Gone Puck Wild
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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) /
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ST. PAUL, MN - DECEMBER 27: Greg Pateryn #29 of the Dallas Stars skates with the puck while Jason Zucker #16 of the Minnesota Wild defends during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on December 27, 2017 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, MN – DECEMBER 27: Greg Pateryn #29 of the Dallas Stars skates with the puck while Jason Zucker #16 of the Minnesota Wild defends during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on December 27, 2017 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /

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.

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