An Audit of the Minnesota Wild Salary Cap Situation

On today's episode of Locked on Wild, we audit the Minnesota Wild salary cap situation to see what they actually have available for 2025-26! We add in upcoming extensions as well as expected ELCs that will be on roster to see if it is true that there will be money available to pursue a top six upgrade. We also look at the trade protections on various contracts and how they stack up against the rest of the NHL (hint: the Wild are near the top of the league in NMCs). We also discuss why it may not be as simple as simply trading a player off the roster to free up a roster spot for upcoming prospects.
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 link.chtbl.com...
Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 linktr.ee/Lock...
Join our Discord Server: / discord
Have a Question for the Show or a Topic you want Covered? Email [e-mail]
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
eBay Motors - For parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.
Gametime - Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.
FanDuel - FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS - with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
#NHL #KirillKaprizov #MinnesotaWild

[@tylerbach3519]

I want everybody to think about this. The offseason is halfway done before pre season begins, and Seth has not skipped a beat when it comes to daily Wild talk and helping to entertain and engage with us. Thanks Seth for being a kick ass host. You mean more to us than words can be said 😁 Happy Independence Day y'all!!! 🎇🎆🎇 Check out the Daily Gophers yearly story today about the 1st MN Battle Regiment. It's incredibly prone to making you patriotic and proud to be Minnesotan.

[@michaelowen6377]

Definitely, well said! Good lookin out as far as the military rhetoric goes too...but I can't lie, MN has been overrun by corrupt liberal "leaders" and busloads of society's best show up from places like Chicago to places like my hometown of Duluth. Growing up, a murder happened once every 10 years maybe? Now, it's weekly. As far as I'm concerned, and as a 16 year USAF veteran, I find it to be a complete and utter disgrace. Minnesota USED TO be a proud state....now? They value phrases like "I can't breathe" over "I pledge allegiance.."

[@travzimmerman1340]

​@@michaelowen6377 👍

[@dennybarlau8065]

@@tylerbach3519 Tyler, well said, it's my pleasure to listen to what you have to say, Both Seth and I really appreciate your comments Your part of the family. Denny

[@tylerbach3519]

@@dennybarlau8065 Thanks for the kind words Denny. It's always a treat seeing your input and I think the new Sunday streams have been a hit! I haven't been able to hop in on a live yet, but I'm sure not to miss any 😁

[@derekkoenecke1496]

The part about the Rossi trade that is weird to me is remember when we were getting our doors blown off by Dallas in the playoffs all they talked about was how great the Dallas depth was at center and how the wild couldn't handle it then you finally have a chance to add center depth which the team has never had and then you entertain the idea of trading a 20 goal scoring center boggles the mind

[@LockedonWild]

I’ll never understand why Guerin thought that would be something that makes this team better. Thankfully the return he was looking for never came. Rossi not only shows the traits all teams should look at having, but he’s just scratching the surface of his NHL potential. He’s a piece the team should be looking to keep

[@tylerbach3519]

Yes!!! To both of you!

[@brucekathyb2864]

Remember these contracts are negotiated with the players agents , sometimes it is less money in exchange for modified trade clause or length of contracts.. When you have little cap space you have to be creative .

[@aaronberg221]

Sara's quote is reasonable. But that is just how we roll here with MN Men's pro sports! I mean you don't survive winter in Minnesota without a strong mind or being comfortable losing it a bit. Don't forget Black Flies in spring will make you go crazy for 3 weeks up north and in the south east. Mosquito's make you lose your mind a bit in summer due to buzzing and blood loss. Luckily we have the sanitarium that is fall. That is unless you pay attention to men's sports. Ope, I went full circle there.

[@tylerbach3519]

This is perfect haha

[@acebeaupre7306]

I have to give BG a C. I give him a C because Judd Brackett has saved his ass. BG's signings are the leagues worst. Identifying team needs is really bad. He made a really smart decision in buying out Parise and Suter. Take that out and his tenure has been pretty bad. No room to play these amazing young guns coming up. Bottom 6 is highly overpaid when comparing to Contending teams. I don't think I can buy tickets and support this org for a bit. I may be too invested but just a train wreck.

