from Michael Russo of the Star Tribune,

The Wild has about $9 million of salary cap space with only 15 players signed. If the Wild needs more space, which is very likely, a league source said Thursday that Fletcher has informed veteran Thomas Vanek’s agent that he may need to buy out the final year of Vanek’s contract by Thursday’s deadline.

That would free up $5 million.

“There’s been no final decision, but it’s certainly under consideration,” the source said. Fletcher, too, admitted that earlier this week.

There’s no doubt the Wild’s looking for a forward, preferably a center. The cost could be a young defenseman like Jonas Brodin or Marco Scandella, who are signed to lucrative long-term deals, or restricted free agent Matt Dumba.

“This is something that could linger through the summer or even into the fall. I think there’s going to be other opportunities this year for different reasons to make changes at a later date,” said Fletcher, referring to teams either eclipsing the cap ceiling this summer and having to later get compliant or having to set the table for next summer’s expansion draft.

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added 3:11pm,