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Filip Gustavsson

Injury Updates: Wild, Sabres, Lehkonen

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The Minnesota Wild have been dealing with an absolutely massive slate of injuries in their recent stretch of games, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the team. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reported today that the trio of core pillars for the Wild, Kirill Kaprizov, Filip Gustavsson, and Jared Spurgeon are all “progressing and skating,” and thereby in their “next phase” toward full returns to the ice.

Adding Kaprizov, Spurgeon, and Gustavsson back to their roster would give the Wild their number-one winger, number-one defenseman, and number-one goalie back. The team has been strong under new head coach John Hynes, but in order for them to truly have a chance of keeping up in the Central Division that trio of players will need to return to the ice sooner rather than later.

Some other injury updates from across the NHL:

  • As reported by the Buffalo Times Herald’s Bill Hoppe, Buffalo Sabres wingers Victor Olofsson and Jordan Greenway are currently sick and out on a day-to-day timeline for the team. Olofsson was a healthy scratch for the team’s most recent game in favor of Eric Robinson, while Greenway skated on their third line alongside Zach Benson and Casey Mittelstadt. With captain Kyle Okposo now out week-to-week, the possibility both Greenway and Olofsson miss tomorrow’s game against the Seattle Kraken would mean the team could potentially need to recall a forward or two from the AHL’s Rochester Americans.
  • Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal reports that forward Artturi Lehkonen is skating at Avalanche practice in a white jersey, meaning he has officially moved past the non-contact stage of his injury recovery. The 28-year-old Finnish winger had a breakout campaign last season when he scored at a 27-goal, 65-point 82-game pace and had scored eight points in 12 games this season before suffering his significant injury.

West Notes: Terry, Wallstedt, Couture

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Derek Lee of The Sporting Tribune is reporting that Anaheim Ducks forward Troy Terry does not have a concussion but is dealing with an upper-body injury. Terry was placed on injured reserve yesterday which won’t affect his return date which could be very soon as Lee describes Terry’s status as, “Very day-to-day.” The wrinkle for the Ducks is that Terry was put on IR retroactively to December 30th, meaning that they can activate him on Sunday if he is fit to play. However, the Ducks currently sit at the 23-man roster limit so they will need to make a move to activate him.

Terry has struggled so far this season after signing a massive seven-year $49MM contract extension in the offseason. Thus far through 35 games, the Denver, Colorado native has just nine goals and 13 assists which is well off his offensive pace over the last couple of seasons.

Max Jones has filled in during Terry’s absence and even scored a goal on Sunday night in the Ducks’ lopsided loss to the Oilers. Despite the promotion to the top 6, Jones has not seen an increase in his ice time.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Joe Smith of The Athletic is reporting that Minnesota Wild goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedtis is expected to return tomorrow night for their AHL affiliate in Iowa and could factor into the NHL roster over the next week. The 20th overall pick in 2021 has been dealing with a lower-body injury and could make his NHL debut if he is recalled by the Wild to fill in while Filip Gustavsson is on IR. The 21-year-old has put up terrific numbers in the AHL this season, registering an 11-7 record with a .922 save percentage and a 2.43 goals-against average in 18 games.
  • Max Miller of The Hockey News is reporting that San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture could return to the Sharks lineup during their upcoming road trip. Couture is traveling with the team on their five-game road trip and is hoping to get back into the lineup having missed the entire season to date. Couture has dealt with several setbacks during his recovery after suffering a lower-body injury. The Sharks were already thin up front coming into the season and Couture’s injury has further exposed a weak forward core. The Sharks have flirted with the idea of using Couture on the wing once he returns, but not much is known about where he will play once he does return.

Minnesota Wild Place Kirill Kaprizov On Injured Reserve

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The Minnesota Wild have placed star winger Kirill Kaprizov on injured reserve. He joins a long list of Wild players on IR, including Filip Gustavsson – who was injured on the same night – Mats Zuccarello, Vinni Lettieri, Sam Hentges, and Jonas Brodin.

