The Minnesota Wild have been rumored to be interested in trading for Phil Kessel. The right winger is a great player, but he is not the best fit for the Wild going forward.
The Minnesota Wild missed the postseason for the first time in seven years. Their six straight springs with playoff hockey were an impressive feat. The problem was they only won two playoff series in that time and never got past the second round.
Their team was a good one, but not great. Running into the Chicago Blackhawks, the best team of the salary cap era for three straight years didn’t help. It did prove that the Wild weren’t an elite team, as they lost three consecutive playoff series to a great Blackhawks squad.
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This team’s run of playoff appearances began when they signed Ryan Suter and Zach Parise to matching, monster 13 year and $98 million contracts in July of 2012. They were each 27 years old and helped lead the franchise to six straight playoffs, but despite their best efforts this season, the Wild finished last in the Central Division with 83 points.
When a team is built around a couple of 34-year-olds who are signed for six more seasons, it can be tough to rebuild. However, that is exactly what general manager Paul Fenton set out to do when he joined the Wild a year ago.
Fenton headed into his first trade deadline with an aging team that had little chance of making the playoffs. So, he did what he could to make the roster younger. First, he traded Charlie Coyle to the Boston Bruins for Ryan Donato. The 23-year-old winger scored 16 points in 22 games after arriving in Minnesota.
Next, Fenton traded Mikael Granlund to the Nashville Predators for 22-year-old Kevin Fiala. I wouldn’t go so far as to say Fenton rebuilt or tore down the Wild, but he took a step in the right direction. It’s time to build with youngsters and stop counting on Suter, Parise, Mikko Koivu, and Eric Staal, all who are 34 or older to win a championship.
Now, rumors are swirling that the Wild are looking to trade Jason Zucker for Phil Kessel. Zucker, 27, is coming off a down year where he scored 42 points. He had 33 goals and 64 points a year earlier.
Kessel just scored 82 points for the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, he won’t have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin with him on the power play if he leaves Pittsburgh. He will also be 32 before next season starts and has three years left on his contract with a cap hit of $6.8 million.
That would mean in two years time, Minnesota would be paying just under $22 million for a 36-year-old Suter, a 36-year-old Parise and a 34-year-old Kessel. That’s a lot of money going to a lot of grey-beards.
The Minnesota Wild started to get younger when they acquired Donato and Fiala. It wouldn’t make sense to turn around and get older now. They need to continue to build through the draft and developing their young talent. If they choose to trade Zucker it should be for a 23 year old with potential, not a 32 year old on the downside of his career.