Minnesota Wild “Can’t Trade Draft Picks” As Deadline Nears
The Minnesota Wild have been a very good team for a very long time. Six straight playoff appearances with a 247-158-53 record over that time proved it, but former GM Chuck Fletcher still received the boot last offseason because of the lack of postseason success. In those six appearances, the Wild never progressed past the second round and haven’t had a sniff of the Stanley Cup. This year, under the direction of new GM Paul Fenton, the Wild are a good team once again. With a 26-21-3 record Minnesota currently holds the third playoff spot in the Central Division and would surprise no one if they announced themselves as buyers at next month’s trade deadline. If they are buyers though, Fenton won’t be selling off the future this time around.
In a wide ranging interview with The Athletic’s Michael Russo (subscription required), Fenton explains his team’s position this season and how he simply won’t mortgage the future anymore to try and take this group to the Stanley Cup Finals. Very simply, Fenton explains that the Wild “can’t trade draft picks” given the lack of prospect development over the last few years.
Though the Wild did hold onto their first-round pick last June—selecting Filip Johansson, who continues to develop in Sweden—there’s not a ton left in the prospect cupboard for Minnesota. The team’s first selection in 2017 was 85th overall, while 2015 and 2016 produced Luke Kunin, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jordan Greenway who have all basically graduated to the NHL, regardless of what you might think of their production at this point. 2014 brought Alex Tuch, but he was lost in a Vegas Golden Knights expansion deal that sent Erik Haula to the sin city.
There are other names, including high-flying Russian star Kirill Kaprizov who may or may not ever appear in a Minnesota sweater, but for the most part the Wild’s system needs some talent injected into it from a full draft class. Even that looks impossible this year as the team still owes Arizona a fourth-round pick from the Martin Hanzal deal of two years ago and has already sent a fifth-round pick for Brad Hunt in recent days. At this point, selling off any more draft picks would make it a quiet day in June at the draft in Vancouver.
So, “hockey trades” are in order for Minnesota like the one they made earlier this month with the Carolina Hurricanes. There is work for Fenton to do on an aging roster, but he certainly doesn’t sound like he’ll be in the rental business next month, unless he’s the one selling. The team does have a huge trade chip in pending unrestricted free agent Eric Staal, but the team would likely have to fall out of the running to make a move like that, according to Russo.
Minor Transactions: 01/24/19
The league is has gone dark as they prepare for the All-Star festivities to start tomorrow, and with it teams will be sending their eligible players down to the minor leagues. This is done to save a few days of cap space and give young players a chance to continue their development. As always, we’ll keep track of all the minor moves right here.
- Along with Jordan Kyrou and Jordan Nolan who were sent down yesterday, the St. Louis Blues have assigned Mackenzie MacEachern and Sammy Blais to the minor leagues over the break. The Blues don’t play again until February 2nd, meaning the set of forwards can get some extra ice time in for the San Antonio Rampage.
- Colin Blackwell has been sent down by the Nashville Predators, returning the 25-year old center to the Milwaukee Admirals after three games in the NHL. Blackwell is still waiting to register his first NHL point, and could get that chance later on in the year.
- After bringing up Ryan Graves for last night’s game, the Colorado Avalanche have returned him to the minor leagues. Graves will be accompanied by both Dominic Toninato and Sheldon Dries, two other waiver-exempt players that can spend the break in the AHL.
- The Carolina Hurricanes have returned Alex Nedeljkovic to the minors where he’ll resume starting for the Charlotte Checkers, and Haydn Fleury has also been sent down to get some more ice time. Fleury has been a regular scratch in the NHL this season as the odd man out among the Carolina defense corps.
- Trevor Moore played again for the Toronto Maple Leafs last night but is now on his way back down to the AHL to participate in that league’s All-Star game. The speedy forward has made quite the impact this season with 19 goals in 32 AHL contests.
- Joel Eriksson Ek spent some time in the minor leagues earlier this year to get his game right, and now he’ll get another chance to hone his skills in the AHL. Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin have both been sent down for the time being, though one or both could see a recall immediately after the break.
- The Vegas Golden Knights have flipped backup goaltenders, sending Maxime Lagace back down and recalled Oscar Dansk. Dansk won’t be starting anytime soon for the Golden Knights, but will receive a bigger paycheck while the team lets Lagace get back on the ice.
Ondrej Kase Out 5-6 Months With Torn Labrum
The Anaheim Ducks’ playoff odds just took a major hit. The team has announced this evening that young forward Ondrej Kase suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder in last Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Wild. The injury will require surgery, scheduled for next week, and Kase will miss the next five to six months for recovery. His season is over.
