The Summer of Wild has officially ended with the final piece of the puzzle firmly in place with the signing of Kirill Kaprizov yesterday. We knew it was going to be an off-season like no other here in the State of Hockey, but what unfolded was not what many would have predicted.
First there was the business at hand of protecting players for the Expansiin draft, and which player was going to be lost. That of course led to the Wild buying out both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter allowing Matt Dumba to be added to the protection list.
Ultimately, Carson Soucy, became the Seattle Krakan selection from the Wild. The draft was up next with the Wild holding two first round picks which after careful deliberation by Bill Guerin and his team they used to select Jesper Wallstedt, the top rated goaltender in the draft and Carson Lambos the standout defenseman from Winnipeg of the Western Hockey League. They also nabbed Grand Rapids native Jack Peart in the second round.
Free agency promised to be interesting as the Wild search for help down the middle did not yield the caliber talent the Wild were looking for and the only addition they made was adding Frederick Gaudreau. Gone in free agency were Marcus Johansson, Nick Bonino, Eric Cole, and Brad Hunt.
Nick Bjugstad was re-upped for 1 year at a significant discount, while the Wild bolstered the back end with the signings of Alex Goligoski, Dmitry Kulikov. Jon Merrill, and Jordy Benn.
The fresh faces of Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy along with Calen Addison should bring new energy to the Wild lineup for the upcoming season to build off the strong 2021 campaign, led by Calder Trophy winner Karill Kaprizov.
Joel Eriksson Ek took his game to an entirely new level and was rewarded with an 8-yr contract. Kevin Fiala was also in need of a new contract and the Wild chose to take him to arbitration to ensure that he would be I'm camp from the start. The two sides ended up agreeing on a 1-year deal which could see Fiala make a serious case for a huge raise next summer.
So the Wild summer business is officially complete and training camp opens tomorrow!
The rookies had their camp and scrimmages with the Blackhawks rookies at Tria Rink over the weekend. Their were some highlights from Matr Boldy and Marco Rossi including the latter tying the Sunday contest with 4 ticks left on the clock with a beauty of a wrist shot to the top shelf.
Gonna be a fun year of more changes here in Minnesota...Let's Play Hockey!!!
Minnesota Wild Blogger • 
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