Seattle Kraken Acquire Victor Rask
The Minnesota Wild have gotten out from under Victor Rask‘s contract, at least partially. The team has traded Rask to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for future considerations while retaining 50 percent of his remaining deal. Rask carries a cap hit of $4MM in the last season of a six-year, $24MM deal signed in 2016. Rask will report to the Charlotte Checkers, a team he once played for during his time in the Carolina Hurricanes organization.
Rask, 29, was once a young, exciting forward for the Hurricanes, scoring 62 goals and 157 points over his first four seasons in the league. Since then, however, he’s fallen completely off the map, even clearing waivers twice this year. Now the Wild are simply giving him away while retaining a portion of his contract, in order to clear a bit of cap space and a contract slot for the stretch run.
Minnesota added a good chunk of salary today with Marc-Andre Fleury, but still had more than enough space to fit everything in. In fact, with Rask in the minor leagues he was already only costing them $2.875MM against the cap, not that much different than what they’ll now carry. The fact that the Kraken immediately announced that he would report to their AHL affiliate makes this even more confusing, as it appears as though Rask won’t get an NHL opportunity in Seattle either–at least not right away.
Set to become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, it will be interesting to see if Rask even gets an NHL offer in the summer or returns to Sweden to continue his career overseas. At least the Checkers will be getting a nice boost–Rask has ten points in ten AHL games with the Iowa Wild this year.
Wild Acquire Marc-Andre Fleury; Trade Kaapo Kahkonen To Sharks
The reigning Vezina Trophy winner has been traded again. The Chicago Blackhawks have traded Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild, in exchange for a conditional second-round draft pick in 2022. If Minnesota advances to the Western Conference Final and Fleury wins a minimum of four games in the first two rounds combined, the pick will upgrade to a 2022 first-round pick. Chicago is also retaining 50 percent of Fleury’s contract.
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson released the following statement:
This trade immediately puts us in a better position at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, giving us a pick that will land early in the draft. We are in a better position today at the upcoming draft than we were yesterday. In a short time with the Blackhawks, Marc-Andre made quite an impression on our fanbase and in our locker room. We appreciate his willingness to work with us on finding a deal that worked for everyone.
In a related move, the Wild have traded Kaapo Kahkonen and a 2022 fifth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Jacob Middleton.
As recently as last night, the talks between Minnesota and Chicago appeared to have broken down, as the veteran netminder took the crease for the Blackhawks against the Winnipeg Jets. Fleury ended up losing that game, allowing five goals on 31 shots. That performance notwithstanding, he’ll offer a huge experience upgrade over Kahkonen as the Wild continue their pursuit of the Stanley Cup.
Fleury, 37, won the Vezina with the Vegas Golden Knights last season in the most impressive year of his career, but ended up shipped out to the Blackhawks in a shocking offseason move. From the moment it happened, Fleury’s days in Chicago seemed numbered, given his expiring contract and the lack of competitiveness from the Blackhawks after games started. The question was always would he even want to be traded somewhere else, as he ended up with a handshake no-movement clause after arriving in Chicago.
Minnesota now has a netminder with over 900 regular season games of NHL experience, plus three Stanley Cup rings on his shelf. Still, that certainly doesn’t mean he’s ready to take the Wild all the way. In both of the last two championships he won in Pittsburgh, Matt Murray took over the net at some point in the playoffs, and a similar change happened in Vegas when they brought in Robin Lehner. Over 162 career playoff games, Fleury has just a .912 save percentage, not exactly what most teams need to go all the way.
Among executives in the league who know what Fleury can bring though, Wild GM Bill Guerin certainly ranks pretty high. Their time in Pittsburgh together was quite successful, and now they’ll try to do it one more time before Fleury’s career wraps up in the coming years (or months).
He’ll still have another goaltender to lean on with Cam Talbot, but the fact that Minnesota felt Kahkonen was expendable certainly shows how all-in Guerin is this season. The Wild have huge cap penalties coming next season due to the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts, meaning this year may be their best chance to contend. Giving up a conditional first-round pick may be a pricey decision for a rental goaltender, but it’s hard to argue against the resume that they’ve brought in.
In dealing Kahkonen to San Jose, the Wild have also shored up the defensive side of the puck by adding a big, mean, physical player in Middleton. The 6’3″, 220-lbs defenseman has finally broken through and become a regular in the NHL this season, averaging more than 18 minutes a night. With the additional acquisition of Nicolas Deslauriers, the Wild have added plenty of size to the lineup to go on a deep postseason run.
