How bold will the Wild get this summer?

For the first time in four years, the Minnesota Wild enter an offseason not bogged down by more than $10 million in dead salary cap space. That’s right, gone are the massive buyout cap hits to Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, as they now just take up $833,333 each, and now the Wild have the opportunity to make some big moves with that cap space. But will they?

Frank Seravalli talked about the Wild’s offseason plans and what they should prioritize on Daily Faceoff Live.

Frank Seravalli: I think [Bill Guerin]’s willing to spend a chunk of [cap space] on one player. And you’re going to have to allow for some certain savings for the future for Kirill Kaprizov and his next contract, because many people believe it to be in the Leon Draisaitl territory, if not north of that range, moving forward.

I think the big question facing the Wild is not necessarily what they do this summer. They’ve got their blueline of the future when you think about Brock Faber, Zeev Buium, David Jiricek. That’s super exciting. They’ve got Kaprizov and Boldy up front, and they’ve got Joel Eriksson Ek, who brings some significant sandpaper, and Foligno and those guys.

Who’s in between? Who’s the next crop of forwards? Who’s the second line group? Who’s going to be anchoring your center position moving forward? That turns the Wild from a playoff team into a contending team. That’s what’s facing Bill Guerin to solve with that cap space that he has.

It’s great to have someone like Kaprizov, a true stud, and you’re certainly willing to pay him to keep him. He’s a game breaker, a game changer, but where’s your next wave of players? It can’t just be on Matt Boldy or Eriksson Ek. They need to find that next layer of player, and the hard part is trying to find some difference makers like that.

You can watch the full episode here…