Wild Expansion Jacob Middleton

7/1: According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Wild have given Middleton a four-year, $17.4 million contract extension with an average annual value of $4.35 million.

27/6: De Wild likely to announce a contract extension for a defender Jacob Middelton shortly after he’s eligible to sign one on Monday, The Athletic’s Michael Russo wrote earlier this week. It’s likely to come out to four years between $16MM and $18MM total, which equates to a cap hit of between $4MM and $4.5MM.

Middleton, 28, was handed more responsibility in 2023-24, his second full season in Minnesota. The shutdown blue-liner averaged a career-high 19:49 per game, with captain Jared Spurgeon missing most of the season due to multiple injuries and top defender Jonas Brodin there is also a significant amount of time missing.

With the increased opportunities came increased production for Middleton, who posted a career-high 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in 80 games. His -15 rating was a career-low, but he is one of the few Wild skaters whose ratings were negatively impacted by poor goaltending seasons Marc-André Fleury And Filip Gustavsson.

He’s never had spectacular possession numbers on his own, but he’s proven to be a solid partner for Spurgeon in 2022-23 when the two were healthy at the same time. They skated in 76 games and accounted for 53.5 percent of expected goals when deployed together, according to MoneyPuck. The same couldn’t be said for him and rookie Brock Faber this year, accounting for just 48% of expected goals and being Minnesota’s most used duo with over 800 minutes combined.

Middleton has certainly proven he can hold his own as a complementary top-four piece, but given that he turns 29 halfway through next season, there’s little room for further development. Considering a four-year, $4-$4.5MM AAV deal is likely similar to what the much more established Chris Tanev lands this summer, it seems a bit steep. Evolving Hockey’s projections agree that it’s slightly above market value, estimating a four-year extension for Middleton at $3.8 million AAV.

Wild General Manager Bill Guerin also has a recent history of handing out premature extensions that don’t age well. He inked depth center Frederik Gaudreau to a five-year, $10.5 million extension with trade protection after last season ended, and he went on to have his worst year in the State of Hockey with just 15 points and a -23 rating in 67 games this year. A four-year, $16 million deal that kicks in next season for Marcus Foligno also seems a bit high, considering the 32-year-old struggled with injuries last season and recorded just 10 goals and 22 points in 55 games.

That said, the Wild will gain some cap flexibility if Middleton’s extension were to take effect for the 2025-26 season. The combined penalties of the Zach Paris And Ryan Suter buyouts will drop from $14.744 million to just $1.667 million annually, where they will remain through 2028-29. Middleton, who Minnesota acquired from the Sharks at the 2022 trade deadline, is entering the final season of a three-year, $7.35 million contract with a $2.45 million salary cap hit.