For San Jose, adding Kahkonen gives them a potential future starter, though things haven’t gone perfectly so far in his young career. The 25-year-old has a .910 save percentage this season in 25 games. Importantly, he’s also a pending restricted free agent, one that the Wild would have had to give a hefty raise despite still paying Talbot next season. For the Sharks, they now have two younger goaltenders–along with the injured Adin Hill–who could both provide some great value moving forward.
Sharks acting general manager Joe Will released a statement on Kahkonen:
Kaapo is a quick, athletic goaltender who has shown the ability to win consistently at every level he has played. He provides our club additional depth at the goaltending position this season and in the coming years.
Questions will now be asked about James Reimer though, who currently sits as the starter for the Sharks and is signed through next season. There isn’t really room for all three, meaning at some point–either today or in the summer–there could be a market for San Jose to move Reimer out.
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff was first to provide the full details of the Fleury trade, while Michael Russo of The Athletic broke the Kahkonen trade a few minutes after Fleury was acquired.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Wild Have Discussed Marc-Andre Fleury With Chicago Blackhawks
An interesting story circulated today with a new team being added to the watch-list for goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury: the Minnesota Wild. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned earlier that the Wild and the Chicago Blackhawks have had conversations about the veteran goaltender and that it was something to keep an eye on. Even if the two sides could agree on a deal, Fleury has a modified no-trade clause and the Blackhawks do not plan to trade him to a team without his approval, and thus, Fleury would have to want to be traded to the Wild.
Fleury has expressed his desire to try to help a team win a Stanley Cup, which the Wild appear poised to try to do. In last year’s Vezina Trophy winner, the Wild could find a pronounced upgrade over the struggling Cam Talbot. An All Star this season, Talbot has struggled greatly since his All Star appearance, posting an .886 save percentage over 10 games. Another factor in the Fleury talks worth considering is that Minnesota’s GM, Bill Guerin, won a Stanley Cup with Fleury and the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 2009, so there is an element of familiarity for Fleury in Minnesota.
Minnesota Wild Acquire Nicolas Deslauriers
The Minnesota Wild have acquired forward Nicolas Deslauriers from the Anaheim Ducks reports TSN’s Darren Dreger. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic adds that the Ducks will receive a 2023 third-round draft pick.
Rumors connecting Deslauriers to the Wild had begun to circulate earlier today, as The Athletic’s Michael Russo wrote, with the trade materializing moments ago. In Deslauriers, the Wild acquire a tough, gritty forward who currently has 210 hits and 90 penalty minutes to go along with five goals and five assists in 61 games for the Ducks this season. Wild head coach Dean Evason spoke about Deslauriers as a player that is tough to play against, but one who would fit right in with the rest of the Minnesota team. Evason also mentioned Deslauriers as someone the Wild had identified for some time now.
For their part, the Ducks are able to acquire a third-round pick in a 2023 draft that is considered to be rather deep for a player who only averages 11:38 of time on ice for them this season and who is a pending UFA. Although Deslauriers brought important skills to the table for a young Ducks team, a trade seemed inevitable and acquiring a third-round draft pick for the forward was something Anaheim and GM Pat Verbeek could not pass up.
Wild Offered Nico Sturm Long-Term Extension Before Trade With Colorado
- Prior to trading him to Colorado, the Wild offered center Nico Sturm a long-term contract extension, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription link). Obviously, that offer was rejected and he was instead traded for Tyson Jost. Speculatively, that offer would have been around the $2MM that Jost is making.
Trade Deadline Primer: Minnesota Wild
As we enter the middle of March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Minnesota Wild.
In the past two seasons, the Minnesota Wild have emerged from the mold of mediocrity thanks to the long-awaited arrival of Kirill Kaprizov. The team’s sights are now set on making it out of the First Round for the first time since 2015 and to the Conference Finals for the first time since 2003, although a recent skid evidenced by their 4-5-1 record in their past ten games has set them back on that path, seemingly. Third-year general manager Bill Guerin has already made one interesting swap this month, dealing Nico Sturm to Colorado for former top-ten pick Tyson Jost. With that cap-clearing move, many thought Guerin may be up to something bigger. They now have just two days left to capitalize on that open space, though, as March 21st’s deadline looms large.
