Minnesota Wild Depth Chart: 2023-24 Roster Taking Final Shape
When the Minnesota Wild re-signed Freddy Gaudreau in April and Marcus Johansson in May, it alluded to a quiet offseason ahead because the Wild's 2023-24 roster already began to take its final shape with little cap space remaining. The majority of the roster was set after those extensions when accounting for the Wild's RFA's.
Since then, all of the Wild's UFA's departed to free agency as expected due to the Wild's little wiggle room. There were going to be few lineup decisions from 2022-23 to 2023-24, and the Wild used two of those by extending Gaudreau and Johansson. Now Minnesota's 2023-24 roster is almost set after acquiring Pat Maroon from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Wild's first offseason trade.
The remaining $6.49 million left in cap space, according to Puckpedia, is set aside for their RFA's in Filip Gustavsson, Calen Addison and Brandon Duhaime. The only remaining question mark is whether the Wild will add another depth forward later this summer, barring any significant and unexpected trade.
Here's what the lineup looks like at forward with lines potentially changing:
Kirill Kaprizov — Ryan Hartman — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson — Joel Eriksson Ek — Matt Boldy
Marcus Foligno — Marco Rossi — Freddy Gaudreau
Pat Maroon — Connor Dewar — Brandon Duhaime (RFA)
Analysis: The Wild's forward group is basically settled, which starts with a familiar returning top-6. Obviously the question mark up front right is Duhaime, who remains without a contract as of July 5. Assuming he makes the team, the major addition to the Wild's lineup is their top center prospect in Rossi who could see time in various spots next season. The other addition is Maroon who is replacing Ryan Reaves after he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency.
The Wild could potentially add another depth forward later in the offseason from free agency, or there's also plenty of internal options for an extra forward. But assuming Duhaime re-signs, there's a low likelihood for players like Sammy Walker or Adam Beckman to the make the team now with no rosters available.
Here's what the defense looks like:
Jake Middleton — Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin — Brock Faber
Jon Merrill / Alex Goligoski — Calen Addison
Analysis: Like the forward group, it's a similar group returning on the backend. The top pair of Middleton and Spurgeon remains intact, while the trio of Merrill, Goligoski and Addison will be competing for third-pair spots. That's why the former two should rotate on the left side with Addison anchoring the right side of the third pair.
The big change is Faber joining Brodin on the second pair, two similar players that should make for a formidable duo. Faber, 20, who is replacing longtime defenseman and now UFA Matt Dumba, made a strong impression in the postseason against the Dallas Stars. And with Goligoski and Addison now expected to remain in Minnesota, the defense is set by all accounts with Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury in goal.
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