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Although potential new contracts for Kirill Kaprizov and Marco Rossi have dominated headlines for the Minnesota Wild lately, general manager Bill Guerin got another piece of business done on Monday.
The Wild and Marcus Johansson agreed to a one-year contract extension that will keep the veteran forward in the State of Hockey for at least another season, as reported by The Athletic's Michael Russo. The 34-year-old was headed toward unrestricted free agency on July 1, but will instead spend the 2025-26 campaign in Minnesota on an $800,000 pact.
As Russo wrote, Johansson “was being lured by his old Swedish Hockey League club, Färjestad, to potentially end his career where it began in the mid-2000s. Nevertheless, Johansson and his family like Minnesota, so he agreed to a contract that the Wild could fit comfortably within their salary cap structure. The contract comes with a full no-trade clause, according to a league source.”
It's not bad value for a player who managed 11 goals and 34 points in 72 regular season games in 2024-25. That's the most the former first-round pick had contributed since he scored 24 goals and 58 points while a member of the Washington Capitals back in 2016-17.
Overall, through 983 career NHL appearances, Johansson has scored 185 goals and 332 assists for 517 points, including 47 points in 114 postseason games.
After beginning his career with the Capitals, Johansson has played for the New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Seattle Kraken and Wild over a near 15-year career.
The focus now shifts to Kirill Kaprizov, Marco Rossi
With Johansson in the fold for another campaign, the next order of business for Guerin and the front office is getting Kaprizov extended, as well as figuring out Rossi's future.
Kaprizov has emerged into one of the best players in the National and can be made one of the highest-paid players in the league as soon as July 1. Guerin has already said that's the top priority for the organization, and they can pay him more than any other team.
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Barring a shocking development, the Russian superstar will be getting an enormous raise from the $9 million AAV he will be making in 2025-26.
As for Rossi, he's a restricted free agent on July 1 and his future is a lot more uncertain. The Austrian just had a great regular season with 60 points in 82 games, but was demoted to the fourth line in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and averaged just over 11 minutes per night as the Wild were defeated in Round 1 by the Vegas Golden Knights in six games.
As The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta reported last week, the front office isn't too keen on meeting Rossi's eye-opening contract demands.
“The Minnesota Wild are exploring the trade market, once again, on young center Marco Rossi, who is eligible to become a restricted free agent July 1,” wrote Pagnotta. “It appears a primary reason as to why the Wild have a willingness to explore the possibility of trading Rossi is due to his contract demands. Rossi is believed to be looking for a deal similar to the seven-year, $49 million contract Matt Boldy inked with the Wild.”
A seven-year deal at a $7 million AAV is certainly a steep price for an undersized center like Rossi, and it could be hard to sign or trade him if his camp doesn't lower those demands.
One order of business is done with Johansson, but clearly, there are still quite a few decisions to be made in Minnesota this summer.
