Wild Have a Lot of Free Agent Decisions to Make – The Hockey Writers –

With the Minnesota Wild’s offseason in full swing, it’s time to talk about what the Wild need to do to compete next season. We’ve already discussed who shouldn’t come back next season, but we haven’t discussed who the Wild should keep and possibly bring on. If they plan to bring new players from outside, they must let some go to make salary space. 

The Wild currently have five free agents this offseason, and two are restricted, so they have more wiggle room for those players. They’ll want to figure out their offers if they plan to keep any of the other three players. Plus, it’s obvious the Wild need to do something to get their top six going, and some ideas have been thrown out there. 

The Wild’s cap situation is going to be messy no matter what way they go. This article examines all these factors, starting with who the Wild should re-sign for free agents they already had on their current roster this season. 

Wild Need Shaw

The Wild players whose contracts are up this offseason on their current roster are Mason Shaw, Jacob Lucchini, Declan Chisholm, Alex Goligoski, and Dakota Mermis. However, Goligoski is likely done anyway, so four players should be considered for a roster spot. Some may disagree, but Shaw should be the top priority on this list. Despite not one or two but four ACL tears, he’s found a way to climb back and be NHL-worthy. 

He’s a gritty, determined player the Wild need on their roster, especially after trading away Connor Dewar, Brandon Duhaime, and Pat Maroon, all players who added grit and physicality to their lineup. While the Wild aren’t a physical first team, they need some of that in their lineup apart from Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman. 

Shaw is almost a mixture of Dewar and Duhaime; he has Dewar’s size and speed with Duahime’s physical side, so they need to consider making him an offer. It wouldn’t be much because he hasn’t played a full season in the NHL despite being around for two and a half seasons with his injury issues. 

While Shaw is the priority for forwards, the Wild must consider re-signing Chisholm for the defensive side. However, they would have to make some decisions to make room for him, like letting Goligoski go and finding somewhere for Jon Merrill to end up unless they plan to keep Merrill as the seventh man. Chisholm showed real promise throughout the season, and it would be a shame to let that go, especially since he fit in well with everyone and is only 24 years old.

Wild…