Minnesota Wild: Straight one-for-one swap deal sees Victor Rask arrive
By Luke Ryan
On a busy trade week for the Minnesota Wild, Nino Niederreiter has been dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes, with Victor Rask headed the opposite way.
The Minnesota Wild General Manager, Paul Fenton has clearly gone some sort of vision that he wants to pursue and we always imagined that Nino Niederreiter was a name on the trade block. In the Hurricanes, they found the perfect partner and have even made a slight salary cap saving on the deal.
In dealing Nino it’s the first sign that the General Manager, who took the reins last summer, is starting to mould the team into the shape he sees fit. You could argue that Niederreiter could be viewed at least as somewhat of a core piece and he’s now been dealt.
He was easily the most likely as the oft-rumoured to be traded Charlie Coyle has finally found some form of late and likely saved his tenure with the Minnesota Wild.
Since coming over from the New York Islanders in the trade that saw Cal Clutterbuck head in the opposite direction, Nino was a decent performer for the Wild, though struggled to match his 2016-17 season where he scored 25 goals for the team.
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In Victor Rask, the Minnesota Wild are acquiring a player that has never hit the 50 point mark.
However, he has managed a modicum of consistency posting 48 and 45 points across consecutive seasons, before his recent tail-off. In the past season with the Hurricanes, he notched 31 points and has only managed 6 points in 26 games this year.
The biggest part of the Victor Rask signing is that the team will make a saving of $1.25 million per season against the salary cap. That gives them just a little more flexibility to make a bigger move.
For Victor Rask, it represents a fresh chance with new teammates and maybe the chance to link up with the other new signing Pontus Aberg.
Likewise, for Nino Niederreiter; although popular in the team, he needs the fresh start. He hasn’t been able to get it done for the Minnesota Wild in the last season or so, thus it was time to move on.
Next. Pontus Aberg traded from Anaheim Ducks. dark
Whether this deal works out or not will prove intriguing for all, but in the short-term switching things up should at least see whether Paul Fenton’s vision for the team is bold and forward-thinking or just a different day, same old approach.