Kaprizov went down after receiving multiple cross-checks in the back from Winnipeg Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon. Dillon wasn’t penalized on the play, though Kaprizov is now labelled with a lower-body injury that will hold him out for a minimum of one week. He adds to Minnesota’s long list of injuries, that has also recently featured Marcus Foligno. It’s the beginning of what will inevitably be a difficult stretch for the Wild, now without their top two scorers in Kaprizov and Zuccarello. Kaprizov is the only player to overtake Zuccarello while the latter has sat out for the last eight games. It’s a testament to Zuccarello’s performances this year, netting 28 points in 28 games. Kaprizov has matched the point-per-game scoring, managing 34 points in 34 games.

Minnesota has lost both of their games since Kaprizov and Gustavsson went down with injury, getting outscored six-to-three. Marc-Andre Fleury served as the team’s starter in both games, backed up by Zayne McIntyre. McIntyre joined forward Nic Petan as the two players recalled in the wake of Kaprizov and Gustavsson’s injuries – though it will be interesting to see if Minnesota swaps out depth pieces now knowing that they will be without their pair of dynamic scorers for some time. Top goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt is currently serving as the starter for Minnesota’s AHL affiliate, where his .922 save percentage across 18 games ranks fourth in the entire league. Wallstedt received an NHL call-up earlier in the season but has yet to make his NHL debut.

Minnesota Wild Place Filip Gustavsson On Injured Reserve

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The Minnesota Wild have announced that netminder Filip Gustavsson has been placed on injured reserve. Gustavsson was knocked out of his last start due to a lower-body injury, and The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that Gustavsson is set for “another MRI” tomorrow, and is expected to miss “at least a couple weeks.”

Additionally, Russo reports that superstar winger Kirill Kaprizov, who was also knocked out of the same game as Gustavsson, will be out for one to two weeks due to injury.

These two developments are significant blows to the Wild’s hopes of re-entering the Western Conference playoff picture. Although the club is 7-3 in its last 10 games and has been extremely good since hiring John Hynes, they have also lost their last two games. It’s difficult for any club to deal with the loss of its best skater and best netminder, but that’s especially true for a Wild team whose ability to build quality depth has been compromised by significant cap penalties.

The loss of Gustavsson, 25, for a potentially extended period is a massive one. Although his .903 save percentage this season is a far cry from the .931 he posted last year, he has significantly improved as the season has gone on and has seemingly recovered from a very poor start.

With Gustavsson, out, the Wild will have to turn to Marc-André Fleury and Zane McIntyre. Fleury is a legendary goalie but his .893 save percentage this season indicates that he might not be able to keep the Wild in games the same way Gustavsson has. McIntyre, 31, is an experienced third goalie but his .884 save percentage in 12 AHL contests this season suggests he could have trouble playing in the NHL on a regular basis.

It’s unlikely, given the cap constraints they are working under, that the Wild will add meaningful external help at the goalie position. Instead, the team will have to hope that getting more consistent starts, as he did earlier in his career when he was the undisputed number-one goalie for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vegas Golden Knights, will inspire enough improvement in Fleury’s form to keep Minnesota in the playoff chase.

As for the loss of Kaprizov, the Wild gave veteran Nic Petan a shot in the team’s top-six as a replacement for Kaprizov. While Petan has excelled at the AHL level, he’s 28 years old and his 188-game NHL career suggests he should not be counted on to provide offense on any sort of consistent basis.

The Wild’s installation of Petan in Kaprizov’s place shows how the team’s lack of salary cap space directly impacts the team’s NHL options. CapFriendly projects the club to have just $40K in cap space, meaning Petan is likely on the Wild’s roster by virtue of his extremely affordable $762.5k cap hit, rather than his merits in the NHL.

