Nashville Predators trade Nick Bonino to Minnesota Wild
By Nick Herrera
The Nashville Predators have sent Nick Bonino to the Minnesota Wild.
On Wednesday morning NHL general managers woke up feeling feisty. Tuesday nights first round saw very few trades, that trend broke before noon. First, the Matt Murray rumors were answered by Ottawa and that would not be the last of it. The Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild made a swap of NHL regulars as well as draft picks.
Nashville acquired Luke Kunin as well as the 101st pick in the 2020 draft, while Minnesota acquired Nick Bonino as well as the 37th and 70th picks in the 2020 draft.
Bonino is an eleven-year veteran who was a part of the Pittsburgh Penguins back to back Stanley cup wins in 2016 and 2017. In his best season, Bonino tallied 49 points as a member of the Anaheim Ducks in the 2013-14 season.
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In his career, Bonino averages 0.45 points per game and has generally filled a defensive depth role in the NHL. The former sixth round draft pick has even garnered Selke trophy votes as the best defensive forward three times in his career.
Luke Kunin, while being an NHL regular, perhaps has not lived up to being drafted 15th overall by Minnesota in 2016. At 22-years-old, Kunin has played in three NHL seasons and recorded 52 points in 131 games with a career-best 15 goals and 31 points in the shortened 2019-2020 season.
The move is more evidence of Minnesota’s complete rebuild having moved on from both Eric Staal and Mikko Koivu in the past few weeks.
Bonino is signed for one more season at $4.1 million and likely will either be re-signed at a lower price or let go by Minnesota after next season. After the move, Minnesota currently has about $8.5 million in cap space.
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As for Nashville and their money situation, Kunin is an unsigned restricted free agent. Nashville could let Kunin walk in free agency or negotiate a new deal with him by Friday when free agency begins. Today, after buying out Kyle Turris, Nashville has about $17 million in cap space with many questions still to be answered.