[@flyervoracek5954]

There’s plenty of room for young guns to arrive and play if they earn it. Merrill, Chisholm, Fleury, and Johansson all come off the books next year which makes room for Yurov, Wallstedt, and Buium. Gaudreau can be traded to 17 teams this year if he sucks. Hartman can be traded to 17 teams next year if he isn’t pulling his weight. Foligno can be traded the following year. These contracts are not nearly as bad as everyone thinks. Also, Guerin has shown that he’ll make room for prospects if they show they’re ready. Who in Iowa showed that they were deserving of a full-time spot in NHL last season and who of the 2022 draft class coming in looks like they should be on the roster that isn’t already? Haight and Spacek need time in Iowa to grow and Yurov and Lorenz have another year at their respective teams.

[@Scalptrash]

Wouldn’t that be an F?

With all due respect, your math is wrong. With Faber, Rossi, Khusnutdinov and Wallstedt, you're accounting for the increase in AAV from the upcoming season to next, but the cap space figure accounts for them at $0. So if Faber comes in at $9mil, you need to take that full number from the available cap. So for this exercise, Faber's extension, if it was $9mil leaves 18.5mil in available space. Rossi at $4mil puts them at 14.5mil etc.. The team will have available space to add a top 6 scorer next offseason. The timing appears to be perfect because Brock Boeser will be available if he doesn't re-sign in Vancouver.

[@Dan-ni7sq]

Your math is better than his. Not gonna be a lot of money to work with and not a lot good talent next year that isn't over the hill.

[@LockedonWild]

I hate math 😂😂 but thank you for bringing the more accurate figures to the table

[@travzimmerman1340]

If Faber comes in at $9M I'm jumping off cliff 😂. If it's one thing I know is market value and Cap space. (And Dmen) Let's see how Billy's nonsense plays out and go from there.

​@@Cinerarywith his attention to detail on defensive end, his speed, and his ability to win faceoffs, he'll play as long as he wants. He's the Russian Andrew Cogliano and may be more productive.

[@arcadeshift5071]

In concern about available roster spots: fans always overrate their teams' prospects. You're accounting for Yurov, Heidt, Ohgren, Khusnutinov, Buium, to all be full-time players in 2025/26. Not every prospect is gonna make it. Also, the NMC/NTCs aren't unmovable and the Wild won't have Gaudreau, Foligno, Zuccarello, Hartman, etc for the full duration of their contract extensions. Teams overturn parts of their rosters every year, and yet when cap/roster projections happen, every vet is always "stuck" on the team. That won't happen. PS I'm a little uncomfortable with the NMC/NTCs, but in a lot of cases, players take less $ than they'd get on the open market in exchange for trade protection. With the Wild having little cap space, BG may have gone heavy on trade protection offers. Also, if the team punted on Foligno, Hartman, and Zuccarello this offseason, they'd need to sign more players to fill out the roster (there aren't enough forward prospects ready to take their places), which costs money and maybe trade protection offers to new players. Don't like the term of the extensions? That's fair, but the rest has some logic to it.

[@acebeaupre7306]

Thank you Seth, fans needs to have their voices heard. CL seems to have no backbone and wants to be a GM. CL needs to see it for what it is. BG is/has been running this team like an AHL team. If guys do not want to be here, I'm at a point where I don't care. Good luck elsewhere. We have a stacked prospect pool coming up and if that means we regress until we start seeing the prospects fully develop then sign me up for that instead of overpaying vets that are boring to watch. BG has zero creativity and I'm done supporting it.

[@dennybarlau8065]

Hi everyone

[@travzimmerman1340]

Cap is just a suggestion. Im not worried about it at all. 16 teams were over the cap last season and 10 of those 16 teams made playoffs..... You show me a GM worried about cap space and I'll show you a GM that has no clue how to do his job. You dont NOT make moves because cap space you MAKE moves and figure out how to make it work after the fact. Good GMs know this and have the balls to do it, and thats why they compete for a Cup meanwhile cute little clubs like MN blame buyout money for their horseshit roster. Cheers!