Another team might have given the first crack at filling Kaprizov’s spot to a younger player such as Sammy Walker, someone who has scored in the AHL but hasn’t quite gotten a major chance to show his skills at the NHL level. But Walker’s cap hit is $855k, meaning the Wild would need to jump through quite a few more hoops to recall Walker compared to Petan.

In any case, the team’s form has been significantly improved under Hynes and those improvements should leave Wild fans confident in their team moving forward. That being said, these two injury announcements pose a significant threat to the Wild’s ability to keep pace with other Western Conference playoff hopefuls.

Gustavsson And Kaprizov Hurt, Wild Recall Two Players

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Michael Russo of The Athletic is reporting that Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson and forward Kirill Kaprizov had to leave their game last night against the Winnipeg Jets.

Gustavsson left the game after the second period with an apparent lower-body injury and had to be replaced by Marc-Andre Fleury who dressed in his 999th career NHL game. Gustavsson allowed three goals on 22 shots before the injury issue and had been playing terrific since the Wild made a coaching change. With John Hynes behind the bench for Minnesota, Gustavsson has gone 8-2 with a .932 save percentage and 1.87 goals-against average.

Kaprizov on the other hand sat on the Wild bench in pain after taking two cross-checks to the back from Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon. The incident occurred in the third period and saw the cross-checks go unpenalized. It was the second time this year that Kaprizov has been hurt during a game in Winnipeg as the 26-year-old suffered a lower-body injury last season on March 8th as well. Much like Gustavsson’s injury, Kaprizov’s ailment couldn’t have come at a worse time as he has been terrific as of late under Hynes. Kaprizov has five goals and four assists in his past five games and is up to 34 points in 34 games this season. Both players are currently being evaluated by the Wild’s medical staff.

With the injuries to both players, the Wild have announced that they’ve recalled goaltender Zane McIntyre and forward Nic Petan from Iowa of the AHL. The 31-year-old McIntyre has not dressed in an NHL game since February of 2017 when he was a member of the Boston Bruins and has never won an NHL game in eight appearances. He will likely serve as a backup to Fleury today as the three-time Stanley Cup champion is expected to play in his 1000th career NHL game.

Petan has 165 games of NHL experience and dressed in one game earlier this season for the Wild. The 28-year-old has been terrific this season in the AHL posting 10 goals and 18 assists in 26 games with Iowa. The Wild finish off the calendar year today with a matchup against the Jets in the second half of their home and away series.

Minnesota Wild, Filip Gustavsson Agree On Multi-Year Deal

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11:49 AM: Minnesota has officially signed Gustavsson to a three-year, $11.25MM contract, per a team announcement. The deal carries a cap hit of $3.75MM and will carry him to unrestricted free agent status in 2026. Per CapFriendly’s projections, the Wild now have $1.64MM in cap space with a minimum roster of 20 players, and they still have RFA defenseman Calen Addison to sign. The full breakdown of the deal is as follows, according to PuckPedia:

2023-24: $4.25MM
2024-25: $4MM
2025-26: $3MM (five-team no-trade list)

10:12 AM: The Minnesota Wild are nearing a multi-year settlement with young goaltender Filip Gustavsson ahead of their planned arbitration hearing on Friday, The Athletic’s Joe Smith reports.

It’s hard to argue with locking down Gustavsson long-term after the season he just had. Operating in tandem with veteran Marc-Andre Fleury, the 25-year-old netminder finished atop many goaltending stat categories and even got end-of-season All-Star team consideration. His .931 save percentage in 39 games played trailed only Boston Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark, who took home this year’s Vezina Trophy. He also stopped 24.2 goals above expected, according to MoneyPuck’s model, meaning he stopped about 0.63 goals per game more than the average goalie based on the shot quality he faced.

This isn’t out of nowhere, either. Despite being in his third NHL organization already, Gustavsson has been a rather highly-touted prospect since the Pittsburgh Penguins selected him 55th overall in 2016. While a performance like this may have seemed unlikely, Gustavsson has always had the potential to turn into a starting netminder. Considering the delayed age curve that’s in effect for many goalies, his arrival into NHL relevancy is right on time.

