3 offseason moves the Minnesota Wild need to make
Though the Minnesota Wild had a successful season by many accounts, they’re going to have to make some moves this offseason if they want to take the next step.
The Minnesota Wild fought quite admirably against the Vegas Golden Knights, taking the President’s Trophy runner-up all the way to seven games in their first round series. Their season came to an end thanks to a 6-2 loss on Friday night.
In many ways, the Wild had a very successful season. They finished as the third-place team in a competitive Honda West Division. Had they been in their normal Central Division, they would have finished second, behind only the Colorado Avalanche.
For the first time in years, the Wild were actually fun to watch. They have a reputation around the league for being quite boring and unexciting. For just the second time in franchise history, and the first time since the 2015-16 season, the Wild finished among the top 10 teams in goals scored. Led by rookie sensation and highlight-reel regular Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild were one of the most exciting teams in the league.
The Wild are a team on the verge of being something special. Their young players have taken significant steps forward. The Wild had to wait years for Kaprizov to come over from the KHL, but thus far, he has proven to be more than worth the wait. In order to take the next step forward and become serious Stanley Cup contenders, the Wild have to nail this offseason. Here’s a look at what they should do.
3. Trade or protect Matt Dumba
Matt Dumba has been on the trade block for most of the past two or three years. In 2017, the Wild wanted to protect their blueline, so they parted with Erik Haula and Alex Tuch to avoid losing one of their defensemen (likely either Dumba or Jonas Brodin) to the Golden Knights. Even though Tuch has turned out to be a very good player for Vegas, the Wild were wise to protect their defensemen.
The Seattle Kraken expansion draft is going to be different. Minnesota has two choices. They can either protect four defensemen and four forwards or they can protect three defensemen and seven forwards. Three of their defensemen (Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, and Jonas Brodin) have no-movement clauses.
While they could protect Dumba as well, it would mean they’d lose someone like Jordan Greenway, Ryan Hartman or Marcus Foligno. The Wild absolutely cannot afford to lose Dumba for nothing, so trading him to another team before the expansion draft might happen. Trading him for a goal scorer would make sense, but do the Wild really want to lose a top pairing defenseman?
They could persuade Zach Parise and possibly Suter to waive their NMCs so they can gain some extra protection spots and keep the Kraken from getting too tempted by their goaltenders. Regardless of what happens, the Wild need to either make sure they only lose one player or at least make it worth it if they lose more than one.