Wild Rumors

Minnesota Wild Re-Assign Steven Fogarty

November 4, 2022 at 10:47 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

With the Minnesota Wild off until Tuesday, the team has returned Steven Fogarty to the minor league. The move will save some additional cap space and salary, while also suggesting they could be getting healthy bodies back soon. Michael Russo of The Athletic tweets that Jordan Greenway is expected back in time for the game against the Los Angeles Kings but also notes that two forwards could be recalled if Marcus Foligno and Brandon Duhaime are still unavailable.

Fogarty, 29, was up on an emergency recall and played two games for the team, seeing limited ice time in both. The minor league veteran failed to record a shot on goal and registered three hits. That’s about what is expected of him at this point, given his rare appearances in the NHL. Since turning pro in 2016, he has just 32 games at the highest level and has recorded three points.

Greenway, who started the year on injured reserve, returned for just six shifts in late October before ending up on the shelf once again. The 6’6″ forward is a key part of the Minnesota forward group but needs to find a way to stay on the ice. Last season he had ten goals and 27 points in 62 games but was part of one of the best defensive lines in the NHL, alongside Foligno and Joel Eriksson Ek.

After the team was blown out of the building by the Seattle Kraken last night, they certainly could use a bit of that added defensive identity back in the lineup.

Ryan Hartman's Injury Reportedly Considered "More Long-Term"

November 1, 2022 at 4:30 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

While the Minnesota Wild have somewhat turned things around after a tough start to the season, injuries are already starting to pile up. The Athletic’s Joe Smith reports that the injury forward Ryan Hartman is currently dealing with is considered “more long-term.”

Hartman sustained the injury in a fight with Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi on Sunday, leading to the team recalling Steven Fogarty from the AHL under emergency circumstances. Smith also reported that the team “isn’t sure” about winger Marcus Foligno, who missed the team’s last game with an upper-body injury and is not on injured reserve (not yet, at least). The two join Jordan Greenway as the three regular Wild forwards already out of the lineup less than 10 games into the season.

Minnesota Wild Recall Steven Fogarty

October 31, 2022 at 4:41 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The Minnesota Wild today recalled forward Steven Fogarty from the AHL’s Iowa Wild on an emergency basis, according to a team release.

Fogarty is up with the Wild on an emergency basis due to Ryan Hartman’s upper-body injury suffered last night during a fight with Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi. The team has not issued an update on Hartman, though the recall suggests he won’t be playing tomorrow when the Wild face the Montreal Canadiens.

With Hartman as well as Marcus Foligno and Jordan Greenway on the shelf, the team was down to 11 healthy forwards on the active roster, necessitating Fogarty’s emergency recall. The Wild signed the 29-year-old Fogarty to a two-year contract last offseason.

Fogarty had a goal and two assists for three points in six games to start the season in Iowa, as well as a +4 rating, tied for the team lead.

Update On Marcus Foligno

October 30, 2022 at 4:30 pm CDT | by Ethan Hetu 2 Comments

The Minnesota Wild have announced that forward Marcus Foligno will not play in tonight’s game due to an upper-body injury. Foligno has three points in eight games this season. His health will be something for Wild fans to monitor as the team, who currently boast a 3-4-1 record, looks to find stronger footing early in this campaign.

Minnesota Wild Waive Dakota Mermis

October 29, 2022 at 1:06 pm CDT | by Ethan Hetu Leave a Comment

October 29: Mermis has cleared waivers and is cleared to head to Iowa, according to Chris Johnston of TSN and NorthStar Bets.

October 28: The Minnesota Wild have placed defenseman Dakota Mermis on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

The move was necessitated by Mermis’ return to health from an injury he suffered in the preseason. He had been on the team’s injured reserve list, and now that he’s healthy he must clear waivers in order to be sent to the AHL.

Mermis, 28, is an undrafted defenseman who has fashioned a nice career for himself as a depth defenseman. The former London Knight made his professional debut for the Springfield Falcons of the AHL in 2015-16, and then moved on to the Tucson Roadrunners and Arizona Coyotes organization after that season. In Arizona, Mermis’ development accelerated, and by his second season there he had even earned his first NHL call-up.

Now a member of his third NHL organization, Mermis has 25 NHL games played on his resume. He spent most of last season with the Wild’s AHL affiliate in Iowa, and will now head back to Des Moines to begin his 2022-23 season.

