Matt Dumba, Ryan Reaves become free agents as Wild cut ties with Sam Steel

The Wild don’t have as much money to spend as some other teams around the NHL, what with almost $15 million of their budget tied up in the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts.

But that doesn’t mean they won’t look to round out their roster through free agency, which opens for business at 11 a.m. Saturday.

“We’ve got some holes to fill,” General Manager Bill Guerin said.

Those vacancies are at forward.

Guerin believes the defense is set: Captain Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Jake Middleton, Alex Goligoski and Jon Merrill are all under contract. So is rookie Brock Faber, who made a seamless switch from the Gophers blue line to the NHL and appeared in all six playoff games against Dallas.

Calen Addison isn’t signed for next season, but the Wild retained his rights by extending him a qualifying offer ahead of Friday’s deadline.

Same with forward Brandon Duhaime and goaltender Filip Gustavsson, whose agent met with Guerin earlier in the week. Fellow netminder Marc-Andre Fleury has one year left on his deal.

Mason Shaw, Sam Steel and Damien Giroux didn’t receive qualifying offers from the Wild and will become free agents.

Shaw suffered the fourth anterior cruciate ligament tear of his career back in April, and the knee injury will keep him from being ready for the start of the season; the Wild plan to keep talking with his agent.

As for Steel, who had a versatile role that included centering Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello for a chunk of games last season, his potential arbitration case would have been too pricey for the Wild, but the team could circle back with him in free agency.

With Faber factored in, the team has around $7 million in salary cap space.

Not only can the Wild use some of that money to address their forward group, but they also expected to make additions to Iowa’s roster in the American Hockey League. On Friday, they announced one-year, two-way contracts for goaltender Zane McIntyre, defenseman Dakota Mermis and forward Nick Swaney.

Matt Dumba, John Klingberg, Gustav Nyquist, Ryan Reaves and Oskar Sundqvist finished the season on expiring contracts and are eligible to test free agency.

Although Guerin has made it clear he’d like the Wild to bring back Reaves, they could also pursue a different veteran forward or could keep the spot open for the likes of Adam Beckman and Sammy Walker to vie for after both split time between the minors and Wild last season.

“Some guys are ready to play a lot more games,” Guerin said. “We’ve got options.”

Dumba has only ever suited up for the Wild in the NHL and has mentioned that his heart is in Minnesota, but it’s tough to imagine the team being able to afford to keep the defenseman.

That’s also the situation they are in with Klingberg, Nyquist and Sundqvist, all of whom were acquired during the season ahead of the NHL trade deadline.

“Just too expensive,” Guerin said.

Marcus Johansson was brought in before the deadline, too, but he and the Wild agreed to a two-year, $4 million extension after the Wild were eliminated from the playoffs. Since the season ended, that’s been the only significant contract the Wild have added to their books.

Even at the draft on Wednesday and Thursday the team didn’t shake up their lineup; instead, led by the selection of Rosemount’s Charlie Stramel 21st overall, the Wild focused on the future.

After arriving as GM in 2019, Guerin has made plenty of bold changes, but the biggest of them all — buying out Parise and Suter in 2021 — is limiting the Wild’s flexibility this offseason.

“You feel kind of helpless,” Guerin said. “This is one of those things, too, where I have to keep reminding myself that we have a good plan in place. Let’s stick with it.”

This summer and next are the most expensive years of the buyouts, with the cost also approximately $14.7 million in 2024.

These charges, however, won’t impact Guerin’s expectations for the Wild’s performance.

“There’s no reason we can’t replicate what we just did in the regular season,” he said, “and try to improve in the playoffs.”