Despite the NHL salary cap remaining flat at $81.5 million because of the coronavirus pandemic, Wild General Manager Bill Guerin feels he has enough wiggle room to achieve the rest of his offseason goals.
"We've managed things well enough, and we've got space and we've got some flexibility," Guerin said earlier this week. "So, we'll see what we'll be able to accomplish in the next few days."
The Wild's books underwent a makeover Monday, with the team trading Devan Dubnyk and Ryan Donato and re-signing Carson Soucy and Nico Sturm.
While the team ditched Donato's two-year, $3.8 million contract that had one season remaining, it retained half of Dubnyk's salary. That decision carries an approximately $2.2 million cap hit even though the Wild will only pay Dubnyk $1.25 million (half of the $2.5 million salary left on his six-year, $26 million contract). Since the average annual value of that deal is roughly $4.3 million, the Wild counts half that against its salary cap.
Add in a three-year, $8.25 million deal for Soucy that averages $2.75 million per season and a two-year, $1.45 million commitment for Sturm, and the Wild's overall cap hit is just shy of $69 million, according to capfriendly.com. That gives the team about $12.5 million in cap space to work with on the brink of free agency, which begins Friday.
"Cap space is always valuable," Guerin said. "It gives you flexibility. These are tough times. We want to be respectful of [owner Craig Leipold's] money, and if we're going to spend it, we want to spend it wisely. And if we're going to do that, we want to make sure it improves our team."
Aside from filling out its goaltending tandem and potentially adding another center, the Wild also has to address its roster of restricted free agents.
Among the most notable players up for new deals are forwards Jordan Greenway and Luke Kunin. Contracts for both aren't close to being done, with talks just getting underway, but Guerin said he's confident both will get signed.
