VANCOUVER — With Friday’s 2 p.m. CT trade deadline a little more than 24 hours away, there’s a good bet you won’t have to stay pressed to your phone to see what the Minnesota Wild are up to like you did the past two deadlines.
In 2023, relatively good health throughout the season plus the ability to shed cap space at the start of the season by trading Dmitry Kulikov and losing Tyson Jost via waivers allowed the Wild to “buy” in advance of and at the deadline, adding Gustav Nyquist, Marcus Johansson, John Klingberg and Oskar Sundqvist.
In 2024, amid a season wrought with poor health and goaltending, the Wild knew they’d be playoff outsiders for only the second time since 2012 and went into “sell” mode, dealing Brandon Duhaime, Connor Dewar and Pat Maroon in advance of and at the deadline.
This time?
After re-acquiring Nyquist and plucking Vinnie Hinostroza off waivers, general manager Bill Guerin would love to further help a team that has overcome immense adversity this season and appears destined to return to the playoffs. But the Wild’s early season hope to accrue cap space lasted about two games when injuries hit Jared Spurgeon and Joel Eriksson Ek, then Johansson, signaling a never-ending list of injuries in the months since. In the cases of Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin, they’ve been on the shelf several times and are again week to week, while star Kirill Kaprizov has missed every game but three since Dec. 23.
Read more about the Wild’s options leading up to the deadline below.