[@NathanMuckala-gb7is]

Just think if JoJo Freddy g and zucc came off roster for this year the young talent we could watch this year

[@arcadeshift5071]

Which prospects would be taking their place this year? Ohgren and Khusnutinov may make the roster even with the vets you mentioned. Riley Heidt is literally the only unknown forward prospect that has a chance at making the team. Name which prospects are getting blocked this year by Gaudreau, Foligno, Zuccarello? You can't, because no one else is ready yet.

[@NathanMuckala-gb7is]

@@arcadeshift5071 still better than watching JoJo take up a spot on the second line and avoiding contact or any battle for the puck

[@NathanMuckala-gb7is]

Well marat and Liam should be getting the ice time the old vets are. All other teams skate circles around our guys and it's because we got old slow veterans on our team

[@arcadeshift5071]

@@NathanMuckala-gb7is Both have a chance to make the roster so I don't know why you're complaining about something that hasn't happened. I think Ohgren will make the big club. There WILL be injuries. If Khusnutdinov starts in Iowa, he's an easy call-up. He didn't show any scoring prowess when he played last year. He had 1 goal and 3 assists in 16 games. Playing a prospect indefinitely because "they need time to figure it out" isn't always the answer. Rossi struggled in '22-'23 and got sent down to Iowa for a season to get confidence, then blossomed in the NHL the following year. Why do people keep saying the team is old and slow? Fleury, Foligino, Gaudreau, Mojo and Zuccarello are the "old guys", and Fleury + Mojo will be gone next year or at the trade deadline. Kaprizov, Ek, Boldy, Ohgren, Rossi, Faber, Chisolm, Khusnutdinov, Gustavsson, and Wallstedt are all 27 or under. Riley Heidt has a chance to make the team this year. Hartman is 28. People want a roster full of 20-25 year olds which is dumb. You need a balance, and this team continues to get younger each season. It just sounds like you're parroting takes instead of looking at the facts.

[@travzimmerman1340]

​@arcadeshift5071 Marat was drafted as a bottom 6 checking centre that's sound defensively with some play-making ability. If you're expecting goals you weren't paying attention.

[@youngtayne6471]

I really hope JEEK never leaves. Ever.

[@LockedonWild]

Me too

[@urban_89]

So lets day we have 10mill as of now for next yr. Most of the ntc r modified so it's still possible to move some of them without too much difficulty. We have bottom 6 depth that we didnt exactly have before. And if the kids show out in camp. Thats a massive W and opens up for trades cause of injuries league wide. But also allows creativity we havnt seen yet. But definitely could see. Theres unknowns and were upset cause were not the 1s making the decisions but i have to stay where ive been since day 1. In guerin we trust. Give him a chance to really show what he can do in the next 12 monthes. If the kids dont show out, or the wild are 10-20 again with no life or chges being made then i will come off that standing. Also we dont know if spurgeon even plays again. Thats another 7.575 aav of space and a roster spot. I know we all want sustainability and winning but look at my astros since ive been a fan 2012. 3x 100 loss seasons. Since 2 rings. In the last 2 weeks they were 10games behind 11 pitchers on il. Now 1.5games behind. Hottest team in baseball. Sometimes mediocrity short term although wild r more competitive is worth whats ahead. Theyre not the sabres or coyotes. Think how painful that must be. Let guerin and bracket cook.

[@SirVTropic]

After this episode, I am depressed 😢

[@MinnesotaArcticBlast]

We are going to finish last in the Central

[@dennybarlau8065]

As the team is currently constructed, I'm with you

[@bobholst874]

If you listened to the Jack Carlson interview from Sunday the question about hard nosed leadership. The part when he said the leaders like Hartsburgh didn't have to even talk to you the lazer beam look as you got to the bench was sufficient to make you piss your pants! Then once he sat next to you for the introductory ass chew you dreaded came before the week of ass chewing in practice... We didn't tolerate passengers back then! Players on this Minnesota Pedestrians Team don't fear anyone not even the biggest passenger fan BG! Watch the Minnesota Passengers this year at the cost of your own sanity! Unless someone steps up to be that guy who doesn't care to be liked in the room. They need a Take No Prisoners Leader. I'm not holding my breath we'll have one next season!

