Late last night, the Vegas Golden Knights decided to flip defenseman Brad Hunt to the Minnesota Wild, acquiring a 2019 fifth-round pick for the defenseman. The Golden Knights will also be sending a 2019 sixth-round pick to the Wild, meaning they’ve only moved up a single round—though, given their places in the standings it could certainly be more than 31 spots higher. In fact, the Wild will be sending the better of the two fifths (their own and Washington’s) they currently have.
Hunt, 30, has played just 13 games for the Golden Knights this year after surprising many with his play during their inaugural season. The veteran minor league defenseman had played just 33 NHL contests coming into 2017-18 with Vegas, but ended up suiting up 45 times and recording 18 points. Always an offensive producer at the AHL level, he has continued that production in the NHL and will now try to give a little more juice to the Minnesota blue line.
As a pending unrestricted free agent, Hunt will be playing for his next contract as well as trying to show that he can be a full-time contributor at the highest level while with Minnesota. The Wild are holding onto the final playoff spot in the Central Division by the slimmest of margins and have shaken up their squad of late with the additions of Pontus Aberg and Victor Rask. Those changes very well could continue as GM Paul Fenton looks to push his team over the top and compete while they still have their core in tact.