Record
35-20-4, 3rd in the Central
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$10.526MM today, $11.053MM in full-season space, 0/3 retention slots used, 44/50 contracts per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: MIN 1st, MIN 2nd, MIN 3rd, MIN 4th, MIN 5th, SJS 5th, MIN 6th
2023: MIN 1st, MIN 2nd, MIN 3rd, MIN 4th, MIN 5th, MIN 6th, MIN 7th
Trade Chips
Eyebrows across all of the hockey world raised last summer when Guerin bought out the remaining four years of Zach Parise‘s and Ryan Suter‘s matching gigantic contracts, resulting in what could be crippling salary cap penalties in the next few seasons before the cost of the buyouts goes down. The penalty of those deals is set to increase by ~$8MM this offseason, so this deadline is likely the most flexibility to move the Wild will have for the next four years.
One position Minnesota will likely deal from to make a trade is defense. Skilled drafting in the past few seasons by Guerin and co. has resulted in an incredibly deep all-around pool, but at this point, the defense (especially left defense) is becoming overcrowded with what look like surefire NHLers. Seemingly, the most likely of these names to be dealt is one of Ryan O’Rourke and Daemon Hunt. A second-round and third-round selection by the team in 2020, respectively, O’Rourke and Hunt have continued their torrid upward development since Draft Day, with O’Rourke playing for Canada at the abruptly-cancelled 2021 World Junior Championships. With 21-year-old Calen Addison in the mix, as well as 2021 selections Carson Lambos and Jack Peart, the Wild can deal from this position comfortably.
While the team won’t be dealing top prospects like Marco Rossi and Jesper Wallstedt, a name at forward they could look at moving is Marat Khusnutdinov. A great budding two-way center, Khusnutdinov had 12 points in 32 KHL games this season and has two more seasons remaining on his contract there. He’d be a bit of a project, but still is at least a B-grade prospect and carries significant weight in a trade.
Other Names To Watch For: F Victor Rask ($4MM, pending UFA), top picks in 2022 and 2023
Team Needs
1) Another Center — It’s entirely feasible that the Wild won’t go big-game hunting on the wings due to the emergence of Matt Boldy and the success of Jordan Greenway and Marcus Foligno on the team’s third/checking line. But they could look to add another player who can slot in at center in the middle-six. While he hasn’t played center in quite a long time, the Wild are reported to have some amount of interest in Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell, who could shuffle around forward positions as need dictates. They could also look to acquire another winger for the fourth line (a Cal Clutterbuck reunion?), giving competition to Brandon Duhaime, Nick Bjugstad, and Connor Dewar.
2) Depth Defenseman — Calen Addison hasn’t managed to carve out a regular NHL role just quite yet, and Jordie Benn just hasn’t cut it as an NHL defenseman for this team. While their bottom pairing of Jon Merrill and Dmitry Kulikov is fine at worst, injuries happen and having one of those two as your seventh defenseman is a good place to be in. A name like Brett Kulak or Justin Braun makes a lot of sense, especially to help shore up their penalty kill, which has been in free-fall mode recently.
Interest Rising For Jack McBain
One of the more interesting stories around this season’s trade deadline is unsigned college prospect, Jack McBain. The rights to the Minnesota Wild draft pick are expected to be traded in the next few days, as McBain has apparently made it clear he will not be signing with Minnesota and would instead test free agency this summer. He could reach unrestricted free agency in the middle of August, at which point the Wild would receive no compensation and essentially lose the third-round pick they used on McBain in 2018.
Now 22, the Boston College star could sign and play with a team this season, adding an impressive 6’4″ forward into the mix. In 24 games at BC this season he scored 19 goals and 33 points, while also attending the Olympics with Team Canada. The asking price was believed to be a second-round pick, though Darren Dreger of TSN suggests it could even be climbing as multiple teams join the hunt to try and get him signed.
Selected 63rd overall in 2018, McBain was the first pick of the third round and could quickly become one of the steals of the draft should his college production carry over to the professional ranks. Big, two-way centers aren’t easy to come by, and given the sneaky amount of skill that McBain possesses, there may even be more than the bottom-six pivot he still projects as. If he can carve out a role similar to Joel Eriksson Ek, for instance, he would obviously be worth even more than a second-round pick.
