The Minnesota Wild should constantly be on the hunt for players that can make their team both younger and a little more dynamic. Nikolay Goldobin of the Vancouver Canucks could do just that and may be available.
As reported in Elliotte Friedman’s recent 31 Thoughts column, Vancouver Canucks winger Nikolay Goldobin may be on the market. He could be exactly the kind of player the Minnesota Wild need to help in fixing their inability to score at even-strength this season.
Whilst Goldobin isn’t necessarily a shoot-first type winger, he is exactly the sort of winger that you can rely upon for zone entries and for making those tape-to-tape passes that lead to goals.
The fact that the Vancouver Canucks have given him chances as the driver of the second power-play unit, but also in the past on the penalty kill suggest that he’s a very well-rounded player. At just 23 years old, he could be a valuable asset for years to come, especially if his two-way growth continues.
You wouldn’t expect him to land in the Minnesota Wild line-up and be an instant game-changing presence, however he would offer some creative flair that is definitely needed through the middle-six.
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Too often, the Minnesota Wild have drafted safe picks and even signed safe players; it’s about time that they start thinking with a slightly riskier mentality and Nikolay Goldobin could be the beginning of that.
You also can’t overlook the fact that the 1st round pick (27th overall) in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft is Russian. If all goes to plan and they keep developing as well as they are currently, future Minnesota Wild line-ups could play host to two, three, possibly four Russian players; that’s just the ones that the team have drafted too!
The stumbling block when looking at a trade for Nikolay Goldobin is what exactly the Vancouver Canucks would be hoping for in return; the Minnesota Wild would be unwise to give up any defensive depth, given the injury to Matt Dumba. However, I have a feeling that Jonas Brodin or Jared Spurgeon would potentially feature in any talks.
Likewise, you don’t want to see draft picks being dealt, especially as we’d predict that the Minnesota Wild aren’t making the play-offs this year. Any draft picks lost are future building blocks of the organisation lost.
Maybe, Vancouver are ready to hedge their bets early that they can make the play-offs this season; right now they’re certainly a shot at the wild-card places.
As such, maybe you can convince them that Eric Staal would be a very useful asset. If that were to happen, you’d expect a little more returned to the Minnesota Wild than just Nikolay Goldobin, but I’m sure it’s a conversation worth having if you’re Paul Fenton.
Put quite simply, if Goldobin is so much as even being marketing a little; I hope the Minnesota Wild General Manager does give the Vancouver Canucks a call.
Now, if only they could find a natural goal-scorer to line up alongside these play-making type players!