Kase, 23, had been on pace for the best season of his career despite missing 20 games already. In the 30 games he had played for the Ducks, Kase has registered 20 points and trailed only Ryan Getzlaf in points-per-game for the team. Kase is developing into dynamic right wing and a dependable one at that. In the first season of a three-year extension worth $2.6MM against the cap each year, Kase is already looking like an immense bargain for Anaheim. However, the concern moving forward is whether the upstart Czech winger can stay healthy.
Yet, the more pressing concern for the Ducks is their fate this season. GM Bob Murray has been busy lately reshaping his roster for a playoff push, but he likely won’t be able to replace Kase’s production internally and probably will be unwilling to pay the price to replace him via trade. Fortunately, Corey Perry, Patrick Eaves, and Jakob Silfverberg should all be back in the lineup sooner rather than later, providing a nice boost up front. However, Anaheim is one of seven teams currently competing for just two wild card spots in the Western Conference and likely needed their team at full strength – including Kase – to ensure they were able to secure a playoff berth. This injury could convince Murray to swing another deal or instead could switch the Ducks into selling mode. Only time will tell, but no good will come from losing the scoring punch that Kase provided.
Brad Hunt Traded To Minnesota Wild
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.
Minor Transactions: 01/18/19
Seven games are on tap for tonight across the NHL, including a prime time matchup between the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals. The Islanders are trying to prove all of their doubters wrong and continue to compete in the Metropolitan Division, while the Capitals are ready to contend for their second Stanley Cup. As teams prepare for tonight’s action, we’ll keep track of all the movement around the league.
- The Nashville Predators have placed Zac Rinaldo on injured reserve, though the physical forward hasn’t played since the beginning of the month. Rinaldo has actually played 23 games for the Predators this year, more than many expected when he signed a one-year two-way deal in the summer.
- The New York Rangers have flipped backup goaltenders once again, sending Alexandar Georgiev to the Hartford Wolf Pack and recalling Marek Mazanec. The team has been making these moves all season in order to keep their backups fresh, and the two will likely be flipped back within a few days.
- The Minnesota Wild have recalled defenseman Louis Belpedio from Iowa of the AHL. With Mathew Dumba on IR, Minnesota has been running with six defenders for the last little while. Belpedio has 10 points in 40 minor league games this season and has two assists in his lone career NHL contest.
- The Dallas Stars have brought back winger Denis Gurianov from AHL Texas. The 21-year-old impressed in an 11-game stint earlier this season and has been quite productive in the minors with 31 points in 29 games. Dallas has scored just three goals in the last four games so they’ll likely be hoping that Gurianov can help give them a lift offensively.
Trade Rumors: Hurricanes, Oilers, Nylander
The Carolina Hurricanes struck arguably the biggest trade of the regular season so far when they acquired Nino Niederreiter from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Victor Rask earlier today. However, GM Don Waddell is likely far from done. Not long after the deal was announced this afternoon, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun stated that the Hurricanes are still looking to add to their roster. LeBrun speculates that the team will add another top-six forward and will try to tap into their surplus of defensemen and defensive prospects to do so. The Hurricanes have the NHL’s longest playoff drought at nine seasons and would very much like to get back to the postseason this year and are well within striking distance of that goal past the midpoint of the season. While the team has succeeded in many areas this season, they continue to have struggles with scoring and, as LeBrun points out, could desperately use another talented forward. Yet, at the same time, the Hurricanes are also reportedly open to moving one of their most successful scoring forwards this season, Micheal Ferland. Ferland is on pace for a career season in his first year in Carolina, but the two sides had been unable to come to terms on an extension. Following the addition of a very similar player in Niederreiter, Ferland’s time in Carolina could soon be coming to an end. Between listening to offers on one highly-sought after rental forward and actively in pursuit of another top name on the market, the Hurricanes promise to remain in the rumor mill through the trade deadline next month and should have some more fireworks in store.
- Another team desperate to make the playoffs this season are the Edmonton Oilers. While the Oilers are reportedly willing to move a number of assets for long-term forward help, the hype surrounding a possible Jesse Puljujarvi trade appears to be cooling off and GM Peter Chiarelli may opt for adding an affordable rental rather than making another high-risk trade. In his latest “31 Thoughts” column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman names the Oilers as a suitor for the New York Rangers’ Mats Zuccarello. The veteran winger has been hot lately and could certainly help with Edmonton’s scoring woes down the stretch. As Friedman points out, and the Oilers surely know as well, Zuccarello also should not be too expensive to acquire. The Rangers received a second-round pick and middling prospect from the New Jersey Devils at the trade deadline last season for Michael Grabner, who was in the midst of a season not dissimilar from Zuccarello’s this year and was also an impending free agent. Chiarelli and company would likely be happy to give up a package such as that to add much-needed help up front.