[@Cinerary]

Yep

[@anoceanbetweenus89]

I don’t think the wild will be as bad as most people think. If we stay healthy we’ll still be a 7-8 seed team. However, I completely agree with everything Seth is laying out here. It’s all about roster spots and flexibility to those spots, we have none.

[@MinnesotaArcticBlast]

@anoceanbetweenus89 well maybe not but all the teams in the Central have improved

[@Scalptrash]

It won’t change or improve until ownership changes. These decisions are driven from the top down. All Leipold cares about is butts in seats, period. He directs his GM’s to retain fan favorites and expects his coaches to get 110% from average players. Their job depends on it. The Wild will always be a fringe team until this changes. You have to be bad before you can be really good and Leipold won’t allow that.

[@johnrobinson1824]

I have zero Faith whatsoever Hynes will give Heidt any really opportunity to supplant Johansson.

[@rabbitprey]

Think this is bad?, wait till cap hell comes off and Wild Bill has all this money to use, think how many retirement plans he can hand out to older average players. This team will never succeed until we get a professional trained general manager, a real business minded person, not a hard headed emotional ex-player.

[@MinnesotaArcticBlast]

We have always been in cap hell and we always will be , don't know how the other teams get away with it

[@michaelowen6377]

Middsy just got a 4x4

[@dennybarlau8065]

For Walsted, I would offer 8 years 4 million

[@travzimmerman1340]

I'd offer Wallstedt a short term "bridge deal" 2 or 3 years $1.5M - $2M per year.

[@MinnesotaArcticBlast]

Still think it was dumb to buyout both of them in the same year

[@travzimmerman1340]

Why? Would they have been a better hockey team with them? The answer is no.

[@MinnesotaArcticBlast]

@travzimmerman1340 No

[@dennybarlau8065]

A great big, Hell know

[@bobholst874]

Weak kneed coaching and management. They would have begged to retire if Denny and I were behind the bench! I would rent a rink for Suter, Parasite and Passengers just for Day Long Herbies sessions!

If they hadn't bought them out, they'd still be in the same situating this season. Parise retired so they'd be paying cap recapture against the cap and Suter's AAV would make him extremely overpaid from a cap perspective. The actual salary for both was about $1mil this upcoming season so it's likely they would have just retired.

[@dennybarlau8065]

For Rossi, I would offer 8 years 5 million

[@travzimmerman1340]

I'd offer 3 years $4.5M per year with no trade protection. That's a fair deal for both sides and if it doesn't work out it isn't a long term investment PLUS it gives Rossi time to prove he's worth way more and opens up huge options for him, if he is worth it, when he becomes a UFA.

[@ericwahlstrom9934]

from what I gather Seth doesn't want him here

[@LockedonWild]

Lol I have never been team trade Rossi, the only reason I bring it up is because it is something Bill Guerin clearly looked into. I'm glad reason won out. He shouldn't be the type of player this team is looking to trade

[@dennybarlau8065]

@@travzimmerman1340 My thoughts on Rossi, My reasoning is this, with a real winger Rossi will score 30 Plus, his numbers will explode, he doesn't take a game off In three years his worth will be in the 8 million range

[@travzimmerman1340]

​@@dennybarlau8065 That's exactly my point. If he has faith in himself to become an $8M+ player he would never sign a long term 8-year deal for $5M handcuffing himself to a sinking ship organization at a price below what his projected value is. That's why I offer slightly less for far few years. Win win for both sides and cross that next bridge (contract) when we get there.

[@ВікторіяЛисенко-ы5ь]

Мэсон Шоу перешел в Виннипег, Дакота Мермис ( наш защитник ) перешел в Торонто , Jake Lucchini перешел в Нешвил .Кто что думает по этому поводу ?

[@travzimmerman1340]

I'm fine with all that. Those are AHL players.