Are the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks each staying active in the trade market after December's Quinn Hughes trade and Vancouver's Kiefer Sherwood trade with San Jose?
Since the Minnesota Wild acquired Quinn Hughes last month, there has been speculation about whether GM Bill Guerin has another big move up his sleeve before the March 6 NHL trade deadline.
Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic believe Guerin remains in "win-now" mode and isn't done making trades. They think the Wild are a scoring winger or first-line center away from being a true contender.
Russo and Smith suspect that Guerin will draw on his draft picks and prospects for a center before the trade deadline. They felt the Wild like "A-plus prospects" that would fetch a first-line center, but suggested promising goaltender Jesper Wallstedt could fit the bill.
Wallstedt, 23, has combined with Filip Gustavsson to give the Wild one of the best goalie tandems in the league. He currently leads all rookie goalies with 10-plus games played this season with four shutouts and a .914 save percentage, and he sits second with a 2.70 goals-against average.
Trading a future starting goalie such as Wallstedt for a center or a scoring winger would be a bold move by Guerin. The young netminder seems untouchable, but Russo and Smith remind us that defenseman Zeev Buium was also considered untouchable until he became part of the return shipped to the Vancouver Canucks for Hughes.
A move of that significance, however, would have to be for a star forward with term remaining on their contracts, or a UFA-eligible one willing to sign a contract extension with the Wild. Giving up Wallstedt for a rental would waste a quality asset on a quick fix that might not pan out as hoped.
Meanwhile, the Canucks trading right winger Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks on Monday has some pundits wondering which members of the current roster could be next on the trade block.
Thomas Drance of The Athletic noted that Canucks management is willing to entertain offers for all of their players. However, he believes players in their late-twenties with term remaining on their contracts aren't being aggressively shopped. Those would include Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, Jake DeBrusk and Marcus Pettersson.
Pettersson has surfaced in the rumor mill of late, and they could move him for the right offer. According to Drance, that would include getting a center as part of the return.
On top of Pettersson and DeBrusk, The Hockey News' Michael DeRosa also suggested right winger Evander Kane as a trade candidate. The 34-year-old is a pending UFA with eight goals and 22 points in 48 games.
Filip Hronek has also appeared in media trade speculation recently. However, Drance believes the Canucks' level of interest in moving the 28-year-old defenseman is virtually nil.
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