Fernandez appears likely cap casualty

The $4 million-a-year goalie figures he'll be pushed out to create some salary-cap wiggle room for the Wild.

By Michael Russo, Star Tribune

Last update: April 22, 2007 - 7:32 AM

Manny Fernandez isn't a salary-cap expert, but the Wild goaltender realizes that his $4.33 million price tag plus Niklas Backstrom's anticipated large payday most likely won't fit on the team.

One will likely have to go, and Fernandez sounds resigned that it's him.

"It's going to be hard to keep all the guys here," he said. "Nobody's blind. [Backstrom] played amazing toward the end. There's a lot of big contracts on this hockey club, and there's definitely going to have to be choices made.

"Goaltenders-wise, the Wild finds itself with a lot of talent in the net. I'm sure they're going to try to make a move, obviously. I'll try to get myself prepared for it."

If General Manager Doug Risebrough knows what he's going to do, he wasn't tipping his hand Saturday. Backstrom becomes a free agent July 1, but in order to afford him under next season's expected $47 million to $48 million salary cap and be able to fill out and improve the roster, he'll likely have to trade Fernandez.

"Niklas was a very positive thing that happened to this team," Risebrough said. "There's probably no organization in the league right now that has goaltending like ours [including Josh Harding], so I feel that there are solutions either way. I think it's something I should give a little more thought. I had three goalies this year. I don't know how many I'll have next year."

Left winger Brian Rolston hopes Backstrom will be back. "He was our best player in the playoffs and down the stretch for us," Rolston said. "What GM in the league wouldn't want him? It'll be interesting to see what happens, because Nik was tremendous. ... He's the kind of guy that you want to play in front of."

Risebrough plans to discuss needs with the coaching staff May 8-10. Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Mikko Koivu will get huge pay bumps, so there's a chance that unrestricted free-agents-to-be Wes Walz, Todd White and Martin Skoula won't be back.

"We've got players that have to move up the ladders in terms of responsibility and ice time, and they will in terms of financial contracts," Risebrough said. "But you still have to add players to replace some because we can't afford some of the others. That's the cap."

Unlike last summer, when the Wild made a splash trading for Pavol Demitra and signing Kim Johnsson, Mark Parrish and Keith Carney on July 1, the Wild this year will look "for solutions more internally."

Risebrough said that he first has to sign Bouchard and Koivu in order to know how much he'll have available on the free-agent market. And it won't be a lot.

"We have a solid core," he said.

Risebrough has been criticized for not doing more at the trade deadline; Adam Hall contributed little, Dominic Moore had a permanent press box credential.

The GM defended himself by pointing to Atlanta, Nashville and the New York Islanders -- teams that are mortgaging their futures to acquire Keith Tkachuk, Peter Forsberg and Ryan Smyth, respectively. All three teams lost in the first round.

"That's not a good tradeoff," he said.

Michael Russo • mrusso@startribune.com

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