(Saint Paul) The Minnesota Wild agreed to contract extensions with right wingers Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Foligno on Friday, a move that solidifies the team’s first offensive unit beyond the approaching season.
Zuccarello signed a two-year pact worth US$8.25m, while Foligno agreed to four years and $16m.
The 36-year-old Zuccarello had three years with at least 20 goals in 13 NHL seasons. Two of them were recorded in a Wild uniform during each of the last two campaigns.
In 2022-23, he has 22 goals and leads his team in assists with 45.
A native of Norway, Zuccarello is a close friend and teammate of Kirill Kaprizov, one of the Wild’s big stars, and will enter his fifth season with the Minnesota club.
Zuccarello, who began his career with the New York Rangers, signed a five-year, US$30 million deal with the Wild on July 1, 2019.
These extensions at Zuccarello and Foligno allow us to have eight of the club’s nine best attackers with contracts valid at least until the end of the 2024-25 season. Ryan Hartman, the center who usually pivots the line completed by Kaprisov and Zuccarello, is likely to become a free agent next summer.
Foligno, 32, is an assistant captain and had seven goals and 21 points with a team-high 237 hits last season. He was acquired from the Buffalo Sabers on June 30, 2017. He signed a three-year, $9.3 million pact on January 12, 2021.
