from Michael Russo of the Star Tribune,

The NHL’s salary cap next year is $64.3 million. The Wild is being hit with a bonus overage of roughly $400,000 for exceeding the cap last year.

That means the Wild’s cap ceiling is about $63.9 million, probably less. Buffalo is picking up roughly $800,000 of Jason Pominville’s salary, but the Wild still has a $927,778 buyout charge for Mark Parrish. The Wild picked up Niederreiter, who makes $810,000 but technically has a cap hit of $2.795 million because of potential performance bonuses.

Teams can exceed the cap ceiling by 7.5 percent for all hypothetical entry-level bonuses. Oh, and remember, all teams can exceed the cap ceiling during the offseason by 10 percent until opening-night rosters must be submitted....

It’s clear Fletcher still is working the trade market. It wouldn’t be shocking if Devin Setoguchi, who is entering the last year of his contract, became expendable by Niederreiter’s acquisition. He has a $3 million cap hit. Could there be some way to trade Dany Heatley and his $7.5 million cap hit this summer? Seems doubtful, but his real money is $5 million. The Wild also still is trying to trade fourth-line center Zenon Konopka ($925,000).

And, defenseman Tom Gilbert might be a buyout casualty by Thursday. It would cost the Wild only $1 million the next two years in real dollars but would clear $4 million off the cap next season.

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