That’s obviously not a guarantee though, and as contenders load up on rentals, McBain’s future may lie with a team not quite as close to the top. Prospects in a situation like this often chase the best opportunity, not necessarily the best team, as they hope to make an impact early on. Given that he’s already 22, McBain will be signing a two-year entry-level contract, meaning he’ll be set to reach restricted free agency by the end of 2022-23. If he wants to have NHL stats to take into a negotiation, finding a home with a less impressive depth chart may be the way to go.
Minnesota Wild Acquire Tyson Jost
The Colorado Avalanche are getting their trades done ahead of Monday’s deadline, this time dealing Tyson Jost to the Minnesota Wild. The Avalanche will receive Nico Sturm in return, opening up another chunk of cap space for any future moves.
Jost, who turned 24 just yesterday, never did quite fulfill his potential in Colorado. In parts of six seasons and more than 300 games, the 2016 tenth-overall pick set career-highs of just 12 goals and 26 points while hardly ever finding himself in the top-six. A part-time center, he has just six goals and 14 points in 59 games this season and his possession metrics have cratered.
It will be interesting to see where he fits into the Minnesota lineup, but the Wild aren’t just buying a rental here. Jost is signed through 2022-23 at a $2MM cap hit and will still be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent at the end of his current deal. At the very worst he’ll be another bottom-six option for head coach Dean Evason to try and fit into the right spot, but perhaps he can bring even more to the table when he’s not stuck behind some of the other more offensively talented forwards in Colorado.
In Sturm, the Wild aren’t giving up a ton, especially given he was signed as an undrafted college free agent a few years ago. The 26-year-old has nine goals and 17 points in 53 games this season and can provide some size to the Colorado lineup while only costing $750K against the cap. That’s the clear win here for the Avalanche, who have cleared a good bit of room that they can then use on someone else. Sturm had been scratched the last few games in Minnesota and is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, so this is no long-term play by the Avalanche. Still, the team did release a statement on their newest player:
Nico is a big, strong forward who also brings a heavy defensive presence. He is a defensive-minded center who can chip in offensively, is good on draws and can contribute on the penalty kill. We would like to thank Tyson for everything he has brought to our team over the last five seasons, not just on the ice, but in the generous and impactful work he has done throughout the community.
With an extra $1.25MM shaved off their books, Colorado general manager Joe Sakic is now primed to make an even bigger splash than the Josh Manson acquisition from yesterday. Rumors continue to swirl around Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux, who is slated to play in his 1,000th game on Thursday, though there are other high-priced targets that the Avalanche could now target. No matter who it is, it’s obvious that Sakic is willing to push his chips into the middle this season and go for the Stanley Cup with one of the most talented rosters in the NHL.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Calen Addison Sent To AHL Iowa
- The Wild announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned defenseman Calen Addison back to Iowa of the AHL. The 21-year-old was brought up three weeks ago and got into six games with Minnesota in that stretch, averaging just under 14 minutes. However, with eight blueliners on the active roster, they’ve decided that playing top minutes in the minors makes more sense for Addison at this time.
Snapshots: Kotkaniemi, Staal, Foligno
Nothing has really been definitive on the various reports of a Jesperi Kotkaniemi extension in Carolina over the past 24 hours, and now there’s some clarity why. CapFriendly reports that Kotkaniemi, as a result of the 2020 Memorandum of Understanding that the league and NHLPA passed prior to the bubble playoffs, can’t actually sign his eight-year extension until after this year’s Trade Deadline. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported yesterday afternoon that an extension between the two parties was on the horizon, with Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland then reporting an eight-year extension in the $4.25MM-$4.5MM range while PuckPedia pegs it at $4.82MM. The hockey world will need to wait at least a week and a half to learn the official deal, however.
Some other Saturday morning notes:
- Detroit Red Wings defenseman Marc Staal will become the third Staal brother to play 1,000 NHL games tonight, setting a record in the process. It’ll be the first time in NHL history that three brothers will have played in 1,000 or more games, besting out the Sutter and Stastny families, among others. He’ll set the marker at the Saddledome in Calgary.
- The Wild’s Marcus Foligno has been under scrutiny from NHL Player Safety for a variety of plays this season, and they may be handing out a punishment to ‘Moose’ once again in the form of a fine. The Athletic’s Michael Russo says that while he’s likely to escape a suspension for a knee-on-knee collision with Columbus’ Jakub Voracek last night, he could see a fine in the near future. Update: That fine did indeed come with the Department of Player Safety issuing a $5K penalty.