Minnesota Wild: Players Most Likely To Be Traded This Season
By Luke Ryan
![DENVER, CO - APRIL 06: Mikael Granlund #64 of the Minnesota Wild celebrates a goal against the Colorado Avalanche with his bench at the Pepsi Center on April 6, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. The Wild defeated the Avalanche 4-3. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) DENVER, CO - APRIL 06: Mikael Granlund #64 of the Minnesota Wild celebrates a goal against the Colorado Avalanche with his bench at the Pepsi Center on April 6, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. The Wild defeated the Avalanche 4-3. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/156c172350192ab049cb47115282360fa2fcd8cc381394e9450767aaad5d49d9.jpg)
It Could Happen: Greg Pateryn
Greg Pateryn is an interesting case here for the Minnesota Wild. He’s newly arrived with the team and still has a couple of years to run on his contract meaning he wouldn’t be a rental in a traditional sense.
However, he’s a right-handed defenseman in a league that puts high value on right-side defensemen.
Here’s a player that bounced back and forth between the Montreal Canadiens and their AHL affiliate for several seasons before finally getting a proper season of NHL experience last year with the Dallas Stars.
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In that time, he showed himself to be effective. He didn’t show a great scoring touch but equally didn’t do too much negative; his 50 penalty minutes aren’t exactly high, showing that he was reliable in not putting his team at a disadvantage.
He can be relied upon for 20 minutes a night and maintained a 49.54 CF% (Corsi For), suggesting that keeping the puck away from the opposing team isn’t too challenging for him.
I look at Pateryn as exactly the kind of player that can sit in the Minnesota Wild top-four and make a really strong sales pitch to any team seeking some defensive stability nearer the Trade Deadline.
The Minnesota Wild depth chart has somewhat of a log-jam on defense, so he’s the perfect option to move out whilst there are guys on far cheaper entry-level contracts available to the team.
Whilst I’m not going to say he’s this year’s Kevin Shattenkirk at the deadline; should the Minnesota Wild not be in a competitive place – maybe he’s someone who gets made available and is worth betting on for a Stanley Cup contender.
A $2.25 million AAV isn’t going to blow out anyone’s budget too much; it’s just if the team is willing to take him on longer-term as he’s not going to just be a rental.