Key departure

Marc-Andre Fleury, G: The 40-year-old retired after 21 NHL seasons, the final four with the Wild. The three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2009, 2016, 2017) is second all-time among NHL goalies in wins (575), games played (1,051) and time on ice (60,669:03) behind Martin Brodeur (691; 1,266; 74,438:25). Fleury finished his final season 14-9-1 with a 2.93 goals-against average, .899 save percentage and one shutout in 26 games (22 starts).\\ Gustav Nyquist, F:** Signed a one-year contract with the Jets on July 2 after he had seven points (two goals, five assists) in 22 games with Minnesota following a trade from the Nashville Predators on March 1.

On the cusp

Zeev Buium, D: The 19-year-old made his NHL debut April 20, in Game 1 of the first round (a 4-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights), after signing a three-year, entry-level contract April 19. He had one assist in four playoff games and is projected to be a big offensive contributor. … Liam Ohgren, F: The 21-year-old had five points (two goals, three assists) in 24 games with Minnesota and 37 points (19 goals, 18 assists) in 41 games with Iowa of the American Hockey League. With the need for more forward depth in the bottom six, the No. 19 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft could find a permanent spot on the NHL roster.

What they still need

Center and forward depth. Sturm adds a center strong on face-offs (56.5 percent in his career), and Joel Eriksson Ek, limited to 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) in 46 games last season, has proven to be a true No. 1 center. But with Marco Rossi still a restricted free agent, there remains uncertainty through the middle for the Wild. In addition, there remains a need for scoring to ease the burden on forward Kirill Kaprizov, who was third on the Wild with 56 points (25 goals, 31 assists) despite playing 41 games because of injury; he had led the Wild in scoring each of the previous four seasons.

They said it

“We added a scoring winger [Tarasenko], somebody that’s very motivated to have a good year, somebody that I think fits with the way we play. We added one of the premier face-off guys in the league [Sturm]. I think that checks two of the boxes that we were looking to check. I also think it’s nice because we’re going to have this injection of youth on our team. We have five first-round picks that are going to be pushing for spots on the team, and I think that says a lot to where we are now and where we can be in the future.” — general manager Bill Guerin

EDGE stat to watch

Goalie Filip Gustavsson ranked eighth in the NHL in high-danger save percentage (.829) last season and also was among the top three in midrange saves (441; third) and long-range saves (403; second). The 27-year-old, who is in the final season of a three-year contract and can become an unrestricted free agent after this season, had 37 games with a .900 or better save percentage, ranking third in that category behind Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets (44) and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lighting (39). — Troy Perlowitz