Wild roster returns top players, adds depth forwards

After the NHL Draft, free agency and other offseason moves, NHL.com is taking a look at where each team stands. Today, the Minnesota Wild:
There are no easy answers for the Minnesota Wild after their latest Stanley Cup Playoff disappointment. However, they have managed to keep their deep roster mostly intact to give it another shot this season.

After setting Wild records with 49 wins and 106 points in Bruce Boudreau's first season as coach, Minnesota lost to the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference First Round. The Wild outshot the Blues 182-134 during the five-game series but were held to a total of eight goals.
The Wild traded forward prospect Alex Tuch to the Vegas Golden Knights to ensure they would select center Erik Haula at the NHL Expansion Draft. That allowed them to retain defenseman Matt Dumba and center Eric Staal after leaving them unprotected.
They also opened salary cap space by trading right wing Jason Pominville and defenseman Marco Scandella to the Buffalo Sabres on June 30 for forwards Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno. Some of that money will go toward signing restricted free agent forwards Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter.
Here is what the Wild look like today:

Key arrivals

Tyler Ennis, F: Ennis, 27, can play center or wing in a top-nine role if healthy. He had back-to-back 40-point seasons in 2013-14 (43) and 2014-15 (46), but has been limited to 24 points in 74 games the past two seasons because of injuries. … Marcus Foligno, F: Foligno, 25, who played frequently alongside Jack Eichel last season, scored an NHL career-high 13 goals in 80 games. The physical forward (6-foot-3, 228 pounds) finished fifth in the League in hits (279) and should fit in well on the third or fourth line. … Kyle Quincey, D: Quincey, 31, agreed to a one-year, $1.25 million contract July 1. The left shot can play on the third pair to help fill the void left by Scandella. He had a combined 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 73 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils last season. … Ryan Murphy, D: Murphy, 24, signed a one-year, two-way contract as an unrestricted free agent July 1 after the final year of his contract was bought out by the Calgary Flames, who had acquired him in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes on June 29. He played a combined 151 NHL games during five seasons with the Hurricanes and could be the right-shot defenseman on the third pair.

Key departures

Jason Pominville, RW:Pominville was traded because he has two years left on his contract with an average annual value of $5.6 million. He was sixth on the Wild last season with 40 even-strength points and leaves a void on the third line and second power play. … Erik Haula, C: Haula, who played third-line center for much of last season, will be missed on faceoffs, where he won 53.9 percent last season. … Martin Hanzal, C: Hanzal signed a three-year contract with the Dallas Stars as an unrestricted free agent July 1. He won 57.8 percent of his faceoffs and had 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 20 regular-season games after joining the Wild in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes last season. … Marco Scandella, D:Scandella saw his ice time drop to 18:20 per game last season from 20:48 in 2015-16. He also had three seasons at an average annual value of $4 million remaining on his contract. … Darcy Kuemper, G: Kuemper signed a one-year, $650,000 contract with the Los Angeles Kings on July 1. He went 41-34-14 with a .910 save percentage and seven shutouts in five seasons with the Wild.

On the cusp

Joel Eriksson Ek, C:The 20-year-old, selected No. 20 by the Wild in the 2015 NHL Draft, could emerge as the third-line center after the departures of Hanzal and Haula. He had seven points (three goals, four assists) in 15 regular-season games with the Wild last season, and had three points (one goal, two assists) in 10 games for Sweden at the 2017 IIHF World Championship. … Luke Kunin, C:Kunin, 19, was selected with the No. 15 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft and joined the Wild after playing two seasons at University of Wisconsin, where he had totaling 70 points (41 goals, 29 assists) in 69 games. He also had eight points (five goals, three assists) in 12 games for Iowa of the American Hockey League last season. … Mike Reilly, D: The Scandella trade could be what the left-shooting Reilly, 24, needed to join the Wild on a full-time basis. He had 30 points (five goals, 25 assists) in 57 games with Iowa but has 46 NHL games the past two seasons.

What they still need

The Wild have three key restricted free agents to sign. Granlund, 25, and Niederreiter, 24, each filed for salary arbitration July 5. Foligno did not elect to file. They also have to decide if they want to retain defenseman Nate Prosser and forward Ryan White, who remain unrestricted free agents. Prosser has played 282 NHL games in eight seasons with the Wild. White, acquired with Hanzal from the Coyotes last season, had three points (two goals, one assist) in 19 games with the Wild.

Pete Jensen's fantasy focus

The Wild made sure they could leave Dumba unprotected in the NHL Expansion Draft but not lose him. Now fantasy owners of Dumba in a keeper league have to wonder about his long-term ceiling. He averaged 20:19 of ice time per game, including 2:16 per game on power play, last season. That's well behind Ryan Suter's 26:55 per game and 2:45 on the power play. Dumba is tied for 17th in goals among NHL defensemen the past two seasons with 21 in 157 games, but may have capped fantasy potential while Suter remains a teammate.

Projected lineup

Zach Parise -- Eric Staal -- Nino Niederreiter
Mikael Granlund -- Mikko Koivu -- Jason Zucker
Tyler Ennis -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Charlie Coyle
Marcus Foligno -- Luke Kunin -- Chris Stewart
Ryan Suter -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Matt Dumba
Kyle Quincey -- Ryan Murphy
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock