Wild sign veteran winger to four-year contract extension

Foligno, 32, was in the final year of a three-year contract with a $3.1 million contract and was set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. His $4 million cap hit will be the highest of his career and has a comparable cap hit to Alex Iafallo, Ross Colton and Robby Fabbri.

Foligno had a steep drop-off in 2022-23 after a career year in 2021-22, with only 7 goals, 14 assists and 21 points in 65 games last season. It was also a down year defensively for the forward, who is normally known for his consistency in that regard, as he sat ninth among regular Wild forwards in 5v5 expected goals against per 60 minutes in 2022-23. He also had one goal in six playoff games as the Wild were eliminated in the first round by the Dallas Stars.

Foligno was a former fourth-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2009 NHL Draft, and spent his first six seasons in the Sabres organization, finding a consistent role by the 2012-13 season. He was then dealt to the Minnesota Wild in the 2017 offseason along with Tyler Ennis and a third-round pick in exchange for Jason Pominville, Marco Scandella and a fourth-round pick, and has spent the past six seasons with the Wild.

The Wild enter the 2023-24 season in hopes of winning a playoff series for the first time since 2015 and possibly reaching the Conference Finals for the first time since 2003. They had a relatively quiet offseason due to the cap constraints they’ve had to deal with thanks to the buyout penalties of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, as their only notable free agent signing was Jujhar Khaira, but they’ve had a bit more action today after signing both Foligno and Mats Zuccarello to contract extensions.