Wild Have a Lot of Free Agent Decisions to Make

With the Minnesota Wild’s offseason in full swing, it’s time to talk about what the Wild need to do to compete next season. We’ve already discussed who shouldn’t come back next season, but we haven’t discussed who the Wild should keep and possibly bring on. If they plan to bring new players from outside, they must let some go to make salary space.

The Wild currently have five free agents this offseason, and two are restricted, so they have more wiggle room for those players. They’ll want to figure out their offers if they plan to keep any of the other three players. Plus, it’s obvious the Wild need to do something to get their top six going, and some ideas have been thrown out there.

The Wild’s cap situation is going to be messy no matter what way they go. This article examines all these factors, starting with who the Wild should re-sign for free agents they already had on their current roster this season.

Wild Need Shaw

The Wild players whose contracts are up this offseason on their current roster are Mason Shaw, Jacob Lucchini, Declan Chisholm, Alex Goligoski, and Dakota Mermis. However, Goligoski is likely done anyway, so four players should be considered for a roster spot. Some may disagree, but Shaw should be the top priority on this list. Despite not one or two but four ACL tears, he’s found a way to climb back and be NHL-worthy.

He’s a gritty, determined player the Wild need on their roster, especially after trading away Connor Dewar, Brandon Duhaime, and Pat Maroon, all players who added grit and physicality to their lineup. While the Wild aren’t a physical first team, they need some of that in their lineup apart from Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman.

Shaw is almost a mixture of Dewar and Duhaime; he has Dewar’s size and speed with Duahime’s physical side, so they need to consider making him an offer. It wouldn’t be much because he hasn’t played a full season in the NHL despite being around for two and a half seasons with his injury issues.

While Shaw is the priority for forwards, the Wild must consider re-signing Chisholm for the defensive side. However, they would have to make some decisions to make room for him, like letting Goligoski go and finding somewhere for Jon Merrill to end up unless they plan to keep Merrill as the seventh man. Chisholm showed real promise throughout the season, and it would be a shame to let that go, especially since he fit in well with everyone and is only 24 years old.

Wild Shouldn’t Prioritize Non-Roster

Players like Adam Beckman, Adam Raska, Samuel Walker, and the other free agents on their non-roster list shouldn’t be a priority for re-signing. It might be best to let them go and find other teams or figure out a way to trade them because there isn’t enough roster room, and they can’t keep playing them in the minors.

I was a huge fan of Beckman in the beginning, as he showed a lot of potential. However, when he was brought up this season, he struggled. That could’ve been due to a lack of consistent playing time at the top level, but the talent should’ve still been there. The Wild are likely better off letting him go and putting his money toward someone else. I was also a fan of Walker, and while he showed much potential, he also had troubles when he was given a chance.

They are promising players, but they haven’t shown what the Wild need and it might be time for them to move on. There’s always young talent, and if they don’t have room for them or don’t intend to play them, they have to let them go.

Wild Need a Top Six

When listening to “Worst Seats in the House,” a Wild-themed podcast featuring Michael Russo and Anthony Lapanta as hosts, they discussed the need to shake up the top six, especially Marcus Johansson’s spot. There was a brief discussion on whether Johansson should be in the top six, and with his production, it was ultimately deemed he shouldn’t, which means a spot needs to be filled.

While the Wild could fill that spot with one of their youngsters, they could also use someone outside their roster. If they trade Filip Gustavsson and let some other free agents go, they could pick up some bigger talent than in previous seasons. One player who could be a possibility is the Vegas Golden Knights, Anthony Mantha, or even Teuvo Teräväinen if the Carolina Hurricanes are willing to give him up as just a couple names to throw out there.

The possibilities are endless if the Wild have enough money to go around, which is possible if they make some changes, including the ones listed above. They need to go younger if they can; they’ve tended to go older in the past, and it hasn’t always worked in their favor. The younger the player is, the more potential they have, and they are a better trade target if it doesn’t work out.

Wild’s Interesting Offseason

As always, the Wild have some decisions to make. While they likely won’t make a big splash due to their money issues, they have more options than last season. Hopefully, they will make some choices that work out in their favor and shake things up a little because they need to make some changes to win games.