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  • Taking Advantage Of the Salary Cap Increase Starts With Extending Brock Faber


    Image courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
    Luke Sims

     

    The NHL salary cap jumped by around $5 million from $83.5 million to $88 million for this upcoming season. That gives cap-strapped teams like the Minnesota Wild a little bit more breathing room. 

    With the new cap jump and only one more year of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, the Wild will enter a pivotal offseason next year. After missing the playoffs last season, the Wild have some tasks they must complete. 

    The Wild don’t have many current free agents to address. Jacob Lucchini and Mason Shaw are the only free-agent forwards, and Alex Goligoski, Dakota Mermis, and Declan Chisholm are the only defensemen. Therefore, they will not need to free up much money to re-sign their internal free agents. 

    Minnesota is always active in the trade market and may be looking to move Filip Gustavsson and Marco Rossi. If the right deal comes along for Marcus Johansson, they could also pull the trigger on that. 

    The NHL draft is two weeks away, and the Wild have the 13th overall pick. They may move up if the right team agrees to make the switch. Minnesota feels solid that it can get a premier player in their current draft slot.  

    The work begins at the draft, where the Wild could try and make a move for a top-six winger. With the offseason moving full steam ahead, here is what the Wild should do with this newfound money. 

    1. Find the right deal for Brock Faber 

    The Wild have their future cornerstone defender in Faber. The former Los Angeles Kings prospect almost scored 50 points in his rookie season and is a stellar defensive presence. 

    According to The Athletic, Faber has a market value of $11 million. That’s a lot of money. Only three defenders in the NHL make that much money. Rasmus Dahlin, Drew Doughty, and Erik Karlsson are getting paid $11-plus million. 

    A better comparable for Faber is Jake Sanderson. The former top-five pick for the Ottawa Senators got the 8x8 extension last summer. He’s also a 21-year-old defender with offensive upside that the team wants to keep around for the long term. Hockey Wilderness broke down how Faber’s impact is more than Sanderson’s.

    The Wild have $13,076,922 million coming off the books from the Parise and Suter buyouts, and it looks like they will spend a lot of that on Faber. However, my gut feeling is that Faber’s annual average value does not reach eight digits. Something in the $9 to $9.5 million range would make sense for Faber and the Wild. 

    In 2021, the Dallas Stars signed Miro Heiskanen to an eight-year deal with an $8.45 million AAV. Heiskanen was 21 when he signed that deal, and he fits the mold of what Faber is a little better: a shutdown defender who chips in on the powerplay and has a decent point total. 

    Maybe the Maple Grove native will take a bit of a hometown discount, but who knows? Either way, his price will only go up, and the Wild should get that deal done before he becomes unaffordable. 

    2. Go and get that veteran top-six winger (for the short term) 

    Minnesota needs to address the spot Johansson took for most of the year. The Wild need more from their second-line left wing, and they would be wise to invest in that spot.  

    That doesn’t mean they should give David Perron a four-year deal. That would be the worst. The smart move would be to go after a low-risk, high-upside guy like Jakub Vrana or Ondrej Kase. If the Wild can find the right short-term deal for a guy like Riley Smith, that would be just fine. 

    Acquiring a player like Smith creates competition at that spot and pushes Johansson to perform or lose ice time. A veteran also allows the Wild to push the rookies, like Liam Ohgren and Marat Khusnutdinov. While Ohgren looked good during his short stint at the end of that season, I wouldn’t expect the Wild just to hand him a top-six role. Bringing in a middle-six winger would provide needed competition.

    3. Save the money for the youngsters and make a splash in free agency next offseason

    Assuming Marco Rossi stays on the team and builds on his strong rookie season, he’ll need a new deal. So will Khusnutdinov. 

    Rossi is probably looking at a three- or four-year bridge deal at $4 or $5 four million per season. The Wild will likely stick Khusnutdinov in a bottom-six role, but they will count on him as a crucial penalty killer. His contract won’t be massive, but it will likely be a two- or three-year deal worth $2 or $3 million. 

    With the Parise and Suter money coming off the books, plus Marc-Andre Fleury, Marcus Johansson, Jon Merrill, and hopefully Jake Middleton, that’s around $20 million before you factor in whatever chaos happens this offseason and the Faber extension. 

    Still, the Wild would have a good chunk of money to spend in free agency after the Rossi and Khusnutdinov deals. So they should take advantage then. No need to blow it in a season where you’re still handicapped. 

    Next offseason will be critical for Bill Guerin and Co. They need to extend Faber, find the right deal for a middle-six winger to bring in competition, and save money for some fun stuff next summer. 

    All stats and data via CapFriendly (R.I.P) unless otherwise noted.

     

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    7 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

    Panicking a year down the road is just going to make you stir crazy.  The answer is simple.

     

    Kap leaves, and the Wild get nothing out of it: Well fuck, sucks to be us

    Kap leaves, and the Wild recoup what they can: Well, they did what they could.

    Kap stays: Well fuck, guess we're good then.

     

    Whatever happens happens.  You're act as if the team isn't trying to bend over backwards to keep him AND stay competitive.  I would love to keep Kap forever, but if it doesn't happen, there are way bigger things in the world to worry about...like a meteor coming to kill us all or something, or just paying rent and getting food.  It's just a hockey player.

    I am saying instead of panicking a year from now, we actually plan for the now NOW

    • Kap leaves, and the Wild get nothing out of it: Well fuck, sucks to be us
    • Kap leaves, and the Wild recoup what they can: Well, they did what they could.
    • Kap stays: Well fuck, guess we're good then.

    Great planning! Cheers. 

