I'm excited. Our core wasn't getting it done, and outside of Victor Rask we added a lot of young, talented players with bright futures. We will definitely have a chance to grab a quality center in the draft which will set us up nicely for the future. Plus, we have Kaprizov's arrival in 2 years to look forward to. Sucks to see some of my favorite players moved, but change was necessary.

lose 4 hughes

Terrible is a lot better than average in today’s nhl...unless you’re dead last in the league and don’t own your first round pick that is

I can't wait for the NHL 19 roster update, which will apparently be a "few days", so I can make Minnesota great (again?)

ill probably get point for like dumba and a 2nd lol

I wish. Doubt we get Hughes, but he'd be perfect for us. I'd be very happy with Cozens, Dach, Turcotte, or Zegras. All 4 are quality center prospects

And I understand that Staal just re-upped, too.

I'm rooting for Aberg, Donato and Greenway all to have breakthrough years next season and for Minnesota to be the surprise team of 2020 (like the Islanders for 2019).

Indeed. I'm a little worried about that since I'm not sure how good Staal will be 2 years from now, but I guess the only young true center we have is Eriksson Ek (I guess Rask, too, but I think he'll forever be a bottom 6 C for us) so it's not like Staal is taking away a roster spot for a young guy.

Thanks, yeah I'd love to see all of our young guys take the next step. We have a ton of talented young forwards now, and we entered the season as the oldest team in the league!

Never underestimate the value of having an honorable veteran in the room with the young guys.

Very true, I hadn't thought about that. Plus, he's won the cup before so he knows what it takes

Aren't you supposed to acquire picks and prospects in a rebuild?

'm not trying to be a troll but Minny just seems to be downgrading

Nino > Rask
Granlund > Fiala

I actually think they'll win the Donoto trade overall

I usually say it takes 5 years to truly be able to evaluate a trade properly, but it is pretty obvious the Wild have lost the Niederreiter/Rask trade. Rask is a horrible skater, period...in an era where skating is King. Early returns from the Coyle/Donato trade look good, but there is a reason Donato couldn't hold onto a spot in the Bruins' lineup, so I'm waiting for his warts to surface... The Granlund/Fiala trade... I was livid about it at first. NOT because Granlund is gone, but because I thought Fenton should have gotten more in return...at least a 2nd round pick in addition to Fiala. However, @TanSor helped talk me off the ledge by showing me some fancy stats that revealed a new light on just how good Fiala is...and hopefully can be. I actually feel pretty confident that, in 5 years, we Wild fans will be very happy with this trade. As with everything, time will tell...

I really wish I knew what pieces were on the table for the Zucker trade that fell through at the last minute. Zucker has, for a long time, been the player I wanted moved first. I'm hoping he gets moved this summer!

I've got more fancy stats if you'd like, I found an awesome article on Fiala that paints him as an elite in the transition game and a very good scorer Enjoy!

I'm an old school eye test guy, but I like seeing what I see...or don't see...backed up or refuted by fancy stats. Thanks for sharing this with me...now I have to use this info to talk some of my friends off the ledge too.

Haha, I'm a huge stats nerd but you definitely can't base your opinion completely on stats. Hopefully Fiala passes the eye test with flying colors tonight.

Edit: one thing I'm very excited about is his transition ability. I've said the Wild need to improve their transitioning for a long time. Dumping the puck greatly decreases your chance for scoring opportunities compared to carrying the puck in. That's part of the reason I've been so hot on getting Nylander for so long, since he is also elite at transitioning the puck. Hopefully we get to see that with Fiala tonight

No Flexi for Lexi 2020