Wild boss Bill Guerin has money to work with, and priority No. 1 is signing Kirill Kaprizov to an extension

Since he was hired as general manager, Bill Guerin has wanted to build the Wild into a championship team.

Almost six years on the job, Guerin finally has his best chance to do that.

“This is the first time we’ve had real flexibility in a long, long time,” he said, “and we’re going to do our best to add to this team and to make it better.”

The long-awaited light at the end of the tunnel is here.

After penny pinching the past few seasons, the Wild are on the other side of the most expensive years of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts. The nearly $15 million charge is dropping to approximately $1.67 million, leaving the Wild with as much as about $20 million to make over their roster this offseason if they spend to the salary cap limit (which has been the case under owner Craig Leipold). Trades are also an option.

Guerin indicated the Wild aren’t making changes to coach John Hynes’ staff or the minor league regime in Iowa.

“I like to be aggressive,” said Guerin, who added the title of president of hockey operations in 2023. “I don’t want to sit on my hands at all. … I don’t want to sign any stupid contracts or anything like that, but I want to make this team better than it is today.”

As competitive as the Wild were in the playoffs against Vegas, losing three straight by one goal — including twice in overtime — to get eliminated in Game 6, the season still showed where they need to improve.

Guerin chalked up the practically season-long string of injuries to bad luck but mentioned the Wild will look to create the depth they lacked when Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek were sidelined for weeks on end — or half the season in Kaprizov’s case.

Center is Guerin’s focus, although he “wouldn’t be opposed to a scoring winger, either.” The Wild feel set on defense.

Plus, they have young players on the rise, with defensemen Zeev Buium and David Jiricek, forward Liam Ohgren and goalie Jesper Wallstedt expected to make an impact. Guerin also believes 2022 first-rounder Danila Yurov will be coming over from Russia.

But the Wild’s top priority this summer will be re-signing Kaprizov, who’s eligible to ink an extension beginning July 1.

“I’m very confident we’re going to get a deal done with Kirill,” Guerin said. “He really loves this market and this team. I think he feels that we’re going in the right direction. He’s got a good relationship with John. He’s got a good relationship with me, and it’s just a matter of working through it.”

Goaltender Filip Gustavsson can also sign a new contract, and Guerin said he could see the team starting those talks this summer. As for the Wild’s free agents, which includes veteran forwards Marcus Johansson and Gustav Nyquist and defenseman Jon Merrill, “possibly” was Guerin’s answer to the question of bringing anyone back.

Marco Rossi is also on an expiring deal, but the Wild hold his rights as a restricted free agent.

Rossi went from being their top center to playing on the fourth line in the playoffs, which Guerin described as the team trying to find the best combinations after Ryan Hartman deserved to be elevated.

“That doesn’t mean that we don’t like [Rossi] as a player,” Hynes said. “It doesn’t mean he didn’t contribute to our team.”

Regarding a new contract for Rossi, Guerin doesn’t think the situation would be complicated, but he also wasn’t sure how it will resolve.

“I’m going to have to go through the process,” he said, “and find out where it goes.”

Despite a tricky trek to the playoffs, the Wild weren’t blown out of the water by the Golden Knights.

Timing was the difference in the series to Guerin, from Nyquist going off-side in Game 5 to overturn a late Wild go-ahead goal to the team not winning one of the overtime finishes or pulling away after going up 2-1 in the best-of-seven.

“I’m not satisfied with the result, but I’m not disappointed in our players or our coaches,” Guerin said. “They played incredibly well. They played hard. They did the right things. It just wasn’t in the cards.”

The outlook for next season will be shaped by Guerin’s decisionmaking this summer, and while he acknowledged he sometimes feels pressure, he’s more excited for an opportunity that’s been years in the making.

“With that comes higher expectations, but I like high expectations,” he said. “I want high expectations. I’m not doing this job to kind of sit in the corner or anything. These are big jobs. These are important jobs.

“There’s a lot of people out there that love the Minnesota Wild, and I’m trying to deliver something to them. We all are.”