Last year Mermis had a healthy 24 points in 59 games and this year should resume his role as a valuable veteran contributor for the Wild’s top minor league affiliate.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Minnesota Wild

October 28, 2022 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid 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 for the 2022-23 season and beyond. This will focus more on players who are regulars on 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: $79,231,774 (under the $82.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

D Calen Addison (one year, $795K)
F Matt Boldy (one year, $880.8K)
F Marco Rossi (three years, $863K)

Potential Bonuses
Addison: $82.5K
Boldy: $600K
Rossi: $850K

Boldy didn’t play a full season last year but if he had, he might have had a shot at the Calder Trophy. He has very quickly established himself as a legitimate top-six forward and has been on the front line for good chunks of this season early on. He’s the type of player that GM Bill Guerin would love to sign long-term but fitting that in could be difficult. If Boldy produces at a similar pace as last year over a full season, a bridge deal for him could be in the $4MM range. Rossi is just getting his NHL career started but is being eased in slowly so it’s unlikely that he’ll hit any of his ‘A’ bonuses this season.

Addison has shown some upside in limited NHL action and is off to a nice start this year as he looks to establish himself as a full-time regular. If he can do that, he’ll have a good chance of hitting most of his games played bonuses but with a limited track record and Minnesota’s cap situation next summer, he’s almost certainly heading for a bridge deal. A decent season offensively could have that contract in the $2MM range.

Signed Through 2022-23, Non-Entry-Level

F Brandon Duhaime ($750K, RFA)
D Matt Dumba ($6MM, UFA)
F Frederick Gaudreau ($1.2MM, UFA)
G Filip Gustavsson ($787.5K, RFA)
F Tyson Jost ($2MM, RFA)
F Sam Steel ($825K, RFA)

Expectations for Jost have been high since he was drafted 10th overall back in 2016 but he hasn’t been able to live up to them. Last season, Colorado decided to move on from him but Jost hasn’t been much better with the Wild. Owed a $2.25MM qualifying offer, Jost will need to come close to his career high in points (26) if he wants a shot at being tendered. Gaudreau has been a nice example of perseverance paying off as he became a full-fledged regular for the first time last season at 28. He is coming off a career year offensively and even if he comes up a little short of the 44 points he had, he’s in a position to potentially double his price tag next summer. Steel had a pretty soft market this summer after being non-tendered by Anaheim but is still controllable for two more years through arbitration. It’s possible that he could be viewed as a replacement for Jost if he’s willing to stay around this price point. Duhaime provided some depth scoring with plenty of hits last season which is a combo that typically looks good in arbitration. Doubling his AAV is achievable if he puts up around 20 points this season.

Dumba’s future with Minnesota has been in question for several years now. First, there was speculation that he wouldn’t be able to reach a new contract but he did. Then, he was supposed to go to Seattle in expansion but the Wild found a way to protect him. Now, the question is can they afford to keep him? He’ll be 29 next season and hasn’t been able to come close to the 50 points he put up in 2017-18. The lower point total I think actually works in Minnesota’s favor if they want to try to re-sign him; between that and his age, his next contract shouldn’t check in too much higher than this one. Knowing the cap is going to go up in the not-too-distant future, there’s a path to extending this partnership if both sides are interested.

Gustavsson came over in an offseason trade from Ottawa and has yet to establish himself as a full-time backup. He’ll get that chance this season but chances are that his playing time will be limited enough that a multi-year agreement will be hard to come by. If he does well, a one-year deal in the $1.5MM range that buys both sides more time to evaluate would be a reasonable outcome.

Signed Through 2023-24

F Connor Dewar ($800K, RFA)
G Marc-Andre Fleury ($3.5MM, UFA)
F Marcus Foligno ($3.1MM, UFA)
D Alex Goligoski ($2MM, UFA)
F Ryan Hartman ($1.7MM, UFA)
F Mats Zuccarello ($6MM, UFA)

Zuccarello had a career year last season and is off to an even better start this year as he is starting to make his cap hit look like a bargain. However, he’ll be 37 when this contract is up which won’t help his market value. If he stays around the 60-point mark, he could land a couple of years around this price tag but a big increase isn’t likely. Foligno has put up a particularly high shooting percentage in the last two years but even factoring in some regression, he can be counted on for third-line production, strong defensive play, and lots of physicality. He’ll be 33 when his next contract starts and a three-year deal could push him past the $4MM mark if he can hang around the 30-point plateau.

One player that appears to be well on his way toward a significant raise is Hartman. After bouncing around early in his career, he has secured a full-time role in the top six with the Wild and is doing so as a center which only helps his value. The market for second-line centers is well over $6MM and if Hartman has a couple more seasons like last year, that could certainly be attainable for him. As for Dewar, he’s trying to establish himself as a regular but if he continues with a limited role, he’s someone that shouldn’t get a whole lot more than his qualifying offer which checks in just below $900K.