He’ll undoubtedly push for more games next season, and it seems it’s only a matter of time until he’s anointed the Wild’s first long-term full-time starter since Devan Dubnyk. It’s a scenario that seemed unlikely when the Wild acquired him in a one-for-one swap with the Ottawa Senators last summer for veteran Cam Talbot, who had a rather disappointing season in the nation’s capital and has since moved on to the Los Angeles Kings via free agency.

Gustavsson’s strong play continued in the postseason, too, posting a .921 save percentage in five games during the Wild’s first-round loss to the Dallas Stars.

Financial certainty for the Wild on their own terms, not from an arbitrator, is also an extremely desirable outcome here for general manager Bill Guerin. The team’s incredibly tight salary cap situation is no secret – with $14.75MM in dead cap dedicated to the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts, every dollar (and every signing) is extremely consequential for the team’s ability to manage their day-to-day roster. The team likely will not be able to carry a full 23-player roster this season, limiting themselves to just one or two healthy scratches depending upon their injury situation.

Of interest, this is a scenario that seemed extremely unlikely just one week ago. Smith had reported earlier that the two sides were likely headed to arbitration and were not close to a pre-hearing settlement. Evidently, Gustavsson and the Wild made up a lot of ground in negotiations over the last seven days. It was also reported earlier this summer that the Wild preferred a three-year term on a Gustavsson extension, buying one year of unrestricted free agency in the process.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Arbitration Breakdown: Jeremy Swayman

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Today, The Boston Bruins and goaltender Jeremy Swayman filed their arbitration numbers, and according to Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Boston has filed at $2MM for one year, while Swayman has asked for $4.8MM. The 24-year-old netminder and the Bruins have until Sunday to work out a deal before they will go to arbitration.

Swayman’s number is sure to shock some people, but that is typically how this process works. The team files a lowball number, and the player files high. The arbitrator’s decision typically falls somewhere in the middle, as was the case with the Toronto Maple Leafs and netminder Ilya Samsonov.

Swayman is coming off the best season of his career and does have considerable leverage in these negotiations. The Anchorage, Alaska native posted a 24-6-4 record this past year with a .920 save percentage and a 2.27 goals-against average. His save percentage was good enough for fourth in the league trailing only Filip Gustavsson, Ilya Sorokin, and Swayman’s partner Linus Ullmark. Speaking of Ullmark, his presence complicates the situation with Swayman because he is coming off a career year as well, one in which he won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. Ullmark also has two years left on his contract and is unlikely to be moved this late in the summer.

The Bruins do have a bit of cap space to sign Swayman, however, they will want to keep the cap hit as low as possible since they have other pressing needs throughout their lineup from free agency departures and the retirement of Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins have a hair under $5.5MM in cap space and could be presented with some major challenges if the arbitrator rules a salary that is close to Swayman’s filing.

For Swayman, he will be looking to cash in on what has been a terrific career thus far. He just completed the three-year-contract entry-level contract that paid him $925K this past season, and while his filing is on the high side, he will likely triple or quadruple his salary this upcoming season.

A lot of teams will take a player to arbitration in the hopes of laying the groundwork for future salary cap management. However, in this case, Boston is just trying to stay cap compliant and keep as much of their team intact as they can.

Filings

Team: $2MM (one-year)
Player: $4.8MM (one-year)
Midpoint: $3.4MM

(via Friedman)

The Numbers

As mentioned above, 2022-23 saw Swayman have a career year, and while he was phenomenal when he did play, his sample size is still quite small. Swayman has never played in more than 41 games and hasn’t had to carry the workload in Boston since he’s always had the benefit of playing behind a bonafide number-one goaltender. There is a good argument to be made that it isn’t any fault of Swayman’s, and he can only play the games he plays. However, he is asking for starting goaltender money, and up to this point, he hasn’t been a starter. You can look to other teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had star backups in Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry, but both of those netminders struggled with injuries and inconsistency once they were appointed as starters.

For Swayman, this season wasn’t all that far off from last season. His save percentage was slightly better, and he lost fewer games. However, he also played behind a far superior team than he did in previous seasons. That is also something that critics will point to, Swayman plays behind one of the best teams in the league, and again, that isn’t his fault. But it could be a knock the Bruins use in the ugly process that is arbitration.

From Swayman’s perspective, despite being mostly a backup, he can point to the fact that he’s taken over the net in consecutive postseasons from Ullmark. While that isn’t proof of anything, it does give his arbitration case credibility and showcase that the Bruins view the youngster as an NHL starter.

Swayman is also not a one-year wonder and can point to a few seasons of sustained success at the NHL level. Since he made his NHL debut in 2020-21, he has posted an impressive nine shutouts in 82 starts and is second in the NHL in goals-against average with a 2.40, and he also ranks fifth in save percentage with a .920 career save percentage. Some people might point to those numbers and say Swayman is the benefactor or a good team in front of him, and that is fair. However, if you take a deep dive into his numbers, you will find that over the course of his career, he has posted a ridiculous 33.8 goals saved above expected.

It will be interesting to see how the Bruins value Swayman. Do they see him as a long-term starting netminder, or is their view that he is a strong backup? You have to wonder if the Bruins had more cap space this summer if they wouldn’t try and lock him into a long-term deal at a reasonable cap hit. But that isn’t the world Boston is living in, and unfortunately for them, they are up against the cap and up against a player who has been terrific for them for quite some time.

This is a tough case to pin down due to the volatility of the goaltending position. However, given that the Maple Leafs and Samsonov just went through this process, it seems likely that the arbitrator will rule somewhere close to the middle of the two sides’ filings.

2022-23 Stats: 37GP 24W 6L 4T/O .920SV% 2.27GAA 4SO

Career Stats: 88GP 54W 23L 7T/0 .920SV% 2.24GAA 9SO

Potential Comparables

Comparable contracts are restricted to those signed within restricted free agency, which means UFA deals and entry-level pacts are ineligible to be used. The contracts below fit within those parameters. Player salaries also fall within the parameters of the submitted numbers by both sides of this negotiation. 

Ilya Samsonov (Maple Leafs) – Samsonov was just awarded a one-year deal for $3.55MM and is the obvious comparison for Swayman. However, it may serve as a “low-end” comparable for what his awarded contract could look like. Swayman is two years younger than Samsonov, and although he has a shorter track record, Swayman’s career numbers are vastly superior. However, if you look at just this past season in a vacuum, their numbers are quite similar. They sport an almost identical save percentage with a .01 difference, Swayman’s goals-against was .06 percent better and Samsonov dressed in five more games. A key point is the perception of the two goaltenders at the end of the year is different, despite coming to similar finales. Samsonov is widely viewed as Toronto’s starter heading into next year, while Swayman is firmly viewed as the Bruins’ backup. This perception could be a difference-maker in the eyes of an arbitrator. But, if they look strictly at the numbers, one will think that Swayman could be staring down a higher salary next year.

Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins) – This comparison is a bit older, but it still applies to Swayman’s situation, given the flat-cap world we are living in. Jarry signed a three-year, $3.5MM AAV pact with the Penguins after his 2020-21 season, a year where he went 20-12-1 while posting a .921 save percentage and a 2.43 goals-against average while being named to the all-star game. Unlike Swayman, Jarry ended that campaign firmly viewed as the Penguins goaltender of the future after Matt Murray faltered in the playoffs once again. Pittsburgh knew that Jarry was their goaltender of the future and locked him up to a bridge deal. To that point in his career, Jarry had played just 62 games and had gone 34-20-4. Despite the lack of playing time, the then 26-year-old was viewed as a bonafide starter, something that Swayman might have to wait to be labeled.

