletic’s Michael Russo, while Shore’s pays him $775K NHL/$400K AHL with a $450K guarantee, per PuckPedia.

Boyd found a comfortable spot among the Arizona Coyotes’ bottom six over the last three seasons, kicked off by his career-high 17 goals and 35 points in 2021-22. Boyd followed that up with 15 goals and 35 points last year, though he was held to just 16 games this year after a torn pectoral ended his season in December. Boyd still scored eight points in the outings – sticking with his recent propensity for scoring – though he remains hard to gauge. Now 30, Boyd is a bit hard to project coming off injury; likely the reason for his two-way deal. But he’ll be in a prime position to bounce back next season, among a Wild bottom six in need of an impact center.

If Boyd can’t hold onto a role, Minnesota has hedged their bets with Shore – who got demoted to the AHL after 21 games in the NHL this year. He responded well to the send-down, though, recording 25 points across 39 regular season games and 13 points in 18 playoff performances. Shore has totaled 443 NHL games across the last nine seasons, though he’s managed just 139 points – and hasn’t surpassed 15 points in a year since 2018-19. Boyd’s scoring over the last two years will give him an advantage on the depth chart, though both players will compete for a consistent role at the bottom of Minnesota’s lineup.

Minnesota also inked 27-year-old right-shot defenseman Joseph Cecconi to a two-way deal ($775K NHL/$325K AHL), per PuckPedia. He had 13 points in 58 AHL games played last season with the Rochester Americans, the Sabres’ top minor-league affiliate.

The organization also announced two-way deals with forwards Brendan Gaunce, Reese Johnson, Ben Jones, defenseman Cameron Crotty, and goaltender Troy Grosenick. All eight players should open the season with the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, and serve as valuable depth for Minnesota if the team succumbs to injury at any point during the 2024-25 NHL season.

Wild To Sign Yakov Trenin To Four-Year Deal

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The Wild are signing forward Yakov Trenin, sources tell Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland. It’s a four-year deal with a $3.5MM cap hit, PuckPedia adds.

With the deal, Minnesota pays a premium for arguably the most pure checking forward on the market. Trenin, 27, was a second-round pick of the Predators in 2015. He spent his first four and a half NHL seasons there before a trade deadline deal this year sent him to the Avalanche. Understandably, with a bit of a salary cap crunch in Colorado, they opted not to retain him for the price he ended up going for.

Trenin has size for days at 6’2″ and 201 lbs, but his offensive upside is somewhat limited. His career high is 17 goals and 24 points, both set with Nashville in the 2021-22 season. He’s a strong penalty killer, as that’s where he’s received a solid chunk of the around 15 minutes per game he’s averaged the past three years. This season was tough for him offensively, dropping to 12 goals and 17 points in 76 games between the Avs and Preds, but he did post a career-high +15 rating backed up by decent possession numbers for his defense-oriented role.

While he’s effective in his role, $3.5MM is a lot of money to spend for a Trenin-type player for a Wild team that had the 21st-ranked offense last season. With only $6.25MM in projected cap space entering the day, this is likely their lone big-name free-agent acquisition.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Wild Have Had Trade Talks For Patrik Laine

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Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is reporting that the Nashville Predators have told teams interested in goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov that they would like to get a current NHLer back in a trade or another highly touted forward or defensive prospect.

The 22-year-old Askarov appeared to be the Predators goaltender of the future, but with Juuse Saros expected to sign a long-term extension in Nashville, Askarov will not have a path to a starter job in the NHL until he is in his 30s. Given his pedigree as an 11th overall pick and his solid AHL numbers, Askarov figures to be an NHL goalie sooner than later, but it appears likely that it will happen in a different market than Nashville.

In other morning notes:

  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is guessing that the Toronto Maple Leafs will look to sign recently acquired defenseman Chris Tanev to a six-year, $24MM contract extension. Toronto acquired Tanev’s rights yesterday and early reports indicated that they could offer a deal of five to eight years in length. The 34-year-old Tanev wasn’t likely to sign in Dallas and the team elected to get something for him rather than letting him walk for free. Toronto has long sought after a defenseman like Tanev, and now that they’ve jumped the line to negotiate with him, they are expected to get a deal done.
  • Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic write that the Minnesota Wild have had talks with the Columbus Blue Jackets about potentially acquiring scorer Patrik Laine. The 26-year-old Laine hasn’t been the goal-scorer he was when he broke into the league with the Winnipeg Jets back in 2016-17 but hasn’t had much support in Columbus and was limited to just 18 games last season. A change of scenery could be just what Laine needs as he tries to get his career back on track. The Wild struggled to score last season and with limited cap space, they will be looking for bounce-back seasons from several current players. Acquiring Laine might provide a safety net for Minnesota if they aren’t able to get depth scoring from their current roster of players.

Bruins Acquire Vinni Lettieri In Swap With Wild

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The Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild have swapped depth forwards and fourth-round picks – with Boston acquiring Vinni Lettieri and Pick 110 from the Wild for Jakub Lauko and Pick 122 (Twitter link).

