In 2023, the Minnesota Wild qualified for the NHL Playoffs but lost in the opening round. There was still hope for a comeback in 2024, despite this. Filip Gustavsson, the goalie, had a fantastic season. Matt Boldy emerged as a top offensive producer, and Kirill Kaprizov had his typical outstanding efforts.
But it was not intended to be. The Wild had a terrible start to the season. And although Minnesota produced a few thrilling moments, they retreated. Now that the NHL Playoffs are officially over, Minnesota can focus on the offseason.
The roster of the Wild is undoubtedly talented. Nevertheless, there are grounds for concern that the group would not be able to turn things around in 2024–2025. In light of this, let’s examine two primary causes for worry as the Minnesota Wild get ready for the summer.
Goaltending significantly declined.
As previously indicated, Filip Gustavsson had a fantastic 2022–2023 season. Actually, a year ago, he was among the league’s top puck-stoppers statistically. There was optimism that this season would see the Wild goalie really take off. Regretfully, that simply did not occur.
Although Gustavsson only has a.898 save % thus far this season, he had a.931 mark the previous season. Marc-Andre Fleury, a future Hall of Famer, has not done much better. In what might or might not be his last NHL season, he declined from a.908 save percentage in 2022–2023 to a.895 save percentage.
As we’ll see, the Wild lacked the resources to significantly enhance their performance. As a result, their goaltending needed to hold up, and it didn’t. The group must now decide whether of Filip Gustavsson’s persona is genuine. Will he regain his 2022–2023 form, or is this year’s performance the player to anticipate going forward?
It’s possible that Minnesota will include Fleury again in the upcoming campaign. The future Hall of Famer hinted to a potential comeback for one more season. But the team shouldn’t put too much stock in that. Furthermore, they cannot expect him to play as a legitimate starter the next season, even if he does return.
The team’s goaltending is the main area of concern. And before the puck drops the next autumn, they will need to find a solution. The Wild will once more miss the NHL Playoffs and be left in search of explanations if they don’t.
Hell is the salary cap for the Wild.
Going into next year, this is the Wild’s main issue. Minnesota’s roster just isn’t capable of significant improvement. In fact, in the offseason, they might find it difficult to sign their restricted free players. The Wild are stuck in “salary cap hell,” as it is known.
Zach Parise and Ryan Suter had their contracts bought out by Minnesota in July 2021. Fair enough, this has to be done. The two veterans had large salaries and long-term contracts. It was better if everyone just moved on. But the Wild were left with a dead salary cap of around $15 million as a result of the trade.