NHL Trade Grade: Minnesota Wild take low-risk chance on Pontus Aberg
The Minnesota Wild, in dire need of some scoring depth, have acquired a potential solution in PontusAberg.
The Minnesota Wild are in the thick of what could be a very tight Western Conference playoff race. They’re competing with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars for the third place spot in the Central Division. On top of that, the Wild could be competing for one of the two wild-card spots in the West.
In dire need of scoring help, but with few assets to offer, Minnesota has been quietly active on the trade market. They have found a potential bargain in Anaheim Ducks forward Pontus Aberg. In exchange, the Wild gave the Ducks forward Justin Kloos.
Wild’s Perspective
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Minnesota was looking for a cheap upgrade. Aberg fits this description. He has shown flashes of brilliance, as evidenced by his 19 points in 37 games with the Ducks this season. However, Aberg fell out of favor in Anaheim for a variety of reasons.
In about 500 even strength minutes, he has a relative CorsiFor percentage of +7.4 and a relative FenwickFor percentage of +4.9. Aberg is a bit of a streaky scorer, so the Wild are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.
Kloos made one appearance with Minnesota last season but was fairly low on their organizational depth chart. At the very least, Aberg is far more likely than him to make an impact on the team in 2018-19. He has a $650,000 cap hit and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
Grade: B-. Aberg is basically a lottery ticket for the Wild. And one that had a very low acquisition cost. If he doesn’t pan out? Who cares. But Aberg’s resume is intriguing enough that he might be able to be a contributor for the Wild down the stretch.
Ducks Perspective
As mentioned earlier, Aberg fell out of favor with head coach Randy Carlyle. He last played on Jan. 6. Aberg did quite well for the Ducks early on with seven goals in his first two months and 11 goals in his first three months but things didn’t work out.
Why would Anaheim want Kloos? One reason might be the Ducks’ recent decision to call up prospects Troy Terry and Max Jones to the NHL roster. Kloos should help the San Diego Gulls fill the void left by those two. General Manager Bob Murray wasn’t able to get much for Aberg, but Carlyle certainly didn’t help there.
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Grade: C+. Getting anything for a guy who you claimed on waivers earlier in the year is always nice. But it’s hard to believe the Ducks couldn’t get anything tangible for someone with 11 goals. Anaheim has now made two moves this week and more could be coming if they fall out of the playoff race.