- William Nylander is finally under contract and playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it’s been a slow start for the young forward in his return to action and an equally disappointing result for his team since his return. Making too much of that could be a mistake, but facing an impending salary cap crunch and mounting Stanley Cup expectations, GM Kyle Dubas and the Leafs brass have little room for error. Count former Toronto GM Brian Burke among those who would jettison Nylander as soon as possible if they were in Dubas’ shoes. Burke said on Sportsnet today that the front-loaded nature of Nylander’s contract should allow the team to move him and he expects that trade to occur this off-season. Burke acknowledges that Nylander is a talented player, but doesn’t agree with his nearly $7MM yearly cap hit and feels he is too similar to other players on the Leafs’ roster and considers him to be a costly “surplus player”. Whether Dubas and company agree with that assessment remains to be seen, but a Nylander trade this summer is certainly not out of the question.
Carolina Hurricanes Trade Victor Rask For Nino Niederreiter
The Carolina Hurricanes have made another huge trade to change up their core group of forwards, this time sending Victor Rask to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Nino Niederreiter. Both teams have struggled to find a ton of offense from their groups over the last few seasons, leading them to try and shake things up with a move like this.
At first blush, the deal seems to be a huge win for the Hurricanes given Rask’s incredible struggles this season. The 25-year old center has just six points in 26 games since returning from a freak hand injury in late November and has at times been relegated to fourth-line minutes in Carolina. That’s obviously not Rask’s ceiling, as he has twice previously recorded at least 45 points, but he wasn’t getting it done for the Hurricanes under Rod Brind’Amour and needed a fresh start elsewhere.
That’ll come in Minnesota where it’s unclear if Rask will stay in the middle of the ice. Charlie Coyle has been playing at the center position and finding great success, though he has plenty of experience on the wing where there is now a vacancy. Wild GM Paul Fenton had been clear that there were changes coming in Minnesota, and Niederreiter was one of the obvious candidates to be moved.
In fact, the bruising winger played just 9:31 in his final game for Minnesota after being dropped to the fourth line almost immediately after starting the game. Ironically he scored in those limited minutes and was successful in the shootout win to notch two points for the Wild over the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday night. That goal was just Niederreiter’s sixth even-strength tally of the season, a huge problem for a player who has made a living recording 20-goal seasons in the past. That sort of production is exactly what the Hurricanes are looking for, and Carolina GM Don Waddell called him a “proven goal-scorer” in the accompanying press release.
We wrote back in November how the Hurricanes needed help up front scoring goals, and that’s exactly what they’ll hope to accomplish with this addition. Niederreiter also fits right into the possession style that Carolina loves to employ, and is one of the better two-way wingers in the league. Still, the contract swap represents a $1.25MM increase for the Hurricanes through 2021-22 while Niederreiter immediately becomes the team’s highest-paid forward with Jordan Staal on injured reserve. He’ll be asked to do a lot in Carolina, and could even find himself on the top line in short order.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Wild Acquire Pontus Aberg From Ducks
The Wild have acquired winger Pontus Aberg from Anaheim in exchange for minor league center Justin Kloos. Both teams have announced the deal.
It has been an interesting year for Aberg. He was waived by Edmonton late in training camp and was claimed by Anaheim. However, less than a week later, he was back on the wire and with the Oilers passing on reclaiming him (as well as the rest of the league taking a pass), he was quickly assigned to San Diego of the AHL.
After just two games with the Gulls, Aberg was recalled to the Ducks and has done rather well. His 11 goals in 37 games are just one shy of the team lead and have more than doubled his career total of five heading into the season. Unfortunately for him and Anaheim, Aberg’s output has tailed off in recent weeks which has caused him to be a healthy scratch as of late.
The 25-year-old will add some depth on the wing for Minnesota at a cheap price. Aberg is in the second and final season of a two-year, one-way contract that pays him the league minimum $650K. He will be a restricted free agent this summer and will have salary arbitration eligibility. Minnesota GM Paul Fenton is familiar with Aberg having drafted him back in Nashville back in 2012.
As for Kloos, he has had a very productive season with Iowa of the AHL, leading the team in scoring with 30 points (12-18-30) in 34 games, putting him on pace to surpass the 50 points he put up in his first full AHL campaign last season. The 25-year-old will give the Ducks some extra firepower in the minors and the move allows them to get something in return for a player in Aberg that wasn’t likely to make it through waivers unclaimed once again. Kloos is in the final season of his entry-level contract with an NHL cap hit of just over $790K and he will also be arbitration-eligible this summer.
