Wild's Nick Foligno gives retirement update as contract expires

Wild's Nick Foligno gives retirement update as contract expires originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Minnesota Wild couldn't get past the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche, and it means their season is over.

That has brought the future into focus, and for a player like Nick Foligno, it means considering a new contract against the possibility of retirement.

Foligno is 38 years old and has played 1,287 NHL games. He certainly doesn't have to keep going.

But at this point, he's played professional hockey for half his life. It probably wouldn't be easy to stop, either.

Foligno provided some insight when he spoke with reporters on Friday, with The Athletic's Michael Russo sharing that Foligno "first needs to determine 100 percent he wants to play past this season."

As part of that conversation, Foligno did say he'd "love" to return to the Wild, but that could only be determined once he figured out for sure that he didn't want to retire.

Foligno also had a great joke about his contract desires compared to record-setting teammate Kirill Kaprizov:

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