The Wild are trying to hang in the playoff picture until their cap situation frees up in three years, says Carol Schram. Some young faces are making it happen.
Filip Gustavsson made 35 saves for his first career shutout as the Minnesota Wild wrapped up a four-game road trip with a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
Gustavsson carries a cap hit of just $787,500 this season. That made him an appealing trade target for the budget-conscious Wild when it was time to part ways with Cam Talbot last summer — even if he did have just 27 games of NHL experience.
So far, so good. Gustavsson is now 5-4-1 this season with a .920 save percentage and 2.47 goals-against average.
"I've had a few small goals along the way," said the 24-year-old Swede. "First, I wanted to play in the AHL game, then I wanted to win an AHL game and then I wanted to get a shutout. Then I got a chance to play in the NHL and I wanted to win in the NHL and now I got a shutout. Now we gotta look at the next steps."
The Wild are playing this season with more than $12.7 million in dead cap space, due to the twin 2021 buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. But they're one of the 17 NHL teams that has not yet dipped into long-term injured reserve this season. And after their win in Vancouver on Saturday, they're in a playoff spot — third in the Central Division. They're two points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche, but the defending champions have a slightly better points percentage thanks to two fewer games played.
When GM Bill Guerin bought out the last four years of Parise and Suter, he created about $10 million in immediate cap relief, which he desperately needed in order to get budding superstar Kirill Kaprizov under contract. This year, his budget pain is intense. It will dial up to excruciating when the dead cap hit swells to more than $14.7 million for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
Kaprizov has been worth every penny of his $9-million AAV. Last season, he finished fifth in the league with 108 points and tied Kyle Connor of Winnipeg for fifth in goals, at 47 — both franchise records for a Wild organization that has historically struggled to score.
This year, Kaprizov set another franchise record with his recent 14-game point streak, which was snapped in Vancouver. And with 17 goals this season, he's on track to become the Wild's first-ever 50-goal man.
Last season, the Wild averaged 3.72 goals a game — more than half a goal better than their previous franchise high of 3.21 (2020-21 and 2016-17). Their cap situation made them decide not to re-sign their second-leading scorer, restricted free agent Kevin Fiala. But they were able to trade him for two quality assets — a first-round draft pick and homegrown defense prospect Brock Faber.
And while their overall offense has dipped to 3.07 goals a game this season while Fiala has averaged just over a point per game for the Los Angeles Kings, they're opening the door for younger, less-expensive players, such as Gustavsson.
On Saturday, 21-year-old Matt Boldy scored what proved to be the game-winning goal on the power play with 3:17 left in the first period.
"Pretty easy," said the 12th overall pick from the 2019 draft. "Calen (Addison) made a good play, running across the line, and then (Mats Zuccarello) found a lane. Just kind of squirted right to me and I put it in."
After logging 15 goals and 39 points in 47 games in his rookie campaign, Boldy's now up to 10 goals and 19 points in 27 games this year.
On Saturday, he played only 12:11, but led his team with six shots on goal. Still on a budget-friendly entry-level contract that carries a cap hit of just $880,833, his average ice time has jumped to 18:28 this season — over three minutes more than last year.
At less than one-tenth of Kaprizov's cap hit, Boldy is averaging just five seconds less power-play time per game. And while Kaprizov leads the Wild with 17 power-play points and Zuccarello is second with 14, Boldy and the rookie defenseman Addison are tied for third with 11 points each on a power play that's clicking at a rate of 24.7% — the best in franchise history by more than three percentage points (21.3%, 2019-20).
And yes — Addison's another bargain. He's a bit of an offensive specialist, but he's averaging 16:46 a game this season at a cap hit of $795,000.
Minnesota's other two goals on Saturday also came from players who don't break the bank.
Connor Dewar is a speedy 23-year-old in his second NHL season, with a cap hit of $800,000. Late in the second period, with the Canucks on a third-straight power play, he intercepted a pass attempt from J.T. Miller, exploded down the ice and rifled a slap shot past Spencer Martin.
"Obviously, he's doing the right things on the penalty kill," said Minnesota coach Dean Evason, after Dewar tied Reilly Smith of Vegas for the NHL lead with his third shorthanded goal of the year. "He's got good wheels to keep getting breakaways in those areas."
Dewar's goal on Saturday was timely, too.
"It's like 'Ah, geez, they've had two looks and we've put them in a spot where they've been able to adjust to our penalty kill," Evason said. "To get that goal certainly pushed us forward."
At 8:51 of the third, Minnesota's insurance marker came off the stick of Sam Steel — the 24-year-old who was signed as an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 30 for $825,000, after he wasn't issued a qualifying offer by the Anaheim Ducks.
Steel has eight points in 27 games so far this season and skated in a first-line center role with Kaprizov and Zuccarello on Saturday. He finished 10-for-13 in the faceoff circle and put four shots on goal in 19:15 of ice time, second to only Kaprizov among Minnesota forwards.
So yes — the Wild are not as complete as they were last season, and the Fiala trade may make them wonder if they made the right choice. But their roster is peppered with young players who are eager to prove themselves. As they grow into their roles, they may not be at their best every night. So, there's some inconsistency.
But considering the budget issues that are constraining the Wild's roster decisions, it's an achievement for them to be serving opposing objectives: hanging in the playoff picture and developing talent that be re-signed — or traded for future assets — until the salary-cap shackles are unlocked in 2025.