MN Wild’s Own Top Priority Free Agent is Not Mats Zuccarello
The Minnesota Wild are deep in Dylan Larkin trade talks, and after it was revealed Monday that they are one of three teams on his trade list, those conversations are only going to heat up this week.
Meanwhile, Bill Guerin has two handfuls of pending MN Wild free agents who he needs to make a decision on, prior to July 1. Included in that pile of UFAs are big name players like Vladimir Tarasenko, Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson and older brother Nick Foligno.
Some of those guys are either already gone — like Johansson who signed with his hometown team back in Sweden over the weekend — or unlikely to return.
Tarasenko, for example, has an agent that the Wild don’t want to do business with, after he held Guerin hostage to get Kaprizov $17 million per year last summer, far more than other superstars around the league signed for in the weeks that followed.
Minnesota Wild may not extend Mats Zuccarello
Entering the offseason, it was believed that Mats Zuccarello was safe as any pending free agent on the Minnesota roster last season. But it appears that initial check-ins with the 38-year-old wing haven’t lived up to what either side was hoping.
Monday, Michael Russo and Joe Smith are reporting at The Athletic that Zuccy isn’t quite the cinch we once thought, to land back in a Wild sweater. In a mailbag posted this morning, the two insiders wrote that a trade for Larkin could be the deathnel to Mats, just due to the money it would require.
Mats Zuccarello is still out there, there was mutual interest at the end of the season for a reunion. Is that still the case? Would the Wild’s pursuit of Larkin change that? They play different positions, but the Wild are running tight on money, and Larkin makes $8.7 million. Also, assuming Joel Eriksson Ek wouldn’t be in the package, Larkin would be on the No. 1 power play along with Kirill Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek, Matt Boldy and Quinn Hughes.
The Athletic
Most expected Mats Zuccarello to return because, not only is he best friends with superstar Kirill Kaprizov, but he has been the catalyst to unlocking the young Russian for much of his career, since arriving in Minnesota.
But apparently, it may not be the stone-cold lock we all expected, even after Zuccarello put up 15 goals and 39 assists in just 59 games played last season. For much of Mats last decade in the league, staying on the ice has been his issue.
Only once since the start of the 2018-2019 season has the former undrafted free agent played more than 70 games in a season and that was back in 2022-23.
Minnesota Wild No. 1 Pending UFA priority: Michael McCarron
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild have been much more aggressive early this offseason in their pursuit of pending free agent Michael McCarron — who Guerin traded a 2nd round pick for at the trade deadline last season — and The Athletic considers the team’s No. 1 pending free agent priority.
According to Russo and Smith, McCarron was even better than advertised, in the Wild’s eyes, and they do not want to let him go, especially since they gave up a second rounder for him.
The good news, it sounds like the Wild are closing in on an extension for the 31-year-old, who is looking for his first NHL contract with a yearly salary over $1 million.
The Wild’s No. 1 internal target to re-sign is Michael McCarron, and he’s closing in on re-signing on a long-time contract, per league sources.
McCarron, 31, was the Wild’s top trade deadline acquisition, picked up from the Nashville Predators for a second-round pick. He proved his value the rest of the season and in the playoffs, with strong play on faceoffs and the penalty kill, and he even moved up to the second line for Game 5 against the Colorado Avalanche.
The Athletic
Michael McCarron was acquired by the Minnesota Wild on March 3. He scored just 3 goals and totalled 5 points in 20 games, after the trade.
In the playoffs, though, he made his presence felt early and often, piling up 2 goals and 2 assists in 11 games, averaging 14:49 TOI and 54.5% in the faceoff circle, where every other MN Wild center struggled mightily.
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