Goligoski took a high-priced one-year deal to return home last season and then accepted this much cheaper two-year contract to stay there. He is more of a depth defender at this point and considering he’ll be 39 just days after this agreement expires, there’s a good chance that this is his last deal.

There were some questions about whether or not Fleury would want to stick around with the Wild after joining them late last season but then accepted this deal, one that gives Minnesota a veteran starter for the price of a high-end backup. He’ll be 39 when this contract is up and it’s difficult to see him signing another one after this.

Signed Through 2024-25

F Jordan Greenway ($3MM, UFA)
D Jon Merrill ($1.2MM, UFA)
D Jacob Middleton ($2.45MM, UFA)

Greenway has shown some signs of blossoming into an impact power forward but has struggled with consistency and staying healthy. If he’s able to turn that around and become a 20-goal player, he could see his price tag jump past the $5MM mark in 2025. Even if he hovers around the 30-point mark, a raise is almost certain with how sought-after physical wingers that can provide some secondary scoring are.

Middleton was brought in to help strengthen the depth of the back end after a breakout season last year that saw him become a regular for the first time at 26. That limited track record allowed Guerin to work out an extension that gave Middleton some stability while still being at a below-market rate for someone playing in the top four. Three more seasons with a similar performance to last year will make his market a lot stronger next time around when he could add more than a million to his current cost. Merrill didn’t generate much interest in his last two trips through free agency so he understandably jumped at a three-year extension offer last January. For a depth defender, it’s a fair cost but it’s unlikely he’ll land much more than that three years from now.

Signed Through 2025-26 Or Longer

D Jonas Brodin ($6MM through 2027-28)
F Joel Eriksson Ek ($5.25MM through 2028-29)
F Kirill Kaprizov ($9MM through 2025-26)
D Jared Spurgeon ($7.575MM through 2026-27)

There has been plenty of uncertainty with Kaprizov stemming first from when would he first sign to even this summer when getting back to Minnesota proved to be difficult. He’s a franchise forward and one of the dynamic talents in the league. If he stays on his current trajectory, he’ll be 29 when he hits the open market for the first time and could have a viable chance to set a record-breaking contract for a winger in free agency. Eriksson Ek’s deal carried some risk in that he only had one season with more than ten goals at the time he signed it but he has become a legitimate two-way center that can play heavy minutes. He may not be a true number one middleman but even as a second liner, this deal looks like a team-friendly one.

Spurgeon has been a high-impact defender for several years now and should be for a few more seasons at least. The last year or two could be a bit high-priced but not by much. It wouldn’t be surprising if this price point is the highest they’re willing to go on a Dumba extension to ensure that the captain is the highest-paid at his position. Brodin isn’t going to score much but is a strong shutdown defender. This cost is a bit high at the moment for that type of role but as the cap increases over the next few years, it will look a bit better even if his ice time starts to dip.

Buyouts

F Zach Parise ($6.372MM in 2022-23, $7.372MM in 2023-24 and 2024-25, $833K from 2025-26 through 2027-28)
D Ryan Suter ($6.372MM in 2022-23, $7.372MM in 2023-24 and 2024-25, $833K from 2025-26 through 2027-28)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Best Value: Hartman
Worst Value: Brodin

Looking Ahead

To Guerin’s credit, there really aren’t any bad contracts on the books right now which has helped them stay competitive even with more than $12MM in dead money. They’re actually very well-positioned to add at the deadline at a time when many other buyers won’t have cap flexibility. They could be a team to watch for on the rental market as a result.

Next summer could be tricky with Dumba and Boldy needing new deals and they’re certainly hoping that the cap goes up by more than the $1MM projection. There’s a way to get them both done but they’ll be filling out their roster with some more players at or near the minimum if they do so. The following summer will see some more flexibility open up but with a top-six center to re-sign or replace plus finding another starter. Minnesota should enjoy the bit of wiggle room they have now as things will get even tighter in the near future.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Devan Dubnyk Retires

October 28, 2022 at 6:49 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

After trying his hand on the television side of things in the playoffs, veteran goaltender Devan Dubnyk has decided that it’s time to commit to that role. The 36-year-old confirmed to Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press that he has hung up his skates and has joined the NHL Network where he made his regular season debut with them on Thursday night.

Dubnyk was selected 14th overall back in 2004 by Edmonton with the hopes that he’d be their goaltender of the future. However, after some promising seasons early on (with a save percentage between .914 and .920 in his first three full years), things went off the rails in 2013-14, a year in which he wound up being traded twice and finishing up the season in the minor leagues.

