The Minnesota Wild have lost six of their last seven games and are 6-9-2 since the five-game winning streak that had fans hoping they could climb back into the playoff picture. That disappointing month has the team back in last place in the Central Division and eight points out of a playoff spot (with three teams between them and the wild card as well). With that in mind, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that GM Bill Guerin is considering selling off assets at the trade deadline. Darren Dreger of TSN reported as much on tonight’s edition of Insider Trading:
Another team to watch is the Minnesota Wild. I’m told that Bill Guerin is open for business, and part of the trade bait list could include veteran defenseman Mathew Dumba.
It might be surprising to hear Dumba’s name as part of the speculation. Just two seasons ago as a 23-year old he was a 50-point defenseman for the Wild, while also providing a physical presence every night. The seventh overall pick from 2012 is also right-handed and logs huge minutes every night, but after missing more than half of 2018-19 with a ruptured pectoral muscle hasn’t been able to find his offensive game.
Now 25, Dumba has just 13 points in 46 games this season and just seven of those have come at even-strength. While his shooting percentage of 2.7% is way under his career average, it’s obvious he hasn’t had the season many had hoped for.
Still, with a contract that extends through the 2022-23 season he still could be a valuable piece for the Wild to start a shake-up. Dumba carries a $6MM cap hit for those next three years, but doesn’t see his modified no-trade clause kick in until 2021. The team committed big money to another right-handed defensemen when they signed Jared Spurgeon to a seven-year, $53MM extension in September and still obviously have the contract of Ryan Suter to worry about on the back end.
While Dumba is obviously a useful player, if Guerin is looking to acquire some more financial flexibility he may be one of the only big tickets on the team (along with Jason Zucker) that could really bring back a substantial return. If the team is really “open for business,” Guerin may not be waiting until the offseason to make a change.
Blow it up. Blow it tf up. Like a sexxxdoll & pump it til it burps ur load back at you
not sure I agree with you but hell yeah, I think
Oddly specific when a simple “blow it up” would’ve sufficed
Talk about detailed! Lol
Mm load
The worst thing for a team is to be mediocre and be in the race for the last playoff spot every year. If you are going to stink then do it right. It’s time for a full rebuild.
Blow it up!!!!!!!!! I’m ready for some fresh faces on this roster
I’m all for a complete retooling of this team. People have lost interest. Nothing has really changed in recent years. You have 2 contracts that are strangling them and you have a goalie that’s done. It’s fine to trade away some players…Koivu Dumba Zuccarello Dubnyk…get some draft picks in return. They’ll never win with Parise and Suter suffocating the salary cap. Let’s hope Guerin can get this ship going on the right direction in the next two years. It’s hard to watch at this point.