Michael Russo of The Athletic was the first to report that the two sides were discussing the trade.
Schedule For Upcoming NHL “Bye Weeks”
For the third year in a row, the NHL has scheduled a mandated multi-day break for each team in the middle part of the season. Meant to give each team a rest, much like the bye week in the National Football League, this break also includes limits on practice, including several days in which all team activities are prohibited. A seven-day break this season, on paper an increase from the original five-day break, the “bye week” is actually less intrusive this season than it has been in the past despite the longer length. All 31 teams will take their break either right before or right after the upcoming All-Star Weekend, with those two days counting toward the seven and simply extending what has always been a short break for non-participants. Below are the lists of teams who will take leave on one side of All-Star festivities or the other:
Before All-Star Weekend (January 20 – 24)
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
New Jersey Devils
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tampa Bay Lightning
Winnipeg Jets
After All-Star Weekend (January 27 – 31)
Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes
Calgary Flames
Carolina Hurricanes
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Detroit Red Wings
Edmonton Oilers
Florida Panthers
Los Angeles Kings
Minnesota Wild
Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators
New York Islanders
Ottawa Senators
San Jose Sharks
St. Louis Blues
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
Washington Capitals
How each team feels about taking an extended break in the middle of the season generally varies based on situational factors. While many players would enjoy getting to spend some time away with their families, others would rather keep the pedal to the metal mid-season. More specifically, a team that is playing well and stringing together wins would rather keep playing and not lose out on that momentum. Another team may be in a slump or struggling with injuries and desperately in need of a break. Either way, not every team will be in favor of the bye week each season.
There also remains some scheduling flaws with the mandated break, as most teams will only get the actual seven days or an eighth day off for travel, but others are set to go ten or eleven days without a contest. The “bye week” seems to be a move by the NHL that has enough support to continue in future seasons, but the league could work on sharpening the schedule so as to give teams as close to an even break as their competition as possible.
Central Notes: Montgomery, Jokiharju, Myers, Staal
Dallas Stars head coach Jim Montgomery was hoping for a more impressive performance Saturday against the St. Louis Blues. He spoke to the players about the importance of coming out strong against St. Louis in the second game with them in five games. Instead, the team didn’t come out at all and suffered a disappointing 3-1 loss, frustrating the head coach to no end as the team, according to NHL.com’s Mike Heika.
“It’s frustrating,” Montgomery said. “I’m very frustrated that I haven’t been able to gain consistency in our performance and I haven’t been able to change the culture of mediocrity.”
The team was already coming off a disappointing loss to the struggling Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday as the team looked uninterested throughout much of the game. The team hired Montgomery to turn the franchise around and develop a talented team into a constant playoff threat, but the team has been quite inconsistent despite being third in the Central Division with a 23-19-4 record for 50 points. Unfortunately, six teams are within five points of them in the Western Conference, so there is no guarantee that Dallas will even make the playoffs.
“There have been some times, after a horrible period, where it’s their room,” Montgomery said of finding ways to motivate the team. “‘You guys need to bring it forth.’ Unfortunately, there have been too many times where we have to think about how to motivate these guys. That’s a problem in and of itself that we have had to do that so many times this year already.”
- The Chicago Blackhawks, who continually are making adjustments on their defense, made a minor tweak to their defense Saturday night when the team moved right-handed defenseman Henri Jokiharju to the left side of the blueline, according to Jimmy Greenfield of the Chicago Tribune. The team hopes Jokiharju will make the conversion now because 2018 first-rounder Adam Boqvist is also a right-shot defenseman and would likely be more comfortable on the right. “I think he was pretty good (on the left),” head coach Jeremy Colliton said. “He looked comfortable to me, made some plays, defended pretty well. So that’s a positive.”
- Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun reports that Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice said that if defenseman Tyler Myers continues his progress, the veteran defenseman could be an option to return to the lineup Tuesday against Vegas. Myers missed Friday’s game against Detroit with a lower-body injury and is not expected to play tonight against Anaheim. The 6-foot-6 Myers is an instrumental figure in the team’s defense, especially while the team is without Dustin Byfuglien.
- Mike Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that if anyone is going to need a break when the all-star game hits, it will be the Minnesota Wild’s Eric Staal, who has really looked slow lately and is in one giant rut. The 34-year-old forward, who could end up being a potential trade candidate as the trade deadline nears, struggled throughout the game Saturday against Detroit and continues to commit multiple turnovers. He has just one goal in his past 13 games and has just 13 goals at the midway point in the season.