From Signing Hughes to Trading Who? Minnesota Wild's Top 3 Keys for This Off-season.
- Matteo Montermini
- May 18
- 7 min read
After falling to the Colorado Avalanche in the second round of the NHL playoffs, Bill Guerin and the Minnesota Wild are faced with a major dilemma. What exactly went completely wrong for a team that looked like they were built for a deep playoff run? While one can suggest multiple reasons why the Wild's cup run failed, all that matters now is attempting to prevent that from happening next season. Although it will be extremely difficult, Wild fans shouldn't be totally worried as GM Bill Guerin stated today in his final press conference of the season, "there is always a way."
However with the speculation already starting, here are what I think are the top 3 most important things for the Minnesota Wild to accomplish, in order to be a true contender next season.
1. Resign Quinn Hughes
Perhaps the most important and easiest answer to what the Wild need to do this off-season can be summed up in 2 short words. Re-sign Hughes. Arguably the most dominant two-way defensemen in the entire National Hockey League, when Bill Guerin made the blockbuster trade for Quinn Hughes back in December, the one question was for how long he would play here? Back then, Quinn Hughes had a year and half left on his contract, which is now down to only one year after the previous season. When asked about re-signing the superstar, Guerin joked saying the Wild "are interested in signing Quinn too." It is perfectly clear that the Wild want to re-sign him, but the bigger question, the one that everyone has been asking about, is it even possible.
Since the Minnesota Wild are such a talented and deep team, that comes with a major price. (No pun intended.) The Wild will only have around $14 million dollars in cap space for the 2026-27 season, with major names set to hit the free agent market, if not re-signed. Players including Veteran Mats Zuccarello, who seems to want to play a couple more years, and younger players like Bobby Brink, Daemon Hunt and David Spacek, who could be incredibly valuable down the road. The 2027-28 season, the year Quinn is set to become an unrestricted free agent, does include some flexibility with closer to $50 million dollars in cap space but with the cost of even more players hitting the open market. Guys like franchise goalie Jesper Wallstedt, Team Captain Jared Spurgeon, and Mr. Valuable but replaceable, Ryan Hartman. Even if you don't re-sign all these players, focusing your attention to Hughes, sure you get the superstar but you are left with giving almost all your salary space to one player, when you not only need other players but the Wild will need the money to extend valuable stars like Brock Faber and Matt Boldy when their contracts expire.
Of course I, like all Wild fans, want the Wild to re-sign Quinn Hughes to a multi year deal this off-season, however it is important to recognize these other factors that the Wild will have to face if they do so. Overall I do believe that this is the most important thing for Bill Guerin to accomplish this off-season, even though I fully expect Hughes to re-sign here in Minnesota.
2. Acquire the Final Piece It is finally time. The Minnesota Wild throughout their 26 year history, have never really had the number one line center that they could count on to win key faceoffs, generate offense, and provide smart defensive plays that limit scoring chances from the opposing team. The only player in Wild history that is even considered a true number one line center is former captain Mikko Koivu, whose jersey number (9) is retired in the Wild's organization. Yet even some disagree that the All-Time games played leader in Wild History was not even a true number one. Personally, if the Wild want to be a true contender next season, these debates must be silenced this summer. While Joel Eriksson Ek is an incredibly important piece to this team's success, he is not the center I am talking about. Yes, I am suggesting that the Wild should make yet another blockbuster trade this summer, to get that final piece that will set them apart from the other teams in the NHL. Again earlier today, Bill Guerin spoke on this matter saying, "I think I've shown you that if there is something out there, that can make our team better, I am willing to do it, and I won't sit on my hands." If this doesn't tell you that Guerin and the Wild recognize their need for a center, this piece of information from Michael Russo of the Athletic.
