Whatever playoff run the Wild can muster this season will be a bonus. They’ve already exceeded preseason expectations, and those expectations were set before a bevy of injuries to their best players threatened to upend what once felt like a magical season in the making.

At the end of the day, we all know what kind of financial restrictions the MN Wild are still dealing with. This is the final season of devastating $15 million cap penalties left by Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. That, combined with the lowest and slowest-moving salary cap of all major sports, has left president Bill Guerin mostly handcuffed.

NHL salary cap going up, up, up…

But on Friday, Billy G. got some really good news in that department. Not only will the Parise + Suter penalties mostly fall off the books next season, 2025-26 will also mark the first of three years where we will see the NHL salary cap jump $25.5 million from $88 million this season to $113.5 million in 2027-28 (as reported by The Athletic).

According to a league memo that was obtained by The Athletic, “the numbers are essentially fixed — although the sides can agree to make minor adjustments up or down if circumstances warrant.”

Related: NHL Commish Threatening a Minnesota Wild Relocation Out of St. Paul?

As of now, the Minnesota Wild are still in the thick of the 2024-25 NHL Playoff race, at 31-17-4. But as you can see from the table above, after the announcement today that the cap is officially on the rise, Bill Guerin is about to have a lot more money to spend in upcoming offseasons.

What does increasing NHL salary cap mean for the Minnesota Wild?

It’s important to note that the Wild have to extend Kirill Kaprizov, before they can make any more decisions on their future. His $5-10 million raise will suck up a noticeable chunk of that $21.8 million they currently have projected for cap space (PuckPedia.com). Marcus Johansson is also set to be an unrestricted free agent.

Marat Khusnutdinov and Marco Rossi are due to be restricted free agents, so we could see either of those centers sign extensions this offseason. My point: the MN Wild will have to set aside some of their future budget for contract extensions. Nonetheless, Guerin will feel freed from his Suter/Parise straight jacket very soon.

But Bill Guerin cannot reclaim any of the cap space that’s already been set aside for Parise and Suter’s old contracts. If the Wild general manager wants to make any moves this offseason, he will have to turn a blind eye to what is already done and, instead, look at players on the active roster who can be bought out or traded to create more space.

For the purposes of this blog, we are going to assume these players can be traded without the Wild retaining salary. In reality, there’s no point in Guerin making cap-clearing deals if he has to pay a bunch of outgoing salary to get them done.

Alex Goligoski (D) – 1 Year ($2 million)

Trading Alex Goligoski seems like the only no-brainer on this list. He was scratched more often last season, than he was active. While it’s nice to have an able veteran available in the press box, the Wild cannot afford such luxuries.

Guerin needs to move on from Goligoski. Save $2 million against the cap and let Alex finish his career on a roster where he’s active for every game. It sounds like there was some interest in Goligoski at the 2022-23 trade deadline. I’d imagine there would be even more in the offseason, when teams have fluctuating and incomplete rosters.

Bill Guerin said there was a team that showed interest in Alex Goligoski, but it didn't get far enough down the road where they would have asked him to waive his no-move. #mnwild.

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) March 3, 2023

Mats Zuccarello (RW) – 1 Year ($6 million)

Like I said, finding more cap space gets a lot more difficult after Alex Goligoski. The biggest savings Guerin could find, on a realistic level, is Mats Zuccarello, who is going into the last year of his deal. Trading Zuccy would save up to $6 million against the cap for someone who was nearly useless when Kirill Kaprizov was injured and out of the lineup toward the end of last season.

Up until then, Zuccarello seemed like an integral part of what the Wild did offensively. He and Kirill have a type of on-ice chemistry that would be hard to duplicate. But Mats was so bad in Kaprizov’s absence, that you wonder if Kirill’s genius is the only thing keeping his hockey above par?

Is it possible that Kaprizov would be even better with someone more talented on his opposite wing? There are no indications that the Wild want to move on from Zuccarello. But if they can find a team willing to take on his entire 2023-24 salary, Guerin might be able to find a better way to spend that $6 million. Mats has a 10-team no move clause on his deal so he has some control over where the Wild would be able to trade him.

