Report card grades for all 31 NHL teams at the trade deadline

Minnesota Wild: C+

Minnesota did not make any substantial, lineup changing moves this deadline, but it did address some depth on the blue line. General manager Chuck Fletcher once again has the Minnesota Wild in a playoff position as the season winds down. It won’t be an easy path for the Wild in the playoffs, as they must navigate the Central division with Nashville and Winnipeg. It is surprising that the Wild did not make any improvements to their roster.

Minnesota sent defenseman Mike Reilly to the Montreal Canadiens and collected a 2019 fifth-round draft pick. Reilly was rotating in and out of the lineup before the trade. He was talented with the puck, but he just was missing a little something defensively. The Wild were able to receive defenseman Viktor Loov from New Jersey for two prospects: Mario Lucia and Christoph Bertschy. Loov is a depth defenseman who is steady; he will not surprise anyone with his offensive talent, but he is a reliable replacement if a regular defenseman is injured.

Fletcher probably has a feeling that this isn’t the year for the Wild. Nashville is a Stanley Cup favorite, and Winnipeg is playing good hockey. The current Wild lineup is good enough to upset those teams, but they are not quite good enough to invest a lot of future capital in. He did not spend big at the deadline to make the Wild a contender. This strategy saved future assets for the Wild while keeping them competitive by not dumping assets, either. The conservative strategy this year makes sense for the Wild, and because they followed through with it, they scored a C+.