Minnesota Wild

Wild Might Be Looking to Trade Big Contract Star For Cap Space

The Wild are tight to the cap, which could result in them looking to trade one of their better players to address cap space issues.

by
Spencer Lazary
January 14, 2025

Minnesota Wild reporter Michael Russo of The Athletic appeared on Sportsnet’s 590‘s The Fan Hockey Show. He reported that GM Bill Guerin will likely be aggressive at the upcoming NHL trade deadline. The Wild are tight to the cap, which could result in them looking to trade one of their better players to address cap space issues. There is also speculation that the Wild may trade a star player to ease their cap situation.

Who Would They Trade?

Russo said:

They, you know, they, you know the Danila Yurov’s of to the world, and obviously (Jesper) Wallstedt, maybe Riley Heidt. But other than that, you know, if you look at their NHL roster, they’ve got [Marco] Rossi, [Brock] Faber and [Matt] Boldy on the team, and then they have a lot of guys that are, have been signed for long term. They want to sign (Kirill) Kaprizov after this year for eight years.

The Wild only have $587,244 in cap space available. This likely means they’ll need to part with a player making more than $4 million to create room and add depth throughout the lineup. If not names mentioned by Russo, a few names come to mind, including Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman, or even Marcus Foligno.

Zuccarello has a $4.1 million cap hit for the next two seasons. Hartman carries an AAV of $4 million for three seasons, and while Foligno is less likely to be traded, he also makes $4 million, but his contract spans four years, which makes a Wild look to trade a star player more challenging.

The issue with trading players like Hartman and Foligno is that they are playoff-type players. They tend to excel when the game gets slower and more physical. The biggest challenge in moving either player is that they have no-movement clauses in their contracts. Based on how the team has performed this season, it seems unlikely they’d agree to waive those clauses. Thus, Wild look to trade a star player might affect other moves.

Zuccarello also has a no-movement clause, making him extremely difficult to trade. After looking at the Wild’s roster, it appears Guerin has given many of the team’s top players contract protection, which complicates making a deal.

Is It Possible to Do?

It seems very unlikely that the Wild will be able to trade a top player with a big contract to clear space. Most players on the team would need to approve a deal, which takes control out of the Wild’s hands.

That said, there are players on the roster like Marcus Johansson, Frédérick Gaudreau, Jon Merrill, and Zach Bogosian who carry contracts with an AAV over $1 million. Trading one or more of them could free up some cap space. However, moving those players would also cost the team valuable experience and depth.

Ultimately, it all depends on what Bill Guerin has up his sleeve ahead of the March 7, 2025, NHL trade deadline. For now, it doesn’t seem likely the Wild will be able to add significant depth ahead of the playoffs.

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