This move comes as much more minor than some of the day’s blockbusters. But it could stand as one of the most memorable trades of the day, with Minnesota using Pick 122 to select star Finnish defenseman Aron Kiviharju. Kiviharju was once considered a lock for the Top 10, and maybe even the Top 5, of the 2024 NHL Draft – after breaking into Finland’s Liiga at the age of 16. He vindicated the hype through his rookie season, tallying three assists in 21 games and adjusting well to the pace of a pro game. That set Kiviharju up for what many expected to be a smash season this year, though a knee injury suffered on September 30th cut his season short before it could even get underway.

Kiviharju returned to captain Team Finland at the World U-18 Championship, recording three assists in five games an looking ready to put his injury aside. But an early end to Finland’s season kept him from playing much more. He finished his draft year with two points in seven Liiga games and tons of questions swirling around him.

But while Minnesota earns a big bet on upside with this swap, the Bruins get a bit more predictability. Lettieri served a modest role on Minnesota’s fourth line last season, working his way to nine points and 24 penalty minutes in a career-high 46 appearances. He’s now up to 27 points in the first 129 games of his NHL career – though he’s shown a knack for filling the gritty roles of a bottom-line center. He moves to Boston alongside Elliott Groenewold, who the Bruins selected at Pick 110. Groenewold also boasts plenty of predictable impact – with a tall frame and long reach making him effective at engaging in, and winning, puck battles – but a lack of explosivity keeping him from ever making too much of a spark.

Boston will hope the pair can have the anticipated effects on the NHL lineup, while Minnesota is taking a home run swing while replacing Lettieri’s role with the quaint Lauko.

Wild Begin Extension Negotiations With Brock Faber

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  • Michael Russo of The Athletic reports the Minnesota Wild and rookie defenseman Brock Faber are expected to meet today to begin contract negotiations. Faber will enter the final year of his entry-level contract during the 2024-25 NHL season but is extension eligible on July 1st. There is no doubt that Faber is a player to invest in as the University of Minnesota product finished second in Calder Trophy voting this past season. Averaging nearly 25 minutes a night for the Wild, Faber scored eight goals and 47 points while playing in all 82 games and proved to be an effective quarterback on Minnesota’s powerplay.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Minnesota, Philadelphia Swap 12th Overall And 13th Overall

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The Minnesota Wild have acquired the 12th overall pick from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for the 13th overall pick and a third-round selection in next year’s draft (X Link).

The Wild would use the selection on defenseman Zeev Buium out of the University of Denver, who miraculously fell to 12th overall. Minnesota adds another dynamic defensive prospect while already having Brock Faber on the back end.

Aside from winning the 2024 National Championship with Denver, Buium rose the draft charts considerably after scoring 11 goals and 50 points in only 42 games. With his strong skating and ability to escape oncoming pressure, Buium is eerily similar to former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Adam Fox from the New York Rangers. By only having to attach a third-round pick to select one of the best defensemen available in the draft — Minnesota could end up with one of the biggest steals of the night.

The Flyers, on the other hand, used the 13th overall pick to select Jett Luchanko out of the OHL’s Guelph Storm. Considering that this selection is a bit of a reach compared to mock picks, the Flyers were likely more than happy to move back one spot and add a third-round selection next year.

As one of the fastest players in the draft, Luchanko can transition with the puck very effectively. In 68 games for the Storm this past season, Luchanko put up 20 goals and 74 points while winning the William Hanley Trophy as the league’s most sportsmanlike player.

Bruins, Wild Among Top Suitors For Rutger McGroarty

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News broke last week that Jets 2022 first-round pick Rutger McGroarty was seeking a trade, with most assuming that a deal could come across the finish line as soon as a few days ago so Winnipeg could recoup a first-rounder in this year’s draft. It hasn’t happened yet, but there’s still a strong chance he could be moved as the first round kicks off in less than an hour.

Among the teams with significant interest are the Wild, The Athletic’s Michael Russo relays. The Bruins have also held “ongoing talks with Winnipeg regarding McGroarty, Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press reported last night. McIntyre added that the Blue Jackets, Islanders and Sabres have also checked in but didn’t use as strong language to describe their interest.

Winnipeg selected McGroarty 14th overall in 2022, one pick later than the selection Minnesota holds this year (No. 13). The idea of a one-for-one swap makes sense. As for Boston, they ended up back with their own first-rounder (No. 25) after it traveled to Detroit and then Ottawa in the past 15 months, recouping it as part of the return for sending 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark to the Senators. They’d likely need to add an additional pick or an equivalent asset in the form of a roster player or prospect in order to land McGroarty.

McGroarty, 20, was one of the best players in college hockey this season. Suiting up in his sophomore campaign at the University of Michigan, he finished top ten in NCAA-wide scoring with 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 36 games. He was a nominee for the Hobey Baker Award for the top player in collegiate hockey and captained the United States to a gold medal at the 2024 World Juniors, scoring five goals and four assists in seven games.

But he wasn’t given a clear role on Winnipeg’s roster next season, and as such, he’s decided to return to Michigan for his junior season rather than play for their AHL affiliate in Manitoba. Of course, he could decide to turn pro after a trade and make his NHL debut for a different team in the fall.

Wild To Non-Tender Mason Shaw

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  • The Wild have informed Mason Shaw that he’ll be non-tendered for the second straight year, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). Shaw battled back from a torn ACL to earn a new deal with Minnesota back in February and he got into 20 games with the big club, recording three points and 29 hits while averaging just over eight minutes a night.

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