Bill Guerin Changes Landscape of Minnesota Wild Future in Trade

Bill Guerin continues to make changes and make his mark on the Wild as he makes another significant trade that changes the makeup of the Wild’s roster.

One might have foreseen the Eric Staal and Devan Dubnyk trades because of Bill Guerin’s plan to continue building for the future, but I don’t think anyone could have predicted that Luke Kunin would be traded in a deal in the 2020 NHL Draft.

These sort of moves should have happened a decade ago, the Wild need to acquire draft capital and build through the draft, a polar opposite in strategy of former Wild GM Chuck Fletcher who traded draft capital like candy.

Bill Guerin is not afraid to trade anyone at this point. It is once again a testament to him wanting to build the Minnesota Wild the right way.

Luke Kunin just came off a career-year in goals (15), assists (16), and thereby points (31). He never really fit in as a center, which could have saved him from being moved. He is certainly more of a winger with a very good shot, but he is very dependent on that shot.

His underlying numbers are extremely poor and actually managed to be the only Wild forward to provide negative value in 2019-20. He provided the Wild with -0.6 wins above replacement.

As of now, Kunin is likely a bottom six-forward with an incredible shot, but his offensive and defensive impact are poor, which is completely the opposite of Jordan Greenway who a lot of Wild fans would have rather seen go to Nashville in this move.

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The 22-year-old former first-round pick had simply become expendable for the Wild.

The Wild acquired Nick Bonino, who is often referred to as an analytics darling. Bonino is a strong second-line center who provided the Predators with 2.2 wins above replacement in 2019-20 which now ranks first on the Wild among forwards and just behind Jared Spurgeon for the team lead.

The two-time Stanley Cup Champion recorded 18 goals, 17 assists, for 35 points in 67 games.

With the pick acquired in the trade, the Wild selected center Marat Khusnutdinov and then traded up with the third-round pick they acquired and selected defenseman Daemon Hunt.

The Wild also selected defenseman Ryan O’Rourke and right-winger Pavel Novak. Overall, Judd Brackett had a phenomenal first draft with Minnesota.

The Wild have significant cap space available after the 2020-21 season with Marcus Johansson, Nick Bjugstad, and Nick Bonino on the last year of their respective deals. There is roughly $10.5 million invested into those three players.

The Wild now have plenty of money to work with for Kevin Fiala and Kirill Kaprizov, who both only have a single season remaining on their contracts.

Bill Guerin didn’t just execute these transactions for cap space, he acquired players for the future.

Now his focus goes to the goalie market, as the Minnesota Wild need a starting goaltender for next season.

Let’s get a bit nostalgic at the end of this post and celebrate Luke Kunin’s time in Minnesota.

Here was his first goal in his young career.

One of the things that made Kunin a fan favorite was how he would play with a hard/firm edge and wasn’t afraid of anyone. As evidenced by:

It would follow he would be the first to jump to the

defense of his teammates and:

And from this season’s Play-in Series:

Luke Kunin was fun and enjoyable to watch, but Guerin felt it would be better for the overall franchise to get a Veteran with success in the Playoffs on a shorter contract that opens up more money quicker. Nashville, you’re getting an incredibly passionate and intense player. You’ll like him.

Data & Information Via Evolving-Hockey, Hockey-Reference, & Cap Friendly