- Quinn Hughes has one year left on his contract and no extension
- Minnesota won a playoff round for the first time since 2015, then lost to Colorado in five
- Read below for the goaltending question and the penalty kill number that ended the season
The Wild open in Nashville on Oct. 1 with the best defenceman they have ever had playing out an expiring contract.
Quinn Hughes is in the final season of the six-year, $47.1 million deal he signed with Vancouver in 2021. That $7.85 million cap hit comes off the books next summer, and nothing has been signed to replace it. He turns 27 next month.
Bill Guerin paid a steep price in December and got value back right away. Hughes put up five goals and 48 assists in 48 games in a Wild sweater, and Brock Faber scored at a 60-point pace once the two were stapled together. Philadelphia asked about Hughes first and never got past the front door.
Minnesota finished 46-24-12 for 104 points, third in the Central. Dallas went down in six, giving the franchise its first playoff series win since 2015.
Colorado ended it in five.
Two problems from that series are still sitting there. Anthony Trudeau of Daily Faceoff put the penalty kill at 79.8 percent in the regular season and 60.5 percent in the playoffs, and Filip Gustavsson had hip surgery that keeps him out into this season.
Gustavsson finished at .904 in 50 games. The net is Jesper Wallstedt’s, and the rookie earned it with a .916 and four shutouts in 35 appearances before taking over against the Stars.
Take a look at Wallstedt closing the door:
Kirill Kaprizov scored 45 goals and 89 points in 78 games in year one of his record contract. Fine work for almost anybody. A step down for a player who averaged 104 points per 82 games over the four years before it.
His supporting cast turned over. Mats Zuccarello signed in Los Angeles, Vladimir Tarasenko is still without a contract, and Jacob Middleton went to Calgary in the swap that brought back Blake Coleman and Olli Maatta. Maxim Shabanov gets first crack at Zuccarello’s old spot on Kaprizov’s wing.
Three dates to circle:
- Sept. 19: Preseason opens at home against Chicago
- Oct. 1: Season opener in Nashville, first of 84 games
- Oct. 3: Home opener against Boston
Nashville starts a year that ends with Hughes either signed in St. Paul or the biggest name on the July market. Guerin has 10 months to decide which one he can live with.
