In 2017, the Minnesota Wild decided they didn’t need a first round pick, bringing Martin Hanzal and Ryan White over from the Arizona Coyotes in what was a determined move to make some impact in the play-offs.
It’d be unfair to judge the individuals acquired with the draft picks that the Wild gave up though, as realistically very few players from this draft year have yet cracked an NHL roster.
In looking at the players, it’ll be a look at current form with their current clubs as opposed to their true final value. That is too far off to be properly determined.
Defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph is currently captain of the Charlottetown Islanders, a mobile guy on the back-end that seems to have found his groove with a strong points production in the QMJHL. He tallied 39 points in his first season, 46 in his second and currently sits on near point-per-game pace this year.
He could well develop into a player that the Minnesota Wild have some regrets on. Regrets on giving up the pick used to acquire him anyway.
The 2015 trade that saw Chris Stewart arrive from the Buffalo Sabres resulted in them taking the Wild’s second round choice.
They took a goaltender, which makes it even harder to judge, goalies being voodoo and all that.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, apart from having a great name left Finland for a clearer Canadian junior development path, now dressing for the Sudbury Wolves. In 14 OHL games this year, he has a save percentage of 0.926 and a goals against average of 2.48.
These are impressive numbers in a league commonly seeing goals against averages above 3.
His current statistics put him third and fourth in OHL goalies for goals against average and save percentage respectively, suggesting the trade may eventually bite the Wild.