It is a difficult season to be a Minnesota Wild fan. The team was coming off back-to-back seasons where they had over 100 points in the regular season and looked like they were primed to make an even better run. Yet, that has not been the case. Poor play, a coaching change, and injuries have been the theme of the season, and despite their best efforts to cling to the hope of another postseason berth, time is running out.
The March 8 trade deadline is closing in rapidly as the Wild continue to flounder just about every opportunity they are given to get back in the playoff race. Losing to the Nashville Predators on Jan. 25 was a major blow. One that may force the Wild into being sellers at the deadline for the first time in a while. Let’s look at the Wild players who could possibly find themselves on a new team in the coming weeks.
Brandon Duhaime
This is likely the unfortunate end for Brandon Duhaime’s time with the Wild. Drafted back in 2016 in the fourth round, Duhaime has done well to find himself a consistent spot on the roster for the last three seasons. The Coral Springs native brings toughness and size at 6-foot-2 and over 200 pounds but still manages to be one of the fastest players on the team. He can blow past unsuspecting opponents with ease and has a deceptively precise shot that he can place just about anywhere while still in motion.
He peaked back in 2021-22 when he had 17 points in 80 games in his first full season in the NHL, and it looked like he had some serious potential to become a strong two-way power forward that also kills penalties. Unfortunately, he has dropped off hard lately and has just five points in 48 games this season. He is an unrestricted free agent (UFA) at the end of this season, and it just feels like it is time to give Duhaime a fresh start with another team.
Connor Dewar
It is rare that you ever see or talk about Duhaime without mentioning Connor Dewar, and that unfortunately stays true for this list. Dewar has made himself a home as the Wild’s fourth-line center for a couple of seasons now with some decent defensive play and an effective penalty killer, but he hasn’t shown the ability to be much more than that. The currently injured 24-year-old is a restricted free agent (RFA) at the end of the season, but without a bump in play, he will likely lose his job to one of the Wild’s prospects pushing their way in.
Related: Minnesota Wild 2023-24 Top 15 Prospects Midseason Rankings
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Dewar has proven himself to be a useful player to have on a roster as a fourth-line role filler. But even with injuries offering him multiple chances to play higher up in the lineup, he has failed to show that he is capable of anything more. The Wild have locked in a lot of their veteran players for the next few seasons. And with the likes of Liam Ohgren, Danila Yurov, Marat Khusnutdinov, and Caeden Bankier all looking to break into the NHL as early as next season, Dewar is likely going to be headed somewhere else.
Ryan Hartman
Up there as one of the most confusing players on the Wild’s roster, Ryan Hartman is both a first-line point-producing center and a shut-down fourth-line winger and just about everything in-between. He went off in 2021-22 when he found himself centering Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, putting up 34 goals and 65 points in 82 games. He had some injury troubles in 2022-23 that limited production, and is not always the nicest player on the ice, regularly finding himself in the penalty box, fined, or even suspended. But the production and utility are still there on a nightly basis.
Hartman would have been a top trade chip if he hadn’t been given a three-year extension with a no-movement clause earlier this season. Any playoff contender would have loved to add the versatility and scoring abilities that he brings with a cap hit of just $1.7 million. His new extension means that any team that acquires him now will then also have to deal with another three seasons of an increased $4 million cap hit. The extension also came with a no-movement clause, meaning that if the Wild do find anyone else willing to eat that new contract, the entire deal has to be approved by Hartman to go through. It seems unlikely to happen, but it’s still something the Wild should consider.
Zach Bogosian & Pat Maroon
The third overall pick of the Atlanta Thrashers back in 2008, Zach Bogosian, marked the Wild’s second trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning this season after they also acquired veteran winger Pat Maroon. Both players are no strangers to being traded, but they may be in for another move at the upcoming deadline. The Wild acquired both for their veteran presence and big-bodied, hard-hitting style of play, but they may want to recoup their assets after a failing season.
Both players are UFAs after this season, and both have some trade protection (Bogosian a 21-team no-trade clause, and Maroon a16-team no-trade clause), so the question for the Wild becomes whether or not they will be offering either player an extension. If they plan on utilizing the big men past the end of 2023-24, it makes sense to hold on to them. But if they have no future plans for them, I am sure some teams are willing to spend a late-round pick on some veteran insurance for a long playoff run.
Marc-Andre Fleury & Alex Goligoski
A pair of older, very well-respected players who have 100 percent of the say in how their future goes. Both Marc-Andre Fleury and Alex Goligoski are UFAs playing in their last season for the Wild and potentially their last season in the NHL. If the Wild are not going to be in a spot to compete for a playoff spot, it will be up to the player on whether they want to stay with the Wild or move to a team that could give them a good last run. The market for Fleury would understandably be a lot larger than the one for Goligoski, but the premise remains the same: these two control their own fate.
Wild Limited Their Own Flexibility
Anyone looking at this list probably recognizes that there are not a lot of players the Wild are capable of moving before the deadline, and that is of their own doing. To keep players at a lower cap hit, they have given a large percentage of them no-trade or no-movement clauses, meaning their hands are tied with nearly any player worth trading. Even the inclusion of Hartman on this list is a stretch as, in reality, he, too, can refuse anything the Wild presents to him if he is so inclined.
Marcus Foligno, Marcus Johansson, Mats Zuccarello, Jared Spurgeon, and Jonas Brodin, while unlikely to be traded anyway, also fall under that no-move clause umbrella. Unfortunately for Wild fans, even if the team is well out of playoff position by the trade deadline, it’s unlikely we will see them make any really significant moves.
