With the Minnesota Wild’s acquisition of 24-year-old forward and former 10th overall pick, Tyson Jost, there comes some trickle-down effects which have revealed how the Wild will likely handle things the rest of the season.
Jost is under contract for the remainder of this season and all of next season at an AAV of $2 million. Cost and team control were certainly factors in why the Wild made this trade.
Everyone say “Hi Josty” 👋👋👋#mnwild pic.twitter.com/r0U1aLk2qJ
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 16, 2022
Going back to the Avalanche in return is pending unrestricted free agent forward Nico Sturm.
He was someone that the Wild likely weren’t able to keep due to their cap situation. Moving him now allows the Wild to get an asset back that they will have for an extra year. Sturm was also a healthy scratch on a few occasions as the Wild became fully healthy a couple weeks ago.
By acquiring Sturm, the Avs are getting a player that fits what they need more so than Jost does. Sturm plays more of a simple, north-south game that meshes better with the bottom-six spot that Jost was occupying.
What does this mean for the Wild?
The Wild are likely going to use Jost in several situations, including offensive ones. They want to give him every opportunity to show the skill and abilities that he didn’t have the opportunity to show previously in a loaded Colorado lineup.
If the Wild are able to put him in the right situations with the right players, they might be able to tap into the skill set that he hasn’t shown much of at the NHL level yet.
Also, it likely puts to bed any last chance of Marco Rossi appearing in a significant number of games (10 or more) this season. It was already quite apparent that the Wild were going to exercise their right to slide Rossi’s contract by a year before this trade. Now, it’s basically a guarantee. Jost fits exactly the role that Rossi would fill if he were to be called up.
In a best-case scenario, Jost is able to develop into the middle-six center that he wasn’t able to in Colorado and can do so under a cost-friendly scenario in the short-term.