Gone Puck Wild
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Minnesota Wild: Franchise 5 Best Trades of All-Time

By Cody Defoe

ST. PAUL, MN - APRIL 15: A general view of Xcel Energy Center before game 3 of a round one Stanley Cup Playoff matchup between the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets on April 15, 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. The Wild defeated the Jets 6-2. (Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, MN - APRIL 15: A general view of Xcel Energy Center before game 3 of a round one Stanley Cup Playoff matchup between the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets on April 15, 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. The Wild defeated the Jets 6-2. (Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Minnesota Wild
SAINT PAUL, MN – MARCH 6: Marian Gaborik #10 and Pavol Demitra #38 of the Minnesota Wild stand during the National Anthem prior to the game against the San Jose Sharks at Xcel Energy Center on March 6, 2007 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Sharks won 3-0. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/Getty Images) /

Honorable Mention

Before we get to the finish line, there was one trade that was on the cusp that I feel deserves recognition as a shrewd move by a Minnesota Wild general manager who knew his job was in jeopardy and needed to make a splash.

In the 2006 NHL Offseason, GM Doug Risebrough was looking to find a way to make his team competitive again after a season missed due to player lockout and then the first season back finished relatively mediocre.

Risebrough went out and found a top line player to play opposite superstar Marian Gaborik, to try to ignite the scoring on a defense-first team led by a defense-first coach. Not only did he succeed at this, but he did it (in hindsight) at a bargain price.

The trade should not have been as beneficial to the Wild as it was.

Risebrough traded away a 2006 1st round draft pick along with Patrick O’Sullivan, a former 1st round draft pick, for Pavol Demitra, an aging veteran winger on the back half of his career.

Demitra did not have extreme success for himself on this team, but his intangible was his ability to get the most out of Gaborik, his teammate, linemate, and friend. In 2007-08 when these 2 played the entire season together, Gaborik put up his best statistical season of his entire Minnesota Wild career.

Meanwhile, Patrick O’Sullivan bounced between a few teams as a mediocre bottom 6 center and winger, even coming back to Minnesota for a brief second stint. He never panned out as a 1st round draft pick, and Risebrough looks all the wiser for dealing him young.

Trevor Lewis was the draft pick of Los Angeles in the 2006 1st Round. While Lewis has been a consistent member of the Kings, including a member of the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup winning teams, his overall stats have been below average. He has earned his place by being a responsible 2 way player, but it not 1st round caliber by any means.

This one missed the cut largely due to Lewis’s contributions and successes in Los Angeles couple with the short amount of time Demitra spent with Minnesota. I felt it deserved mention, in large part, as a show of respect to the late Pavol Demitra.

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