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    6 hours ago, Will D. Ness said:

    The notion that Faber's contract is exclusive is a fantasy.  Sorry bud, no getting around it.  You need to demonstrate it with something tangible outside of your own head before you can call it reality.

    Anyways, I appreciate where you coming from.  Kap is the window of opportunity for which everything should be engineered around.  I'll leave it at that.

    The notion that Faber's contract is exclusive is a fantasy.  Sorry bud, no getting around it.  You need to demonstrate it with something tangible outside of your own head before you can call it reality. Can you please elaborate here? I was not aware that Faber has to sign anything this summer and we can take our time with him. I thought he will become restricted free agent and we can do it once we iron out the situation with our NUMBER ONE PRIORITY SUPERSTAR. Is it not so?

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    I'm surprised KK hasn't asked for a trade already. He sees what this GM has been doing and he's got to be shaking his head and asking, WTF? All this shit going on behind the scenes also, well, the players know what's going on there to.

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    The NHL salary cap jumped by around $5 million from $83.5 million to $88 million for this upcoming season. That gives cap-strapped teams like the Minnesota Wild a little bit more breathing room. 
     

    How is the NHL cap calculated? (Are the Wild being low-key punished STILL for the Suter-Parise deals by keeping the cap low?)

    NgB.gif

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    21 hours ago, OldDutchChip said:

    he will become restricted free agent and we can do it once we iron out the situation with our NUMBER ONE PRIORITY SUPERSTAR. Is it not so?

    Wouldn't a long-term deal for our best d-man be a positive for KK97?

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    2 minutes ago, FredJohnson said:

    Wouldn't a long-term deal for our best d-man be a positive for KK97?

    i don't think Kap will care much on who plays for Wild after 2026. he will be gone by then since people prioritize Faber, Rossi, precious prospects and future draft picks over him. 

    hooray for continuous mediocracy. go for it, give faber 10 or 11 per and rossi 6 or 7. i give up. 

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    On 6/15/2024 at 4:28 PM, Pewterschmidt said:

    #imdownwithodc 

    Keeping 97 here and happy is Guerin’s 1st 2nd and 3rd priority.  I believe Guerin understands this but I’m not sure he’s got the brains to pull it off, so we end up with a batch of Carson Lambi who peak as a seventh d man, when we deal 97 at deadline 

     I’d much rather have 97 here long term than 30 can’t miss prospects we may or may not ever see in wild jersey.  

    While I agree with the sentiment that I want KK around. I don't agree we say f*ck you to all our upcoming players. Sign Faber at 8 or 9, he's going to be worth it as the cap goes up. Keep and pay Rossi 3-4mil bridge deal which is far less than some are paying a 40pt 200ft player. Even if this year was his ceiling, that is a solid deal. 

    I agree with the no big buys in FA this year. Cash will still be tight, but we could pickup some depth scoring to support our first line. 

    Guerin better have his eyes on more than just keeping Kap, that better be top priority but it shouldn't be tunnel vision on that goal. There is absolutely zero reason we can't continue to develop players and keep Kap happy. This idea that we better tear apart the team so we can stack two lines is wrongheaded. I've yet to see a Stanley in the hands of a team lacking depth yet everything out of ODC's mouth is to strip any depth we have for a couple big swings. It isn't how you build a cup winner, or a dynasty for that matter.

    Guerin still has a team to run, even if Kap heads up the road. I would rather we still have some semblance of talent if that happens, not 2 rental players making big money.

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    On 6/16/2024 at 8:32 AM, Pewterschmidt said:

    #anotherodchottake

    #fathersdayedition

    is that brodin nugget true?!?   Fletcher s busy trading the future for veterans at end of his time.  Fenton flushed the johannsen pick.  And guerin&co took dmen early and often (hunt might be a regular this year).  Wow that’s quite a long 0-for streak 

    No it isn't. Gustav Olofsson was drafted in 2013 playing for Seattle. Louie Belpedio drafted in 2014 playing for Philly. Carson Soucy playing for Vancouver. For crying out loud we drafted Matt Dumba after Brodin. 

    #hotgarbagetake

    We also didn't draft any defensemen in the top 5 rounds from (Gustav Olofsson) 2014-2018 (Filip Johannsson) so that will stall out the prospect pool.

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    This is where we disagree:

    Quote

    That doesn’t mean they should give David Perron a four-year deal. That would be the worst. The smart move would be to go after a low-risk, high-upside guy like Jakub Vrana or Ondrej Kase. If the Wild can find the right short-term deal for a guy like Riley Smith, that would be just fine. 

    No way should we give Perron a 4 year deal, just a 1 year and see how it works out. But the other guys, I'm not really sold on any of them. Vrana might be a decent try on something close to league minimum. Again, a 1 year deal.

    What I'd rather do is play the youngsters. See what they've got. Accumulate cap space and if we can still be in contention (which would require reasonable health from the current roster) we could swing big at the TDL. Perhaps we pick up a guy who we can then extend. 

    For instance, the Canes went through a year where they tried Kotkaniemi at 2nd C. He's really a 3rd C, but Jordan Staal is also. He didn't work out, so they were able to acquire Kuznetsov to take over that spot. I don't really like Kuz, but he was a great addition for a 2nd C. Kotkaniemi was then demoted to 4th C and Carolina was extremely strong up the middle. They've got another year left of Kuznetsov too. 

    We complain about our goaltending, but the Canes had worse goaltending issues most of the year. Yet, they were always in position for a playoff spot. That's where I see this team, in a position for the WC spot. A couple of late additions can boost that too, if the kids aren't working out.

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