But to his credit, Dubnyk bounced back the following year, starting strong with Arizona before being flipped to Minnesota where he spent parts of six seasons with the Wild, several of which as their starter. He last played in the NHL in 2020-21 with San Jose and Colorado and got into a handful of games with AHL Charlotte last season.

Dubnyk hangs up his skates with a 253-206-54 record in 542 appearances over parts of a dozen seasons with a 2.61 GAA, a .914 SV%, and 33 shutouts. His wins and games played total are second only to Pekka Rinne from that draft class. In the end, while it took him a while to make his mark, it was a pretty successful on-ice career for Dubnyk who now transitions to his off-ice career in hockey.

Andrej Sustr And Michal Kempny Clear Waivers

October 22, 2022 at 1:02 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

Saturday: Sustr has cleared waivers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. No one was placed on waivers today.

Friday: With Jon Merrill set to get back into the Minnesota Wild lineup, the team has placed Andrej Sustr on waivers. Michal Kempny, who was placed on unconditional waivers yesterday, has cleared and will have his contract terminated.

Sustr, 31, hasn’t even played a game yet for the Wild, but is no longer even needed for insurance purposes. Merrill is expected to take Alex Goligoski’s spot in the lineup tomorrow, after the veteran defenseman played in his 1,000th game yesterday. Goligoski will become the player that rotates in when needed, and Sustr can report to the minor leagues.

That is, of course, if he clears waivers, which isn’t necessarily guaranteed. Just last season he was claimed by the Anaheim Ducks when the Tampa Bay Lightning tried to sneak him through, and he ended up playing in 23 games down the stretch. The 6’7″ behemoth has played in 361 regular season NHL games, and is a useful veteran to have on the roster as a seventh option.

For teams that might be dealing with injuries on the back end, Sustr and his one-year, two-way contract might not be a bad option. Still, he doesn’t offer much upside, so if he slips through the Wild will be able to keep him in the organization as an injury replacement. Sustr played in the minor leagues without complaint last season, registering 12 points in 25 games for the Syracuse Crunch. Because the team has designated him for assignment already, they’ll be able to activate Merrill even before his waivers resolve tomorrow afternoon.

Minnesota Places Jordan Greenway On IR, Activates Jon Merrill

October 22, 2022 at 11:35 am CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

It’s good news and bad news on the injury front for the Wild. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated defenseman Jon Merrill off injured reserve which is the good news. However, the bad news is that winger Jordan Greenway has been placed on IR to make room for Merrill’s return.

Merrill suffered an arm injury while playing for the United States at the World Championship, undergoing surgery soon after. He missed the entire preseason and while he was cleared for contact a little more than a week ago, Minnesota was cautious in bringing him back. The 30-year-old had a career year last season, notching 20 points in 69 games while logging over 17 minutes per night which helped him earn a three-year extension back in January.

As for Greenway, his return to the lineup was short-lived. He was activated off IR back on Thursday but lasted just six shifts before suffering an upper-body injury that evidently will keep him out for at least the next week. The 25-year-old is an important secondary scorer for the Wild that contributes plenty of hits as well but he’ll be waiting a little while before he gets a shot at his second game of the season; Michael Russo of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that the team is still waiting to get an idea of how much time Greenway will miss.

Minnesota Wild Loan Vladislav Firstov To KHL; Recall Mason Shaw

October 21, 2022 at 11:01 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Jordan Greenway’s return to the Minnesota Wild lineup lasted just six shifts. The bruising forward managed to land four hits during that time, but after leaving with an upper-body injury he was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game. Head coach Dean Evason told reporters including Michael Russo of The Athletic after the game that Greenway would be evaluated today and won’t play tomorrow afternoon in Boston.

With that news, it makes sense that Mason Shaw is back in the AHL transaction portal and on his way back to the NHL level. Shaw had only been sent down a few days ago when it was clear that Greenway would be returning. More importantly, perhaps, is that the portal also includes Vladislav Firstov, who has been reassigned by the team to Torpedo Nizhny Novogrod of the KHL.

Firstov, 21, was a second-round pick of the Wild in 2019 and signed his entry-level contract in March. The young Russian forward hadn’t played in his home country for years, coming over to spend his draft year in the USHL and then the last three seasons at the University of Connecticut. After just one game with the Iowa Wild this season, he’s apparently on his way back overseas to continue his development in the KHL.

Notably, he remains under contract with the Wild, so this isn’t a long-term plan. But the team will lose at least a bit of control over his deployment and development this season as he plays in Russia. In eight games down the stretch with Iowa last season he managed just two assists, meaning he’ll have to wait even longer for his first professional goal in North America.

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