Marcus Foligno (RW) – 1 Year (3.1 million)

Just a couple of seasons ago, the Minnesota Wild’s best line had Marcus Foligno on it. He was 1/3 of the GREEF line, which had Jordan Greenway on the opposite wing and Joel Eriksson Ek at center. They were productive offensively and opponents NEVER scored while those three were on the ice.

But that all changed last season. Ek was needed on other lines and Greenway struggled mightily, before being traded at the deadline. Foligno wasn’t very good either, posting one of the most unproductive seasons in his career.

Then, in the playoffs, Foligno’s physicality became a detriment to the Wild’s ability to win. Whether fair or not, he was repeatedly called for penalties throughout the series, and got tossed out of game 5 for a questionable “kneeing” call.

It changed the ENTIRE complexion of the game.

So the @NHL_On_TNT crew broke down the Marcus Foligno kneeing major from every angle ????️‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/QKksAJk2EO

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 26, 2023

Whether you side with Foligno or the refs during that series, there’s no denying the negative impact he had had. As a team leader. moving on from Foligno would be risky and could hurt the locker room. But… for $3.1 million Guerin, again, must ask himself if that money would be better spent elsewhere.

Marc-Andre Fleury (G) – 1 Year ($3.5 million)

If there is any move that might seem obvious on this list, beyond trading Goligoski, it’s moving on from Marc-Andre Fleury. It’s clear that Filip Gustavsson is the Wild’s #1 goaltender, if they are able to re-sign him this summer.

And if they do, then backup Fleury falls into the same category as press box Goligoski. A luxury, not a necessity. Having one of the best backups in the league is nice, but the Wild are poor and can probably spend some of that $3.5 million on a player who will be on the ice regularly.

Fleury and Guerin are buddies, however. And Fleury has already announced that he’s fine with taking on a backup role, behind Gustavsson. Would Guerin take salary cap space over keeping his buddy, “Flower”, in the locker room?

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

This was supposed to be one of the tightest salary cap off-seasons in NFL history for all teams who care about winning in 2021. For a decade, the salary cap has exponentially increased year-over-year, allowing league general managers to push their player payroll spending to the ceiling.

But this season, the cap was cut by nearly $20 million because of a loss in revenue in 2020, leaving front offices everywhere with big decisions to make. The Minnesota Vikings were said to be especially vulnerable. How were Rick and Rob going to fix their offensive line and secondary while cutting $10’s of millions off their books?

Well after weighting through the weeds of free agency and completing an “A” rookie draft somewhere during, the Vikings somehow came out with a heavily improved roster and a pocket full of cash.

Vikings defense added since wk 17

Danielle Hunter
Dalvin Tomlinson
Michael Pierce
Sheldon Richardson
Eric Kendricks
Anthony Barr
Xavier Woods
Patrick Peterson
Bashaud Breeland
Cameron Dantzler
Mackensie Alexander

Packers offense subtracted

Aaron Rodgers

A+ offseason

— Thomas Sullivan (@Yfz84) June 14, 2021

#Vikings still working with around $14M in cap space

— Sean Borman (@SeanBormanNFL) June 17, 2021

Not done yet…?

I’m not exactly sure how the Minnesota Vikings found this fortuitous offseason position. This team looks really damn good, on paper, in a division that currently looks like one of the worst in football, especially should Erin Rodgers defect.

And Rick Spielman doesn’t appear to be done. There’s zero chance the Vikings enter the 2021 season with $10+ million left to spend on talent and they currently have $14 million. They’re still planning something. Could Rick be looking for more help on the offensive line, should Wyatt Davis not appear ready to step into a starting role during these offseason camps?

Might they spend some of it on a legitimate 3rd wide receiver to stick in the room with Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson? What about a defensive end to place on the opposite side of Danielle Hunter? All of these signings would make sense and shine an even brighter light on an already impressive offseason.

The Harrison Smith Piggy Bank

And should they need more money, Rob Brzezinski has an easy Harrison Smith bank account he can tap into. Smith is on the final year of a 5-year contract he signed back in 2016. He’s making a hair under $10 million and it’ll all be paid via non-guaranteed game checks. He’ll cost $10.25 million against the salary cap, the third-highest hit on the team (behind Kirk Cousins and Erik Kendricks).

