There is a lot of trade rumors floating around out their concerning the Wild. I am sure all of you have heard about the recent acquisition of Erik Christensen and a 7th round draft pick. And I am sure a lot of you have heard about Marek Zidlicky wanting out of the organization for being a healthy scratch for 3 straight games. Mark has covered that sufficiently so all I am going to say is if your not going to believe in the system and play with it the there is the door.
But there are rumors about who the Wild would trade for if their was a Zidlicky trade. All of these rumors involve acquiring another forward that can provide offense and help out in the defensive end. The Wild have a good defensive corp without Zidlicky, or Zanon and Lundin for that matter since they cannot seem to stay in the lineup. The forwards that the Wild a rumored to trade Zidlicky for are: Jeff Carter, Ales Hemsky, Travis Moen, Tuomo Ruutu and former Wild Dominic Moore. All of these players would be a good fit for the Wild, some more then others.
It would smart for the Wild to actively pursue Jeff Carter because he could really boost our offense. And he would fit perfectly alongside Mikko Koivu.
Ales Hemsky would be a safe bet. He is not as talented as Carter so he would come with a much lower press tag. And if he does not pan out then the Wild can let him walk at the end of the season.
Travis Moen has played in a defensive system for the past 3 season with the Canadiens so he would immediately know what would be expected of him. Moen also understands what it takes to make it to the playoffs and beat a first round opponent.
Tuomo Ruutu has proven to be a good goal scorer and his style of play would fit nicely with the Wild system.
Dominic Moore has also proven to be a goal scorer and would fit in nicely with Yeo’s system. But depending on how things with the Lightning over the next few games, Moore will become a hot commodity so the Wild will have put a lot on the table just to get him.
These are good trades for the Wild but the Wild should be smart and go after Carter or Moore. Those two would provide the Wild with some immediate success.
I also found an interesting article from 1500espn writer Judd Zulgad concerning GM Chuck Fletcher after the horrific loss to the Predators. If you want to read the article that he wrote here is the link. I would disagree with him on not trading Zidlicky, Lundin or Zanon for reasons I have already stated. Aside from that I would agree with Zulgad that Fletcher needs to consider trading Setoguchi, Lattendresse and , I know I going to get a lot of flack for this but I am going to say anyways, Bouchard.
Setoguchi has been terrible all season. he only has 10 goals in 37 games and was a minus 10 after the game against the Predators. If the Wild are to have some success and possibly make the playoffs they need to do it without Seto.
Latendresse and Bouchard have been dealing with concussion symptoms all season and, like Zulgad says, it would be foolish to count on them for anything right now.
The Wild have plenty of prospects that could make this franchise a real competitor in the years to come but right now Fletcher needs to focus on that future and guide the franchise there.