Wild Sign Marcus Foligno to Four-Year Extension

It's been a busy day in the Twin Cities. 

The Minnesota Wild agreed to terms with forward Marcus Foligno on a four-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $4 million. 

The deal ties Foligno to Minnesota through the 2027-28 campaign and will kick in at the start of the 2024-25 season, as Foligno is set to enter the final year of his current contract that carries a cap hit of $3.1 million. 

Minnesota also signed Mats Zuccarello two a two-year extension earlier on Friday.

While Foligno's leadership and defensive abilities are quite valuable, this is a lot of money to pay a 32-year-old who set a career high two years ago with 42 points while riding the highest shooting percentage in the league among full-time players. 

Foligno took a big step back offensively in 2022-23 as his shooting luck regressed, finishing the season with just seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points in 65 games while watching his average ice time drop over a full minute from 16:24 to 14:59. After finishing in the top 15 in Selke voting the prior two years, Foligno did not earn a vote last season, albeit due in part to missing nearly 20 games with injuries. 

With the salary cap expected to rise significantly next season, Foligno's new $4-million price tag likely won't be as onerous as it appears today. But this is still a massive amount of money to pay a player of Foligno's caliber, especially for a team that will still have nearly $15 million in dead salary on its books when Foligno's extension kicks in. 

For more analysis on the deal, check out Dylan Loucks' article at The Hockey News' Minnesota site.