ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild team has entered a crucial offseason. After two years of significant salary cap limitations, the club can once again fully participate in the free agency market.
Given that the Wild haven`t won an NHL playoff series in the last 10 years, the urgent task is to build a stronger roster around a promising young core. This places considerable pressure on General Manager Bill Guerin this summer and heading into the upcoming season.
“More than anything, I`m energized. It`s been a long couple of years dealing with these things and, frankly, just hearing about it,” said Guerin, who has been in his role for six years. “I want high expectations. I’m not doing this job to sit in the corner or anything. These are big, important tasks. There are many people who love the Minnesota Wild, and I, like our whole team, are trying to give them what they expect.”
The top priority is clear: a contract extension for Kirill Kaprizov. The star left winger has one year remaining on his current deal.
“I am very confident that we will reach an agreement with Kirill. I think he truly loves this city and this team,” Guerin stated on Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center, five days after the Wild were eliminated from the playoffs on their home ice. “I believe he feels we are moving in the right direction.”
Kaprizov himself, who has accumulated 386 points in 319 regular-season games and 21 points in 25 playoff games for the Wild, confirmed this over the weekend.
“I like everything here,” Kaprizov said. “Everything should be fine.”
The Wild barely made the playoffs partly because Kaprizov missed half the season due to a lower-body injury requiring surgery. By scoring five goals and four assists in the six-game first-round series loss against Vegas, Kaprizov showed he was fully recovered.
“He just wants to win, and I think this was a promising sign that our team is capable of it. We can reach the goal. We are so close,” said left winger Marcus Foligno, recalling the three consecutive one-goal losses that ended the series, two of which were in overtime. “I am 100 percent confident we’ll keep him here long term. Or I’ll just rip up his visa.”
Four years ago, Guerin made the bold decision to buy out the contracts of franchise cornerstones Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. The fresh start for team chemistry came at a significant cost, particularly over the last two seasons when buyout payments accounted for about 17 percent of the salary cap. These payments will substantially decrease from the 2025-26 season onwards until they are completely gone.
“I like to act aggressively. I don’t want to sit around doing nothing. I’m tired of that,” Guerin said. “Since I came here, my goal has been to build a championship-caliber team for this city, and that’s exactly what I want to do. I don’t want to sign any foolish contracts or anything like that, but I want to make this team better than it is today.”
