NHL: News: The two star players of the championship favorite are hitting the free market

The Minnesota Wild, once again one of the favorites for the NHL championship next season, has made significant changes to its roster just moments before the opening of the free agent market.

The team will not offer contract extensions to veteran forwards Vladimir Tarasenko, Mats Zuccarello, or Bobby Brink. As a result of this decision, all three will become unrestricted free agents when the market opens on Wednesday.

Two-time Stanley Cup champion Tarasenko, 34, spent only one season with the Wild. The Russian winger recorded 23 goals and 24 assists for a total of 47 points in 75 regular season games. Including the playoffs, he has played over 1000 games in the NHL.

Meanwhile, 38-year-old Zuccarello is leaving Minnesota after a long shared journey.

The Norwegian veteran represented the Wild for seven seasons and proved last year that he is still an effective scorer at the NHL level, accumulating 15 goals and 39 assists for 54 points in 59 regular season games. In the playoffs, he continued his strong performance, finishing with 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points in eight games.

24-year-old Brink arrived at the Wild at the trade deadline from the Philadelphia Flyers, but his visit to Minnesota will be brief. The 173 cm winger played a total of 17 games in Minnesota, including the regular season and playoffs, recording 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points.

The departure of the trio significantly frees up space for the Wild to reshape its roster before the start of the new NHL season.