According to this report, the Wild had offered Jesper Wallstedt and Danila Yurov for star center Robert Thomas of the St Louis Blues.They were willing to part ways with two of their best prospects, that were contributing at a NHL level, for their biggest need, a number one line center. Also the Blues have been one of the Wild's biggest rivals over the last few seasons, so this trade offer shows that they are not even scared of dealing great players to their rivals. Now I am not sure if they will offer Wallstedt, after the postseason he had this year, but it will be extremely interesting to see who is available to be traded if the right offer comes along.
Overall, if the Wild come into the season without a number one line center I have a strong feeling, that we could witness a similar season to the one we just saw days ago. While it could be the most important thing to accomplish, I will leave it at number 2, only because I could see a situation or two where the Wild succeed without a number one line center. However it would be incredibly difficult and truly surprising.
3. Put It All Together Assembling the final roster might be the most important thing for the Wild to accomplish this summer, and one could say it ties into the first two points, but I would say it is slightly different. When I say assembling the final roster, I don't just mean adding the right guys and maybe adjusting the coaching staff. No. Assembling the roster personally means making the painful decisions, no humans want to make. Letting go of players that might have been important to your team a couple of years ago or even earlier in the season. Unfortunately this is part of sports and all the great teams have to decide who can be on a team that wants to compete for cups. Now to be clear, each of the guys that I will mention have each done impactful things for the Minnesota Wild and don't deserve any hate, but I believe they can't be on the version of the Minnesota Wild that want to win a Stanly Cup. Jake Middleton Man, what a tough postseason it was for Jake Middleton who was brought to the Wild in 2022, in exchange for young goaltender, Kaapo Kähkönen. He brought seize, humor, and most importantly a great defensive mind to the Wild who desperately needed the gritty defenseman Middleton brought to the table. That is until they acquired defensive sensation Brock Faber, Superstar Quinn Hughes and of course still having Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon. I personally think that even without Middleton's costly mistakes in this year's postseason, the Wild might have moved one from him, especially to clear cap space, to hopefully re-sign Quinn Hughes. Unfortunately, it looks like Middleton's time in Minnesota will end like this but we must remember how much he has done for this team, which hopefully can get the Wild a fair return come this summer, when teams can make trades. Marcus Johansson Similarly, it is unfortunate that Johansson's time here in Minnesota will likely come to an end like this. For a player that you expect to perform better than Marcus did this season, it never ends well. While he was making a cheap salary, it never seemed like Johansson really got it going. Sure he scored 15 goalies and ended up with 49 points, but the Wild clearly expected more from the 35-year old winger that played on the second line alongside Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek for the majority of the season. Not to mention he also got time on the power play, where he had only 3 goals.
Again it does look like Johansson's time here in Minnesota will come to an end however if he was under contract, and if the Wild were not trying to save cap space, I do think he would be re-signed this summer. Filip Gustavsson Lastly, it does make sense for one of my favorite players on the Wild to get moved this summer. Although it was revealed today, that Filip Gustavsson will need hip surgery and had been dealing with a "wear and tear" injury there for a while, the fact that he struggled down the stretch, he is making almost triple the amount Jesper Wallstedt is making, and yeah the fact that Jesper Wallstedt basically earned the starting role after leading the Wild to their first series win since 2016 against the Dallas Stars.
It just makes almost too much sense to trade Gustavsson this off-season, especially with how many teams are in need of a starting goalie that is incredibly talented like Gus. Again saving money also has to be a key to success for the Minnesota Wild due to the Quinn Hughes situation, so taking the goalie that not only is younger, but is also significantly cheaper might just be the way that Bill Guerin and Wild go.
The decisions Bill Guerin will have to make this off-season will be incredibly difficult, but as stated earlier, assembling the final roster has to be one of the most important things this off-season for the Minnesota Wild.
In conclusion, those are what I personally believe are the 3 most important keys to the Wild's success this summer. If you're the Wild, I would say, please sign Quinn Hughes, find the number one center, and assemble the final roster although it will be full of difficult decisions that no one will make.
Let me know if you agree with my thoughts and what you think I missed. I hope you enjoyed reading this and you would come back for more, in the coming days.
Do y'all agree?