Minnesota Wild GM Sets Clear Objective for Offseason Moves

Even with over $12 million in dead cap space for the 2022-23 season, don't expect to see Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin roll over and accept failure. According to Guerin, expect to see the Wild active and involved this offseason with full intentions to improve for next season.

Guerin met with the media in his closing availability on Tuesday and had this to say to reporters:

I don't think it's difficult. I mean, it's just where we are. We have these empty cap hits, and that's it. We'll deal with it. I think we'll be every bit as good next year. Would we love to have that cap space? Of course, we would. But you know what? We knew exactly what we were doing. We knew exactly what position we were putting ourselves in. I'd do it again. (On re-signing RFA Kevin Fiala) I mean, we'd love to have Kevin back. I don't know if it's going to be possible. But we have to dig into it a little bit and to see what we could possibly do. But there is uncertainty. Hey, look, we can do anything. But at what cost?. (On his goalies) There's no controversy. There's no drama. We like both goalies. We like both people. We want them both back, and we think we can be successful with both of them.

The Wild are in this financial mess thanks to Ryan Suter and Zach Parise's identical buyouts which saved Guerin $10.3 million for this season, however as mentioned the dead cap space kicks in hard the next three seasons. From almost $13 million in 2022-23, to $14.7 million in 2023-24 & 2024-25.

At this point the Wild have roughly $8 million in cap space to use this summer and while Cam Talbot will be back between the pipes, at this point it's likely Marc-Andre Fleury moves on. Wild fans you are in for a treat this offseason as Guerin appears to be as motivated as ever to improve the club and will have a tall task to pull it off.