To put in perspective just how close the Wild are to the NHL's salary cap, general manager Chuck Fletcher used simple terms.
"We're a steak dinner for six at Manny's away from the cap," Fletcher joked. "So we've got lots of space as long as somebody doesn't order the double baked potato."
The Wild were able to call up forward Christoph Bertschy on Saturday without placing a player on the NHL's Long Term Injury list, which would offer cap relief.
But, partly because of how little room they and other NHL teams have before reaching the salary cap, a trade for a forward to help mitigate Zach Parise's absence due to a sprained medial collateral ligament seems doubtful.