It sounds ambiguous and mysterious and everything in between when Chuck Fletcher talks about working on a player's "file."
The Wild general manager used the word a half-dozen times a couple of weekends back after the team announced its six-year, $25 million contract extension with defenseman Jonas Brodin.
Behind the scenes, there's a lot of work that's done when it comes to strategizing contract negotiations, and that work is all compiled and stored into a fairly cut and dry player file by Fletcher, assistant GM Brent Flahr and director of hockey administration Shep Harder.
Brodin's file has closed. There are ever-changing open files right now for Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, Marco Scandella and Erik Haula, who all could become restricted free agents next summer.
The files consist of loads of data, from relevant statistics to comparable players to the team's future salary structure and depth charts and how that player fits down the road. Over time, the file builds up to something substantial that can help build a framework to start negotiations.
"Brent and Shep are smart guys, and they know the marketplaces," Fletcher said. "Shep does a lot of the research, and we'll sit down and discuss the comparables and where we feel the marketplace is and where it's going."
To a degree, Fletcher, Flahr and Harder have a hand in every deal the Wild completes. In every deal, one of those three will be the lead voice in contract negotiations.
Flahr, in large part because he pushed to draft Brodin, because he did Brodin's first contract and because he has a good relationship with Brodin's agent, was the lead voice on the latest Brodin extension.
Every negotiation is different. No negotiation is easy, but the marketplace for high-end, young defenseman is well-defined. Brodin is 21 and already a top-pair defenseman on the Wild, which believes his game will continue to evolve, especially offensively.
So in that Brodin file, the Wild did its best to determine other defensemen that play similar roles that are at similar ages that have had similar production with similar projections. Once the two sides agreed to a six-year term, there was a pretty defined high-low salary range.
Brodin is not St. Louis' Alex Pietrangelo or Ottawa's Erik Karlsson, who earn $6.5 million. Brodin has been compared to Arizona's Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but the 23-year-old scored 44 points last season and makes $5.5 million.
So most the players in the Brodin range average between $4 million to $5 million annually. Brodin comes in at $4.167 million, which is under recent signees Jake Muzzin of Los Angeles, Justin Faulk of Carolina and T.J. Brodie of Calgary, slotted right with Los Angeles' Slava Voynov and just above talented young defensemen Cam Fowler of Anaheim and John Carlson of Washington.
The Granlund and Coyle talks will be more complicated. The comparables for young forwards are all over the spectrum, and it's more complex when trying to determine what type of player Granlund and Coyle will develop into and how much production can be expected.
Before the season, Nino Niederreiter signed a three-year, $8 million contract averaging $2.67 million per year, topping out at $3.5 million his final season. It's a bridge deal that will give the Wild power winger the opportunity to score more than his career-high 14 goals in order to potentially receive a home-run third contract.
For similar reasons, it appears as if Granlund has little interest in signing a long-term extension. Granlund, the Wild's No. 1 center, has a chance to pile up points the next few years, so waiting for the longer term could enable Granlund to earn mega dollars in a third contract.
A two- or three-year deal not only benefits Granlund, it'll allow the Wild more time to analyze how good Granlund can become and also make certain health isn't an issue. He does have a concussion history.
Theoretically, a shorter-term bridge deal also could work for Coyle, too, because while he has the makeup and skill-set to potentially become a prolific power forward, Coyle hasn't yet shown if he's a future 15- to 20-goal scorer or 30-plus goal scorer.
However, Coyle's camp appears more intrigued by a potential longer-term deal than Granlund's camp.
The salary cap this season is $69 million. It could reach $73 million to $74 million next year and is expected to continue to rise.
"We don't anticipate issues," Fletcher said. "We're going to have to work at it, and in some cases, there may be shorter term with some players and longer term with others. We'll mix and match, try to stagger some of the contract lengths.
"It's certainly a puzzle, but we're confident in saying we feel we can manage situations."