Harrison Smith is 32 years old and appears to have plenty of game left in his pads. If the front office needed another ~$5+ million to spend on a missing puzzle piece, the team could easily give Smith his 2021 money now, in signing bonus form, while adding another couple years onto his life as a Minnesota Viking.

Some salary cap cash could still go out, if the Vikings decide to extend Brian O’Neill before he begins the final season on his rookie contract, but I think it’s safe to assume the team will spend another $15-ish million on talent before we get to training camp.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Vikings are heading into the 2021 NFL offseason in “salary cap hell”. According to Spotrac.com, their current roster would usher in the new league year with -$8 million in available funds for Rick Spielman and Co. to work with. That’d make for a rough trip to the ATM…

But, there are some of ways for the Vikings to find extra money in the TCO Performance Center couch cushions. The most popular ways to free up cash for all teams across the league, is by cutting or restructuring player contract, where feasible.

How it works

Of course, it’s not as easy as waving a magic wand that cuts anybody at anytime. Players and agents negotiate to guarantee future money in these contracts and cutting or trading high-profile names will often incur cap penalties. These cap penalties are referred to as, “dead cap”, and are in place to deter teams from making such moves.

Some contracts are more malleable than others and it often depends on how far along in the lifespan a contract is. Normally, cutting or trading newly signed contracts will result in more “dead cap” money, than doing the same with older contracts.

But as NFL contracts age, less and less money is guaranteed and the “dead cap” number goes down, making it easier for teams to cut ties or ask for a renegotiation.

Malleable Vikings Contracts

The Minnesota Vikings have a handful of contracts that are ripe to be re-done or ripped up all together and there’s nearly $50 million in savings on the table. The list, of course, is packed with the most high-profile of names and cutting all of them isn’t in the cards. That’s where restructures could come into play.

How Rick Spielman and Rob Brzezinski choose to move this money around, will not only dictate the course of this offseason, but the course of this franchise.

Decisions Start with Riley Reiff

The players at the top of this list are names that a thin Vikings team can’t really afford to lose. Yet… they can’t afford to pay all of them either. Riley Reiff might be the most difficult to figure out. The outlook at offensive line would topple if Riley isn’t holding down LT.

But, are the Vikings ready and willing to restructure and extend his contract, essentially locking him in as their future LT. He’s only 32 years old but this is a guy they forced to take a pay-cut (or get cut) just before 2020 got underway. That’d be quite the change of heart. If they leave his deal alone, their pockets become tighter this offseason.

And Reiff is only one of many difficult decisions this front office will face over the next few months. One mistake could mean the end of the Rick Spielman + Mike Zimmer Era.

No pressure.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Vikings aren’t looking as salary cap poor as what’s been widely reported, even recently, proving the cap may actually be a myth. According to the two most trusted websites available for calculating such numbers, Spotrac.com and OverTheCap.com, Spielman and Co. currently sit with $12M+ in available cap space for 2020, which is more than 14 other teams across the NFL…

The cap is a myth. pic.twitter.com/zNHMm4qTxE

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) May 6, 2020

Yet, there’s still plenty that Rick and Rob [Brzezinski] could do to jog more cap dollars loose, including moves we’ve been talking about all offseason. Those blogs, articles and talking points all over the internet, have mostly centered around trading Anthony Harris, who is owed $11M+ if rostered for 2020 under his current franchise tag, OR cutting Riley Reiff, which would save $8.8M against the cap.

My Bleeding Purple podcast partner, Adam Patrick, wrote about this a couple of days ago over at TheVikingAge.com and then we discussed it on today’s podcast episode (Below starting at the 14:15 mark)… There is one blatant cost-saving move still available for the Vikings that makes EXTREME sense: A Harrison Smith Contract extension.

A rare winner in Rob Brzezinski‘s salary cap game, Smith is due to pile up 2020 money that will total at slightly less ($10.75M) than his running mate (for now) Anthony Harris, because of the franchise tag we talked about above. However, Harrison holds a lot of power if the Vikings wanted to approach him for an extension that would save them money against the salary cap over the next couple of seasons.

