Minnesota Wild signs Jacob Middleton to three-year extension with $2.45 million cap

Middleton was an unrestricted free agent this summer as it was the final year of his two-year, $725,000 cap, a deal he originally signed with the San Jose Sharks. The Wild acquired Middleton at the trade deadline for the 2021-22 season with a 2022 fifth-round pick for goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen.

Middleton had a solid outing in his first full-time NHL season. Although not known for his offense, he has four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 66 games this season between the Sharks and the Wild. Prior to this season, he’d only played 14 NHL games, so it’s a bit risky on the experience side for the Wild.

On the defensive side of the game, Middleton had a shot attempt share of 45.74% and an expected goal share of 50.01% at even strength this season, although those numbers improved to 47.72% and 50 .87% respectively when he joined the Wild. Even then, he’s still solid defensively, as a lot of that is driven by his attacking play.

Along with Middleton, the only other top free agent the Minnesota Wild has to worry about is goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. The Wild currently only have over $6.5 million in cap space to work with due to Zach Parise and Ryan Suter’s buyout cap successes reaching a combined total of $12,743,588. Winger Kevin Fiala is already a victim of buyouts, as the Wild traded him to the Los Angeles Kings last week for first-round pick and defenseman Brock Faber. This first-round pick drops to 19th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, joining the Wild at 24th to give them two first-round picks this year.