Wild close to the cap with latest signing

Here is an interesting post on Russo's Rants on the Wild's roster for the up coming season. I think Russo is right the Wild management has been hammered in the past for being cheap and not spending up to the cap, rightfully so, however, Doug Risebrough has made some bad moves in the past year and now they are overspent and tied to players that aren't worth the money they are being paid.

Lets look at it a little closer; the Wild have money tied into players that aren't worth the money they are being paid, for what ever reason they are not worth the money they are singed to and that is poor cap management. Off the top of my head I can think of three (3) players that are underachieving and being over paid way too much money, they are Mark Parrish @ $2.85 million, Martin Skoula @ $1.9 Million and Kim Johnsson @ $5.25 million, these players are being paid a lot of money to under perform and should be traded or waived. Getting rid of one or two of these salaries would free up some room and allow the Wild to get another center which they desperately need. Even after all of the moves in the off season the Wild have one center I consider adequate Mikko Koivu, Belanger is another one I would put in the under performing and James Sheppard and Benoit Pouliot are basically rookies and unproven.

thought I’d throw this up, and this is unofficial but accurate. As you can see, if this roster stands, the Wild is extremely close — probably too close for comfort — to the cap ceiling ($2.13 million under). This includes the cap hits for James Sheppard and Benoit Pouliot if they hit all their bonuses (you have to count potential bonuses in the cap hit).

But still, the Wild doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room to get injured, or for that matter, to make in-season trades for expensive players. So, calling them “cheap” is a complete fallacy.

Kurtis Foster will start the season on IR, but his salary will still count against the cap. That long-term injury (LTI) function in the CBA is only to allow a team at the cap to go over the cap, and the Wild won’t be at the cap (as of today).

Also remember, if the Wild signs Marian Gaborik to an extension, that won’t affect next season’s salary or cap hit.

Here is the Minnesota Wild Roster

Left wings
Andrew Brunette ($2.5 million, $2.33 million)
Mark Parrish ($2.85 million, $2.65 million)
Stephane Veilleux ($862,500, $862,500)
Derek Boogaard ($850,000, $875,000)

Centers
Mikko Koivu ($3.3 million, $3.25 million)
James Sheppard ($765,000, $1.4 million)*
Eric Belanger ($1.75 million, $1.75 million)
Benoit Pouliot ($850,000, $1.7 million)*

Right wings
Marian Gaborik ($7.5 million, $6.33 million)
Pierre-Marc Bouchard ($3.35 million, $4.08 million)
Owen Nolan ($2.75 million, $2.75 million)
Antti Miettinen ($2 million, $2.33 million)
Craig Weller ($575,000, $600,000)

Defensemen
Brent Burns ($3 million, $3.55 million)
Kim Johnsson ($5.25 million, $4.85 million)
Nick Schultz ($3.2 million, $3.5 million)
Marek Zidlicky (3.5 million, $3.35 million)
Martin Skoula ($1.9 million, $1.8 million)
Marc-Andre Bergeron ($1.691 million, $1.254 million)
Erik Reitz ($500,000, $500,000)
Kurtis Foster ($1.025 million, $1.025 million)

Goaltenders
Niklas Backstrom ($3.1 million, $3.1 million)
Josh Harding ($750,000, $725,000)

Totals

$53,818,500 in salary; $54,571,499 against $56.7 million cap

Roster contenders
RW Cal Clutterbuck
LW-RW Colton Gillies
C Krys Kolanos
C Corey Locke
F Petr Kalus
* Cap includes potential performance bonuses.

Just for comparison sake look what the Detroit Redwings have spent.
$56,700,000 Salary Allowed
$52,723,333 Payroll Total
$3,977,667 Cap Room
Here is a perfect example of getting out managed. The GM of the Detroit Redwings got a lot out of their team for the money they spent. Also, they got better with the free signing of Marian Hossa.