Bill Guerin has built a team that proved to be one of the NHL’s best this season, finishing third in the stacked Western Conference and among the last eight teams standing in the playoffs.

But the Wild had designs on competing for a Stanley Cup, and with the exception of one game they were outclassed by a Colorado Avalanche team that looked like the real deal in a 4-1, second-round series victory.

So how do the Wild become the real deal?

That’s what Guerin is trying to figure out. With the NHL salary cap raised to $104 million for 2026-27, and with a cap hit of $90.5 million — still including $1.6 million for Zach Parise and Ryan Suter — he has about $13.5 million to play with when free agency begins July 1.

That’s a decent war chest for a team with a lot of talent under contract for next season, including top forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, and defensemen Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber. But with the cap up, and projected at around $113 million for 2027-28, the top free agents will be looking for substantial multiyear deals.

Guerin’s first order of business — more than likely already taken care of — is deciding whether the free agents currently on the roster, unrestricted and otherwise, are part of the plan moving forward. That’s a long list that includes mainstays such as Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson and Zach Bogosian, and some of the players he added as rentals before and during the season, such as Vladimir Tarasenko, Nick Foligno and Bobby Brink.

With that in mind, here is a look at the Wild players — by position and last year’s salary — who will become free agents on July 1 and whether they might be a fit on a team with designs on getting past the second round in 2026-27.

Guerin gave John Hynes his full confidence during a news conference on Monday, so it’s safe to assume the Wild will remain a forechecking team that fortifies its top-end talent with tenacity on the boards and that Guerin will be looking for guys that take losing individual battles personally.

Mats Zuccarello, RW, $4.125 million

Let’s start with the no-brainer. Zuccarello, 38, is a skilled skater with great hands and peerless vision. He also is the Kaprizov whisperer, the mentor who makes the team’s top forward comfortable on and off the ice. A freak injury limited him to 59 regular-season games, but he finished with 15 goals and 39 assists, then put up nine points in eight playoff games. Guerin knows Zuccarello will give him all he has, and that can’t be underestimated. Zuccarello was worth his salary this season; Guerin might try to pay him a little less for another two-year deal.

Zach Bogosian, D, $1.25 million

Bogosian will turn 36 in July, and he missed 41 games because of nagging injuries this season. But he is a smart, responsible defenseman with a Stanley Cup under his belt for a reason. He’s particularly good at knowing how to pinch to keep a forecheck alive and then back to the blue line — a combined plus-12 in three seasons with Minnesota. Do the injuries make him consider calling it an already good career, or can be lured back for another chance at a Cup? Would make a good partner/mentor for young, speedy defenseman Daemon Hunt.

Michael McCarron, C, $900,000

The 6-foot-6, 223 pound veteran filled a big role for the Wild after being acquired at the deadline, playing 20 regular-season games, and shone in the playoffs — two goals and four points in 11 games primarily as a bottom six center. McCarron has won a combined 53.7% of his faceoffs since 2021-22 and fits into coach John Hynes’ template. He didn’t look out of place alongside Boldy after Joel Eriksson Ek was injured, either. But Eriksson Ek will be back, and the issue here is whether there is room for McCarron and Nico Sturm on a team that needs to power-up offensively somewhere. They’re both big centers who win faceoffs and play a hard game — and Sturm is under contact for next season. Plus, McCarron made it clear last week that he’s looking for a raise.

Marcus Johansson, LW, $800,000

With his best regular season since he played alongside Alex Ovechkin in 2016-17, Johansson was, dollar for dollar, Guerin’s best free agent deal this season. He had 15 goals, 49 points and was a plus-18 on the second line with right wing Boldy and center Eriksson Ek, then added four postseason goals. The price is right, too. But Johansson, who turns 36 in October, doesn’t win a ton of board battles, and 15 goals probably isn’t enough for a second-line left wing if the Wild are going to be better next season. His 2025-26 season was so much better than his previous two in Minnesota that one has to wonder if Guerin hit a jackpot last season that won’t hit again.

Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, $4.75 million

The former superstar had a pretty good season as a third-line winger with rookie center Danila Yurov and Yakov Trenin, recording 23 goals and 46 points in 75 games, but his salary is an issue. He’s a smart veteran who can still score, but can Tarasenko, 34, be happy for less money and bottom six minutes? Acquired in a salary dump trade from Detroit, he overproduced as a pure flier, but the Wild need more bang for the buck. And, again, they want to be better than they were this season.

Bobby Brink, RW, $1.5 million

Brink was maybe the biggest name that Guerin brought in at the deadline. A skilled forward who won an NCAA championship at Denver, he was an early second-round pick in 2019 and is well known in Minnesota after playing at Minnetonka. Brink, 24 and a restricted free agent, might still have an upside and can be retained as depth for relatively cheap. He also doesn’t look like an upgrade anywhere, a career-minus player who looked lost trying to fill in for Zuccarello against Dallas in the playoffs. That might be unfair considering he was new to the system, but he didn’t help keep many forechecks alive. In 68 games between Philadelphia and Minnesota he had 15 goals and 30 points; the question will be whether Riley Heidt or Hunter Haight could add similar depth on two-way deals.

Nick Foligno, LW, $4.5 million

The elder Foligno brother was a good deadline acquisition, bringing veteran smarts, leadership and the requisite tenacity to a team that needed it for a playoff run. As a muscle line wing, he was ideal opposite his brother, Marcus, and either McCarron or Sturm. But Foligno will turn 39 in October and was candid last week about contemplating retirement after fulfilling a “dream” to play with his brother. Any team would be glad to have Foligno in the fold, but it appears circumstances might scotch that here.

Robby Fabbri, C, $700,000 and Jeff Petry, D, $775,000

Fabbri, 30, was claimed off waivers from St. Louis, and Petry, 38, was acquired from Florida for a seventh-round pick. Both were postseason depth additions, and Petry played three games filling in for Bogosian.