Projection

Swayman has been terrific thus far in his career, however, his numbers are not strong enough to justify his $4.8MM AAV ask. However, he’s aiming high, and he has an excellent case to top Samsonov’s $3.55MM contract and Jarry’s $3.5AAV from 2020. I would have to guess that Swayman will be awarded something in the $3.55MM – $3.75MM range.

If Swayman can post numbers similar to what he has done thus far in his career, one would have to think that Boston will push to trade Ullmark next season and finally anoint Swayman as their number-one goalie. Swayman has probably earned a bridge deal at this point but given that he plays on a team as good as the Bruins, there is only so much money to go around. He will have to wait to get his security, but for now, he should get a nice pay bump next season.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Evening Notes: Gustavsson, Crammarossa, Iowa

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Joe Smith of The Athletic writes that it appears the Minnesota Wild and goaltender Filip Gustavsson will decide their contract dispute in arbitration. Smith writes that the deal will get done but will most likely be done through an arbitrator as the sides appear unlikely to reach an agreement without the intervention. The Wild and Gustavsson are set to go to arbitration on August 4th, and with Ilya Samsonov’s ruling now official and Jeremy Swayman’s case set to be heard later this week, both sides should have a clearer picture of what would be a fair contract from the club and the 25-year-old goaltender.

Gustavsson excelled in his first year in Minnesota after coming over in an off-season trade from the Ottawa Senators. It was expected that the native of Skelleftea, Sweden would backup Marc-Andre Fleury, however by the time the playoffs rolled around Gustavsson owned the Minnesota net having gone 22-9-7 with a .931 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average.

The Wild are dealing with a very precarious cap situation as they deal with the blowback from the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts that are eating up about $15MM of Minnesota’s cap space. However, they do still have around $5MM in cap space remaining to re-sign the young netminder.

In other evening notes:

  • Joseph Cramarossa has officially signed a contract with the Löwen Frankfurt of the DEL league. Cramarossa played in the NHL as recently as the past season as he played four games for the Minnesota Wild, scoring just a single goal. He also posted four goals and five assists in 18 games with the Iowa Wild of the AHL. Back in January of this year, Cramarossa had his contract terminated by the Wild and at that time he went overseas to play for Adlern Mannheim of the DEK. While in Germany Cramarossa posted two goals and six assists in 15 games.
  • Lastly, the Iowa Heartlanders of the ECHL have announced that they’ve come to terms with defensemen Robbie Stucker and Ben Brinkman on contracts for the 2023-24 season. The club also announced that forward Jake Durflinger has agreed to a deal as well. Brinkman and Stucker were formerly teammates at the University of Minnesota from 2018-21 while Durflinger will enter his second season with the Heartlanders having played 50 games last season posting 10 goals and 10 assists. The 25-year-old finished the season strong scoring seven of his ten goals between March 18th and April 7th.

Wild Notes: Addison, Gustavsson, Duhaime

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Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic write that they believe Minnesota Wild defenseman Calen Addison could be dealt, but they don’t believe he should be. The 23-year-old just completed his first full season in the NHL and put up good offensive numbers with three goals and 26 assists in 62 games. While those numbers are terrific for a first-year defender, 18 of his assists came on the power play, meaning that he produced just 11 points at even strength.

Trading Addison would raise some eyebrows as the Wild would be moving on from him while his value is lower than it could be. The Brandon, Manitoba native had a string of healthy scratches last year that left him out of action and also kept him from putting up something closer to 40 points. While his defensive game has some warts and he is undersized, Addison is an offensively talented right-shot defenseman, something that is coveted throughout the league.

If Minnesota opted to trade Addison it would be strictly a cap move as they are in a very delicate situation trying to navigate the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts that are taking up nearly $15MM in cap space.

