ST. PAUL, Minn. — Marcus Foligno figures he’ll have many conversations about his brother Nick’s future around the campfire at their neighboring Sudbury, Ontario, cabins in the coming weeks.They lived out their dream together of being teammates with the Minnesota Wild this season after Nick got acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks at the March trade deadline. They were able to chase the Stanley Cup together, albeit falling short in the second round against the Colorado Avalanche.Marcus believes Nick has plenty more to give and will come back — and that it will be for a reunion in Minnesota, if so. But he won’t know that for sure until Nick shows up at their first summer workout session.“It’s up to Nick, his energy level and what he has left in the tank,” Marcus told The Athletic. “I do believe, and we’ve talked about it — if there’s a chance to come back for one more year, it’d be a no-brainer to come back to Minnesota and try to do this thing to win the Cup. That’s the big thing. We had so much fun together.“He loves the guys in the room. Nick showed he’s a great role piece for this team and can do some damage when it matters the most. He likes the makeup of the team. He wants to win the Cup. We all do. But it all comes down to walking into that first workout and saying, ‘Let’s do this,’ or ‘I’m done.’”Nick said on Friday that he’d love to come back and play. But as time goes on and reality hits him, he wants to be sure he’s 100 percent committed.“I owe it to (my family), I owe it to myself, I owe it to the team I want to play for that I’m all in,” Nick said.One of eight pending unrestricted free agents for the Wild, Nick was a good fit after the trade, becoming a fixture in the bottom six and on the penalty kill and a respected voice in the room. Nick and Marcus were often linemates, including when Nick scored two goals in Game 5 against the Avalanche.Nick would have to take a big cut on last year’s cap hit of $4.5 million, and Marcus said his brother understands that and would be willing.“Once you get up there in age, you make pretty good coin in your career,” Marcus said. “To run it back one more year and try to win, finances might be a little bit less. He understands that.”Nick joked, “Well, I’m looking for a little less than Kirill (Kaprizov) — like $16 million, and then I think we’ll make it work.”“Nah, you know what, listen — I got to live out a dream with Marcus, and not just Marcus, with these guys,” he added. “I really enjoyed this group. Take away the fact I finally got to play with my little brother and experience that, which was a thrill of a lifetime for our family, for us. I still think we had moments, even as months went on, of just, ‘This is really cool. We’re really doing this.’ And then to play in the playoffs, the high stakes, and seeing him out there and how he played and performed and doing that together, it was special.
Will Nick Foligno return to the Wild? Mutual interest, and Marcus votes yes: ‘One more year in Minny’
Foligno was a good fit with the Wild after arriving in a trade ahead of the deadline. But does he have another year in him?











