Minnesota Wild pull off two trades today in cap clearing moves

The Minnesota Wild have traded veteran forward Brendan Gaunce back to the Columbus Blue Jackets for minor leaguer Cameron Butler.

Gaunce is signed for next season at a league minimum $775,000 salary.

Between this move and the Wild's earlier trade that saw Frederick Gaudreau head to the Seattle Kraken, GM Bill Guerin has freed up nearly $3 million in salary cap space.

The Wild have just over $17 million in cap space with only Marco Rossi as their only unsigned RFA, but there's been plenty of speculation that the team is looking to ship our Rossi via trade. Of course, there have also been rumor reports that the Wild are going to pursue Minnesota native Brock Boeser via free agency.

Whether they land Boeser or not, it's clear that GM Guerin is clearing the decks to make a move come July 1st. Stay tuned.

This just in, according to a report from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, the Minnesota Wild have traded forward forward Frederick Gaudreau to the Seattle Kraken for a draft pick.

From Friedman:

No details yet on the deal, but assuming that the Wild are not retaining any cash on Gaudreau's contract then they are freeing up $2.1 million off their salary cap with this deal. Gaudreau is in year three of a five year, $10.5 million contract that he signed in 2023.

Details of the deal to come.