Usually, when an aging player’s cap hit overwhelms the cost of cutting him (dead cap), Spielman and Co. like to hit guys with the classic “Hey, take less to help the team OR we’re going to have to cut you” game. Well, the Vikings would net a +8.72M by cutting Harrison Smith, which essentially puts him in a tie with Riley Reiff, for the biggest possible savings on roster. I can promise, however, that nobody’s having “extend/restructure or be cut” conversations with Harry “The Hitman” or his agent.

Instead, if extension conversations are happening, it’s The Hitman who has the upper hand in negotiations. Harry still has 2 seasons left on his current deal and he’s due to make over $20M during that time. Through the first 3 years, he’s made himself too valuable to cut… which doesn’t usually happen (which I mentioned above). If the Vikings want to trim down that $10M+ cap hit, the extension terms will need to be in Smith’s favor. Otherwise, what’s his motivation to get a deal done?

If you’re the Vikings, all of the facts above still apply. You’re sitting ok, with cap dollars still in-hand (somehow), BUT they still want the best safety in the league to remain on roster and updating your contract terms to help both parties only makes sense.

Giving Smith more guaranteed money over the next two years, will make him happy. If the Vikings can draw it up so they save money against the cap now, but have a decent out come 2023 (should age become a declining factor in his play), then the deal easily makes sense for all parties involved.

The NFL continues to stand steady on their schedule for next season… so the Vikings might as well get these house-cleaning items taken care of now, before people have stuff to do again. After you clear up some cash from The Hitman extension, you can get the Dalvin Cook deal done too. 

If Rick and Rob can get those things done and come out with $10M+ in available cap space, it leaves a lot of flexibility, especially should they decide Anthony Harris and/or Reilly Reiff are expendable.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The #Yankees pumped $385M of new money into 3 players this offseason (Cole, Gardner, Chapman), while the #WhiteSox took a big step forward in their building process, locking in their youth, and adding from elsewhere. pic.twitter.com/eSCKWWdBTn

— Spotrac (@spotrac) February 28, 2020

Spotrac.com is a site I got ahold of just before launching this website back in 2017 and it will forever be one of my favorites. If you ever have questions on payroll, salary cap, or anything on contracts in professional sports, you need spotrac.

We’ve talked for many years, wishing the Minnesota Twins would start spending the money required to field a good baseball team. We’ve been dreaming of a Minnesota where one Joe Mauer contract doesn’t hamstring the franchise for 10 years.

Well according to Spotrac, the Minnesota Twins are the 5th highest spender of all MLB teams this offseason, spending a total of $164 Million on keeping ($30M) and bringing in talent ($134M). That number includes any extensions or resigning of current players OR money used in free agency to acquire new players. It does NOT include money spent to avoid arbitration or in it. You can see the full list here.

Most of that $164M is being used to cover Josh Donaldson’s new $92M contract over the next 4 years. $30M of it was spent to extend Miguel Sano, who will cover the other corner of the infield.

That leaves $42M, if my math is ok this afternoon. Most of that was used to keep Michael Pineda ($20M) and Sergio Romo ($5M), while bringing in Homer Bailey ($7M), Alex Avila ($4.25M), Rich Hill ($3M) and Tyler Clippard ($2.75M).

Are you wondering why you don’t see Kenta Maeda? Well, he was traded here so he wouldn’t be on this report anyway. Even if traded players were listed, it’d be tough to find Maeda’s money. Most of his salary is being paid by the Los Angeles Dodgers this season. The Twins will only pay him $680K for his services. They also received $10M back in straight cash homie, for that trade.

While I’m happy to see the Twins at the top of these spending reports, instead of bringing up the ass-end, like they always have…. let’s not pretend the Pohlads are now spending money like the major markets.

Currently, the Twins rank #17 in MLB payroll, helping the #18 Chicago White Sox cut the league exactly in half. They’re projected salary is $132 million for 2020. Last year, they spent $125 million on payroll.

Hopefully, the Twins are setting us up for another trade deadline deal to snag a bona fide #1 starting pitcher because the Pohlad investment for this top MLB club, still lacks the last big push it will need to bring in another World Series.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan