Wild uses five-year plan for cap, roster

Interesting read from The Pioneer Press on how Wild GM Chuck Fletcher uses a spreadsheet to project his team's cap and roster five years out, with an emphasis on the next three years in particular.

"That's what we do," Fletcher said. "It's a five-year plan, and we change it almost every week based on what happens. Some things happen to accelerate a player's development, and sometimes a player gets hurt and his development may not be as quick. But we're constantly trying to project out. We look at the market, and we put up our cap and our roster for five years out."

As much as there has been plenty of speculation that the Wild will try to sign potential free agent Thomas Vanek in July with the extra cap space, next summer is when a key handful of young Wild players will be restricted free agents.

"You certainly have to look at what you can do to improve your team for next season, but you better have an eye on three to five years down the road, too," Fletcher said. "Cap space is not malleable -- once you use it, it's gone. We need to make sure we preserve enough of it to keep the kids we want to keep. I think that'll have a major impact on what we do this summer.

Source: Chad Graff, Pioneer Press