The Minnesota Wild have won two games in a row and appear to be turning a corner after starting the season 3-5-2, but team president and general manager Bill Guerin saw enough in the first month of the season and felt a change had to be made defensively.
That’s exactly what happened.
The Wild traded 23-year-old Calen Addison to the San Jose Sharks for a fifth-round pick in 2026 and 22-year-old winger Adam Raska and then acquired veteran defender Zach Bogosian from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2025 seventh-round pick in a separate move.
“I don’t need 70 games to figure out what we need,” Guerin said Wednesday. “The proof was kind of in the pudding. We’re giving up chances, and we needed some size. We needed some heaviness.”
It’s true.
While the Wild have been without their No. 1 defenseman in Jared Spurgeon this season, they’ve had uncharacteristic defensive numbers early this season. And for a team that has been among the league’s best defensively for years, there were reasons for the alarm bells to ring even without their captain.
The Wild allowed 2.75 expected goals against (19th) and 3.3 actual goals against per 60 (29th) at five-on-five in the first 10 games. The Wild’s goaltending hasn’t helped matters — .908 save percentage ranks 23rd — but their defense has been the major culprit.
“We as a whole, defense and forwards, need to be better defensively,” Guerin said. “We’ve been giving up way too many chances. We need to shift our way of thinking a bit and protect our goaltenders.”
That’s where Bogosian, 33, enters the picture. The Wild believe he is what they need at this moment for improving their defensive zone play. Guerin noted how the veteran blueliner brings experience and a winning pedigree, but also size and physicality to the lineup. It’s exactly what Pat Maroon, his friend and former teammate, brings, too.
“We need what he can bring to our lineup,” Guerin said of Bogosian, a hard-nosed right-shot defender at 6-foot-3 and 231 pounds. “He’s a big guy. He still skates well. He brings heaviness, (and) he brings some grit.”
And that’s why the Wild essentially swapped Addison for Bogosian Wednesday.
“For what we need right down defensively, I think Zach fits in a little bit better,” Guerin said. “Our player play needs are being fulfilled in other areas. Calen Addison is a good player. He’s an NHL player. I’ve had a long history with him.
“Sometimes you just need a change, a better opportunity, and I think he’s going to get that. It’s always hard moving on from a guy that you’ve known since draft day, but I believe this will be a step in the right direction in his career as well.”
Guerin felt Addison was “dropping in our lineup,” and that a change of scenery would be beneficial for the young defender at this stage of his career. Guerin pointed out how Addison will play more minutes and have a bigger role in San Jose, a good opportunity.
This comes after a tough end to last season for Addison, who was scratched 20 times and during the entirety of the Wild’s first round series against the Dallas Stars, and he didn’t sign a one-year deal until the night before training camp began. Last season sure gave the indication that he wasn’t a part of the Wild’s long-term plans, and the trade is the confirmation.
The Wild demoted Addison (three power play assists in 12 games) to the second unit last week after changing the No. 1 power play to a five-forward unit. And Guerin said having five forwards now allowed them to go this route.
“Our power play’s good with the guys that we can put out there,” Guerin said. “I don’t think it’s a rash decision. Calen is a good player, but he’s got 100 games in the league now. We felt we know what he is for us. That’s not to say that’s the finished product, but what we need right now is something different…(and) we need something more immediate.”
That "something more immediate" is Bogosian, who will make his Wild debut tonight against the Rangers in New York and is expected to play alongside Daemon Hunt, and he will likely get some penalty kill usage.
The Wild hope the trade improves their defensive play moving forward.
“We need to be able to defend,” Guerin said, “and that’s what Zach can bring to the table.”
All data via Natural Stat Trick