The Minnesota Wild are a pretty good hockey team. In order to be a great team, they need one more top-end player.
The Wild are in third place in the difficult Central Division and sport the best goal differential (plus-15) in the Western Conference. Those results are nice and new head coach Bruce Boudreau has added a needed boost to their play, but questions still linger over whether Minnesota has enough talent to get past the first or second round, something that has plagued them since signing Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to mega deals. In the past four seasons, the Wild have been eliminated from the first round twice, and the second round twice.
With a roster that is similar to the quickly eliminated teams of the past, the Wild have still struggled to be offensively threatening. They have won on the back of great goaltending so far this season. Netminder Devan Dubnyk has an insane (and unsustainable) .946 save percentage. Minnesota's group of skaters has not done much that statistically reflects a Cup-caliber team. While Boudreau's teams have often won despite lacking an impressive shot differential, a rank of 22nd in Corsi for percentage is not a great sign. The Wild are ninth in goals for per 60 minutes at even strength, 16th on the power play and 13th in penalty kill. All decent stats, but nothing eye-popping.
As the Wild race against the fading primes of Parise and Suter, they should be willing to take risks to win now. In this case, the risk should be dealing one of their defenseman for more scoring talent. But who should they target, and who should they give up to make it happen?
Assets
Outside of Suter, there is a case to be made for trading every Wild defenseman. Former first-round pick Jonas Brodin has improved this season, but has still not yielded the results the team had hoped. Matt Dumba has been frustratingly inconsistent while having attractive offensive gifts. Jared Spurgeon isn't dominating the puck under Boudreau like he has in past seasons, and Marco Scandella's production has faded since a strong 2014-15 season.
Of the four listed, Dumba and Brodin have the most value. They are under team control long term and are both under 24 years old. That would open up the possibility of trading with either contenders or rebuilding teams.
Trade targets
The Wild would be looking to add an established top-six forward. There is enough positional flexibility within their roster to target either a center or wing. So what teams might be in need of a defenseman and have a scoring forward to deal?
The big-swing option would be Montreal Canadiens star Max Pacioretty. Sportsnet analyst Nick Kypreos floated the possibility that the Habs would consider moving their captain, who is averaging less ice time this season than he has the past three seasons. Montreal acquired Shea Weber in the offseason, but had to sacrifice P.K. Subban in exchange. The Canadiens failed to improve the rest of their defense corps, but did beef up the forward group by signing Alexander Radulov.
Montreal's own young defenseman Nathan Beaulieu has yielded disappointing results with a minus-7.5 relative Corsi percentage this season, and veteran Alexei Emelin is not exactly the ideal partner for Weber.
It would be crazy for Montreal to trade a player of Pacioretty's talent, but we also said that about Subban. The Habs' captain is No. 1 on the team in Corsi for percentage (53.7), and is only a shade behind Alex Galchenyuk and Radulov in 5-on-5 points per 60 minutes. With a career high of 37 goals, he is the type of two-way, offensive threat that the Wild are missing. Wingers Jason Zucker and Nino Niederreiter have been excellent even-strength producers, but the Wild's top five forwards in ice time Mikael Granlund, Mikko Koivu, Eric Staal, Charlie Coyle and Parise are all averaging less than Pacioretty's current 1.96 5-on-5 points per 60.
If Pacioretty is on the open market, Brodin or Dumba may not be enough to get the job done. The selling point for Brodin would be that his excellent skating ability and sound defensive play could make for a good match for Weber. For Dumba, his 10 goals last season at age 21 make his superb shot, explosiveness and high ceiling an attractive commodity to the Habs (or just about any team, for that matter).
Another intriguing forward who has been in trade rumors recently is Toronto's James Van Riemsdyk. With an influx of young talent, the Maple Leafs could sell high on their scoring winger, who is set to hit free agency after next season. With 20 points in 24 games (15 of which have been scored at even strength), Van Riemsdyk is leading Toronto in scoring. If the Leafs were a contender this season, they wouldn't consider moving him, but it is hard to see them rising from second-to-last place in the Atlantic to make a serious run at a playoff spot.
Toronto is also in desperate need of young defensemen. While Morgan Rielly is slated to be on its top pairing for a long time, there are still question marks surrounding Jake Gardiner's consistency. After those two, players like Roman Polak and Matt Hunwick are in their 30s, and are free agents after this season. A power-play sniper like Dumba would be a good fit with their extremely skilled young forwards.
Other options
The "go big or go home" options of Pacioretty or Van Riemsdyk are not the only possible trade options. The Sabres have reportedly shopped former 30-goal scorer Evander Kane, but the combination of a slide in production and off-ice issues should make Minnesota hesitant. The Bruins are desperate for defense, and may deal forward Ryan Spooner. The trade value on Minnesota's defenders, however, may be too high to acquire just Spooner. The 25-year-old did produce 49 points last season, and could fit in as a playmaker, but the deal would likely be more than just a one for one.
The Wild could also go for a rental player like Jarome Iginla from the fading Avalanche, or a somewhat unproven young skill player like Anthony Duclair from Arizona, but they wouldn't want to deal a major asset for a rental, and need a scorer they can count on making an immediate impact.
Taking the plunge
In order to make a deal, the Wild would have to trust in the abilities of defensemen Gustav Olofsson and/or Mike Reilly to fill the gap in ice time left through a trade. Minnesota's management will have to weigh the potential benefits of a scorer against the potential drop off on the blue line. But right now, the Wild's group of forwards is just pretty good and pretty good won't be enough to win the West.