3 Minnesota Wild Players Unlikely to Return in 2024-25

He’s played in over 1,000 games and scored nearly 90 goals, but the most impressive stat is his 1,770 blocked shots over his career. He’s put his body in front of the puck many times, and in reality, those shots he blocked could’ve been goals, so he’s stopped over 1,000 potential goals. 

However, as far as his time with the Wild is concerned, it should be done after this season, and it looks like it will be. He played in two games recently when Zach Bogosian was hurt, but as soon as Bogosian was back, Goligoski was scratched. He was then brought back when the Wild played the Colorado Avalanche. He’d been scratched the previous 24 games despite the Wild losing Jared Spurgeon for the season and even Jonas Brodin missing time. 

Goligoski has been a great defenseman over his career, but this past season, he’s really struggled, and unfortunately, the Wild can’t afford to keep him. They have too many young defensemen ready to come up and need the cap space. He’s not as fast as he used to be, and it may be time to consider retirement. 

No player wants to, but with his career, it’s likely time. He could try free agency, but at his age, it may be hard to convince a team to take a risk signing him, especially after not playing a quarter of the season. The easy part about Goligoski is that his contract is up at the end of this season, so the Wild don’t have to decide to try to trade him to move on. 

Wild Must Decide on Johansson 

When the Wild first traded for Marcus Johansson, not the first time but most recently in February 2023, he had a great start, and things looked optimistic. This season, however, he’s struggled; in 74 games, he’s had 28 points, which is decent, but he should be scoring more, especially for someone in the top six. This has been his second opportunity with the Wild, and it hasn’t worked out in their favor, especially since they have young forwards who could slide into his spot. 

He’s still a strong skater and puck handler, but he’s not putting the points on the board as they need him to. He’s excellent at carrying the puck into the zone, but as soon as he tries to split the defense, he stops in his tracks, which often causes the Wild to lose the puck. He’s given up the puck 28 times, which isn’t as high as Kirill Kaprizov, who’s lost it 70 times, but Kaprizov also has 90 points. 

If the Wild want to make a playoff push next season, as this season is done, they need to evaluate everyone on their team. Obviously, certain players are staying, but others should be on the chopping block, and while I’m a fan of every player on the team, it’s in the Wild’s best interest to find a way to move Johansson and his $2 million in cap space. The tricky part is they’d have to get him to waive his no-trade clause in his contract. 

Wild’s Goaltending Situation 

The Wild’s goaltending situation has become quite interesting over the last month. Originally, the idea was that Marc-André Fleury would move on after this season, whether that be into retirement or another team. However, recently, he stated he wants to play another season but only with Minnesota; if not here, then he’d retire. 

That puts a bit of a wrench in the plan of having Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt as the pair next season. If Wallstedt is ready to play, they won’t keep him in the minors; they’ll want him up in the NHL, but they won’t keep three goaltenders. So, do the Wild sign Fleury for one more year and pair him with Wallstedt, which means Gustavsson is on the trade block, or do they help Fleury into retirement? 

Regardless, it looks like one goaltender will be gone from the Wild, and the more I talk to others about it, the more it could be Gustavsson. Initially, I thought it would be great to pair Gustavsson and Wallstedt together, but in talking with acquaintances of mine, one of them pointed out that it may come down more as a competition between the two because Wallstedt is supposed to be the next number one, which leaves Gustavsson as a backup, not what he likely wants. So, that could cause some animosity. 

However, what do the Wild do after next season if they only have Fleury for one more season? Wallstedt will need another partner to rely on if they do trade Gustavsson. They recently signed goaltender Samuel Hlavaj to an entry-level deal that starts next season, so there may be a plan in the works yet. We’ll have to wait and see. Regardless, Fleury or Gustavsson will be gone before next season if the intent is to bring up Wallstedt. 

Wild Fairly Secure

The Wild have their main players, Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon, and Jonas Brodin locked into contracts, but it’ll be interesting to see where everyone else lands. Most of their players are under contract, but they can be moved if needed. After the disappointing end of this season, they need some tweaking before next season if they want more success. It’ll be interesting to see what Guerin does this offseason.