Today is going to be interesting in the NHL. The greatest number of free agents in NHL history will become available today at 11:00 central time. Watch the TSN transaction log for details.
The large number of free agents has occurred because of the new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the NHLPA and the events leading up to it. Teams have not extended offers to a lot of high-paid players in order to get rid of salaries and keep team payrolls under the new salary cap.
It will be fun today seeing where high-profile players like Forsberg and Modano end up. A lot of NHL'ers have stayed with a single team their whole career and today that will change for many of them. I can't imagine Modano in a Montreal sweater, or Pronger playing in Atlanta. However, it's entirely possible that nobody will be pulling the trigger today and teams will stay where they're at. I'm predicting that the day will be moderately exciting with some big names ending up in a new place but for the most part we'll just see a few rank-and-file players being picked up.
How will this affect the Wild? I don't think they'll be signing many free agents, and this has typically been their strategy. They'll be saving room for their young talent like O'Sullivan, Koivu, Bouchard, Wallin, and Veilleux, as they typically develop their prospects and let them play. They'll sign a free agent here and there to compliment their lineup, but I don't expect them to sign a big name like Forsberg. I think that rumor is completely bogus. He's old and a star player - definately not a player that “compliments” the Wild. The Wild will pick players that compliment their rookies with hard work and some leadership, if anybody at all. The Wild picked up Brian Rolston before the lockout and we haven't even seen him play yet. He was probably the highest profile player the Wild ever picked up out of free agency. He's already going to be the complimentary type of player the Wild would look for. I just don't see the Wild signing any well-known players before training camp.