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The Wild today answered one of their most often asked questions and most discussed topics by re-signing Jared Spurgeon for 4 years with an AAV of $5.2M. This ultimately means the Wild value the player enough to make another long-term investment in paying a homegrown player the salary he has earned in the open market. Spurgeon has spent time in the top pairing this year after climbing through the depth chart of the Wild after being jettisoned by the New York Islanders. The diminutive defenseman has quietly become one of the better possession-driving blue liners in the league, and is an integral piece to the success of the Wild's defensive play over the last few years. Retaining him or gaining value from him through a trade were the top priority of GM Chuck Fletcher in the upcoming offseason, but he was able to take care of the situation by re-signing him today.
#mnwild has re-signed Jared Spurgeon to a four-year, $20.75 million deal, the team announced. Big payday for a critical D
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) December 21, 2015
The remaining question lingering is how it will affect the salary cap moving forward, and what other moves might the Wild need to make to make the team better following the season. With Spurgeon's raise, the Wild now have approximately $7.36M space remaining to the cap heading into next year, with 14 players under contract. That means there are 9 players who are currently unsigned and must under the cap, including Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba as well as the center position, which the team needs to upgrade. It will be interesting to see how this signing impacts the rest of this season, and what other moves may now be set up or become needed to make sure to fit under the cap. The Wild can always choose to buy out or trade away a player with a big cap hit following the season, but a potential trade could also fix the issue.
Regardless of the cap situation, the Wild now have their top 4 defenders under contract for the forseeable future. Those 4 in Spurgeon, Ryan Suter, Marco Scandella and Jonas Brodin have shown their mettle and amongst the elite in the NHL and barring trades, will be together for the next four years. Stay tuned for continuing coverage. Here's a look at the cap for this year and next.
|
Contract | Forwards (13) | Age | Pos | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NMC | Zach Parise | 31 | LW | 7,538,462 | 7,538,462 | |||||||||
| NMC | Mikko Koivu | 32 | C | 6,750,000 | 6,750,000 | |||||||||
| NMC | Thomas Vanek | 31 | LW | 6,500,000 | 6,500,000 | |||||||||
| M-NTC | Jason Pominville | 33 | RW | 5,600,000 | 5,600,000 | |||||||||
| EL | Charlie Coyle | 23 | C | 3,200,000 | 3,200,000 | |||||||||
| Mikael Granlund | 23 | C | 3,000,000 | 3,000,000 | ||||||||||
| Nino Niederreiter | 23 | RW | 2,666,667 | 2,666,667 | ||||||||||
| Erik Haula | 24 | C | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 | ||||||||||
| Justin Fontaine | 28 | RW | 1,000,000 | UFA | ||||||||||
| Jason Zucker | 23 | LW | 900,250 | RFA | ||||||||||
| EL | Tyler Graovac | 22 | C | 747,500 | RFA | |||||||||
| Ryan Carter | 32 | C | 625,000 | UFA | ||||||||||
| Chris Porter | 31 | LW | 575,000 | UFA | ||||||||||
| Contract | Defense (7) | Age | Pos | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | |||||||||
| NMC | Ryan Suter | 30 | D | 7,538,462 | 7,538,462 | |||||||||
| EL | Jonas Brodin | 22 | D | 4,166,667 | 4,166,667 | |||||||||
| Marco Scandella | 25 | D | 4,000,000 | 4,000,000 | ||||||||||
| Jared Spurgeon | 26 | D | 2,666,667 | 5,187,500 | ||||||||||
| EL | Mike Reilly | 22 | D | 925,000 | 925,000 | |||||||||
| EL | Matt Dumba | 21 | D | 894,167 | RFA | |||||||||
| Nate Prosser | 29 | D | 625,000 | 625,000 | ||||||||||
| Contract | Goalies (3) | Age | Pos | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | |||||||||
| L-NTC | Devan Dubnyk | 29 | G | 4,333,333 | 4,333,333 | |||||||||
| M-NTC/35+ | Niklas Backstrom | 37 | G | 3,416,667 | UFA | |||||||||
| Darcy Kuemper | 25 | G | 1,250,000 | RFA | ||||||||||
| Buyout (1) | Age | Pos | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | ||||||||||
| Matt Cooke | LW | 500,000 | 1,000,000 | |||||||||||
| Current Roster Size | 23 | 14 | ||||||||||||
| Estimated Total Salary | 72,255,000 | 67,9875000 | ||||||||||||
| Estimated Total Cap Hit | 70,418,842 | 64,031,091 | ||||||||||||
| Carryover Overage Bonus | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| * Potential Performance Bonuses | 2,092,500 | 1,100,000 | ||||||||||||
| Estimated Cap Space | 981,158 | 7,368,909 |
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The above information has been provided by CapFriendly.com