Breaking down the Minnesota Wild ahead of NHL Free Agency.
Pending free agents
Unrestricted: 17 | Restricted: 5 | See full list
[teamleaders league=”nhl” team=”min” season”2013″]
Wild overview
The talented Wild made great progress in 2013-14, reaching the playoffs for the second consecutive season and knocking off the Central Division champion Colorado Avalanche in the first round before giving the Chicago Blackhawks a run for their money in the second.
The team will return a strong core in 2014-15 with Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Jason Pominville leading the way up front, while Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon lock things down on defence. Youngsters Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter are both emerging talents, and are joined by Charlie Coyle, Erik Haula, Justin Fontaine and Jonas Brodin as young players who should continue to develop for the Wild.
Goaltending was a bit of a disaster for Minnesota in 2013-14 as injuries to Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom caused the team to go into the playoffs with a tandem of Ilya Bryzgalov and Darcy Kuemper. Bryzgalov is likely gone and the Wild will look to Harding and Backstrom to stay healthy in 2014-15 and play as well as they have in the past.
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| Click player positions to see depth chart | ||
Areas to address
Dany Heatley’s contract, and the $7.5-million cap hit that comes with it, comes to an end this offseason, which will be a boon for general manager Chuck Fletcher. He could use that money internally to re-up role players like Matt Moulson, Mike Rupp and Cody McCormick, or externally to take a run at a premier free agent like Thomas Vanek. Adding another top-six forward would go a long way to helping the Wild get past the second round of the playoffs next season.
Fletcher may also want to bolster his defensive unit by adding a veteran second or third pair defenceman to play behind Suter and Spurgeon. However, he also has young blueliners Mathew Dumba and Christian Folin already in the system and ready to contribute.
Possible signing targets
Thomas Vanek (LW): Minnesota has been rumoured to be Vanek’s preferred landing spot for some time (the 30-year-old played college hockey for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers).
Matt Niskanen (D): The 26-year-old would fit well on the Wild’s defensive unit and not cost as much as a premier free agent defenceman like Andrei Markov.
Willie Mitchell, Stephane Robidas, Brooks Orpik (D): All proven veteran defencemen who could shore up Minnesota’s second or third pairing.