In other Wild notes:

  • Russo and Smith also wrote that the Wild would love to sign goaltender Filip Gustavsson to a three-year contract extension, however, the third year in that scenario would be the first year that Gustavsson is eligible for unrestricted free agency. This would make the third year significantly more expensive, which is giving Minnesota pause. Gustavsson was terrific last season in 39 games for the Wild posting a 22-9-7 record with a .931 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average. Russo and Smith wonder if a one-year deal might make more sense as it would give the Wild a chance to take a longer look at the netminder before committing money and term to him. For Gustavsson he would be betting on himself and could become a restricted free agent again next summer when the cap is expected to dramatically increase.
  • Russo and Smith added that forward Brandon Duhaime tried to get a deal done with the Wild, but it has yet to materialize. They believe that the longer he goes without an extension the likelier it becomes that the 26-year-old is a possible trade candidate. Duhaime is a restricted free agent and is coming off an underwhelming season that saw him play just 51 games. The former fourth-round pick posted nine goals and a single assist last season and set a career high in goals, but he missed significant time with various injuries.

Wild Notes: Rossi, Goligoski, Gustavsson, Reaves

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The Minnesota Wild’s number-one priority as an organization seems to be finally finding the a true number-one center to build around. When he was drafted with the ninth-overall pick at the 2020 draft, it was believed that Austrian center Marco Rossi had a shot at being that long-awaited franchise-altering pivot. Significant health issues altered the trajectory of Rossi’s development early in his time as a Wild prospect, and while he has been an exceptionally productive player in the AHL (104 points in 116 career games) the soon-to-be 22-year-old hasn’t managed to seize the moment in the NHL with Minnesota.

While he’s still undoubtedly someone the Wild are hoping pans out, the Athletic’s Joe Smith reported today that he believes the Wild would “be open to moving Rossi if the right deal came up,” such as one with a 2023 first-round pick as compensation. (subscription link) The Kirby Dach trade that was made at last year’s draft could serve as a template for this kind of deal, with the Canadiens surrendering a draft pick in order to acquire a high-upside center whose development had been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Given how significant Dach’s developmental turnaround was under Martin St. Louis in Montreal, it seems possible that an organization confident in its player development abilities might be willing to part with a first-round pick in order to acquire Rossi. Acquiring Rossi could afford a team a quicker turnaround to NHL relevance than developing a brand-new draft pick, so perhaps a team looking to speed up its rebuild or quickly inject some cost-controlled young talent into its roster could be a fit as well.

Some other notes regarding the Wild:

  • Smith’s article touched on quite a few players of interest to this Minnesota offseason, including 1042-game veteran blueliner Alex Goligoski. Smith reports that Goligoski’s preference is to remain in Minnesota for the final year of his contract, but that his $2MM cap hit combined with the Wild’s significant salary cap constraints could complicate things. Goligoski has a full no-movement clause on his contract so he can control his playing future, but after spending much of last season as a healthy scratch one wonders if he’d sanction a move away from Minnesota simply to re-gain a regular spot in an NHL lineup.
  • Perhaps the most significant player the Wild will need to negotiate with this summer is netminder Filip Gustavsson, who had a stellar season. Gustavsson is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent and Smith writes that his next contract “will end up falling into one of three categories: a one-year deal, a three-year deal or a one-year arbitration award.” With top prospect Jesper Wallstedt waiting in the wings, it makes sense that the Wild might not want to invest long-term in Gustavsson, but should the 25-year-old manage to even come close his numbers from this past season in 2023-24 only locking him down for one season could end up a costly mistake.
  • The Wild’s mid-season trade acquisition of enforcer Ryan Reaves injected some much-needed energy and life onto their roster, and he scored 15 points in 61 games helping the team reach the playoffs once again. Smith writes that Reaves, now 36, would like to return to the Wild but is prioritizing maximizing the financial value of his next contract, a deal that could very well end up his last major free-agent cash-in. Reaves reportedly is seeking term on his next deal longer than just one year, so since the Wild are set to be paying nearly $15MM in dead money due to the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, it very well could be that re-signing Reaves is a luxury they cannot afford.

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