Wild GM Waiting, Watching As Buyout Decision Looms
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It might be the offseason, but the next two weeks are pretty important for the Wild.
First up is this weekend's NHL Draft, which starts on Friday.
And then, some big decisions loom regarding free agency, trades and possible buyouts.
Looking at you, Thomas Vanek.
The deadline for the NHL's buyout period is June 30, and general manager Chuck Fletcher said Monday that the Wild will likely wait until at least next week -- when they can start talking to free agents -- to make any decisions on potential buyouts.
Vanek and his $6.5 million cap hit, coming off a season in which he scored a career-low 18 goals, is the big one.
If the Wild are to pursue any high-level free agents --- and Fletcher said that he'd like to go get a proven goal-scorer --- then buying out Vanek would likely be necessary, in order to free up enough space to stay within the salary cap.
But Fletcher said that depends on if the Wild can get the kind of guy they'd like to get or not.
"We've looked at different scenarios," Fletcher said. "We haven't made any decisions in that regard. I've had conversations with a few different agents. We've looked at a lot of different scenarios. But we don't have cap issues this year as we stand now. If we want to get involved in – whether it's the trade market or free agent market – we may need a little bit more flexibility. So certainly everything's on the table, but we haven't made any decisions."
The Wild presently have roughly $10 million in uncommitted cap space to work with this offseason, with which to fill out roughly a third of their roster -- including likely trying to resign restricted free agents Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba.
That's not a lot. But buying out Vanek would save the Wild an additional $5 million in cap space this upcoming season.
Once Fletcher is able to begin speaking with free agents next week, it will give him a better picture of which players may or may not be interested in the Wild, he said, which will start to clarify the picture.
"I think we'd like to add another forward," Fletcher said. "If we can, and if the price is right. And we'll certainly look to do that."
After re-signing Devan Dubnyk last season pushed them over the salary cap limit, the Wild bought out Matt Cooke to clear the necessary space. Fletcher said the Wild could do that again, but he would prefer not to, because it hurts a team's leverage in contract negotiations. The preferred route, Fletcher said, is to clear the space beforehand if you plan to sign a player. But it is a tough tightrope to walk.
"It's a leap of faith," Fletcher said. "If we want to clear a little more cap space we may have to do that before we know what we're going to acquire. But I think this is going to be a summer where there's going to be opportunities."
Fletcher said that Vanek is healthy – a necessary step if the Wild were to buy him out. In the past three years, the Wild were unable to buy out Dany Heatley and Niklas Backstrom due to injuries.
Another factor in the process is that the NHL has not announced its salary cap number yet for next season. Fletcher said once that arrives in the next week he'll have a better idea of the exact parameters he'll be working with.
