Deadline moves help Minnesota Wild’s present, but at what future cost?

With the trade deadline in the books, the Minnesota Wild had one of the most aggressive approaches in the history of the team. Players in and draft picks out, the Wild feel like they are all-in with new additions of reigning Vezina winner Marc-Andre Fleury, solid defensemen Jacob Middleton, former top 10 pick Tyson Jost, and tough-guy Nicolas Deslauriers. 

But. as Wild general manager Bill Guerin put it:

“You have to give up something to get something, no matter what level.”

To get these new additions, the Wild had to lose some assets as well. Nico Sturm headed to Colorado, goaltender Kappo Kahkonen departed to San Jose, and several draft picks left along with them.

Over the course of the last week, the Wild have parted with a conditional second-round pick (maybe a first round), a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick. They also managed to receive a second- round pick as prospect center Jack McBain was shipped to Arizona. It is also worth noting that the Wild will receive a compensatory second-round pick by not signing 2018 first-rounder Filip Johansson.

While the players are easier to place a value on, the draft picks can be a little more confusing, as they are players that have yet to be selected. With most of them being 18-years-old and nothing to go on but scouting reports, there is no way to tell who that player could be or what their career may look like.

The question that will remain unanswered for years is, what will those picks turn into? Did the Wild trade away an opportunity to pick up a superstar prospect?

Let’s examine what the Minnesota Wild have managed to do with their draft picks in previous years to gain a sense of what the future picks may be worth.

First Round

When Draft Day comes around every year there is a reason that the first round is televised and is usually a pretty major event in the world of hockey. Players picked in the first round are the best of their age group, they are the names that the hockey world will be hearing about for years to come, and they are hard to come by.

The Minnesota Wild have made 22 first-round selections in the history of the team and 14 of them (63.6%) have gone on to play a minimum of 150 NHL games.

That number doesn’t include Matt Boldy, who looks to be a mainstay on the Wild roster for years to come; Marco Rossi, the highly touted center that has been lighting up the AHL or either of last years picks of Jesper Wallstedt and Carson Lambos. Both of the latter two are looking extremely promising.

I feel safe in saying that the four picks will also meet that 150-game mark in their careers, bringing the number to 18 of 22 (81.8%).

Perhaps even more impressive is the number of players that have gone on to lead extremely long and successful careers in the NHL, whether with the Wild or with other teams. Some players have even gone on to break the 1000 NHL game mark:

Mikko Koivu: The first ever permanent Wild captain, first player to play 1,000 games with the Minnesota and the first ever Wild player to have his number retired. Koivu is beloved by Wild fans and will forever hold a place as one of the greatest Minnesota Wild players of all time.

Marian Gaborik: Holding the title of “First Ever Minnesota Wild Draft Pick”, Marian Gaborik was an elite scorer for the eight seasons he played with the Wild and continued his dominance over an amazing 1,035 game career with the Rangers, Blue Jackets, Kings, and Senators.

He still holds many records with the Wild for most regular season goals (219), single season goals (42), and single season points (83).

Brent Burns: The 37-year-old defensemen is still active, currently playing for San Jose, and is already at 1,232 NHL games played. He has 764 points in his career and appears to have no plans of slowing down as he continues to log big minutes every game.

Other well known Minnesota Wild first rounders include:

Benoit Puliot, Nick Leddy, Mikael Granlund, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, Alex Tuch, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Luke Kunin.

Second Round

While a significant drop in expected high-caliber players, the second round is full of solid players and is where a lot of teams pick up middle six forwards, bottom four defensemen, and take a few risks on some players that have a higher potential upside. Development of these players is expected to take a little longer and they may see a decent amount of time in the AHL honing their skills.

The Minnesota Wild have made 20 total seconnd round picks with five of them being in the last three years. Vladislav Firstov was a 2019 pick and recently signed a three-year entry level contract that starts next year.

Excluding those five players still developing, Minnesota has managed to produce nine players (60%) that have gone on to play at least 75 NHL games. Only one player managed to reach 1,000 games played:

Nick Schultz: The second pick ever by the Minnesota Wild was this elite defenseman that went on to play 1,069 games, also playing with the Oilers, Blue Jackets, and Flyers. He was recently passed by Jared Spurgeon for the most games played with the Wild by a defenseman (744).

Other notable Wild second rounders include:

Josh Harding, Pat O’Sullivan, Matt Kassian, Marco Scandella, Jason Zucker, Johan Larsson, and Jordan Greenway.

Third Round

The third round is where options become thin, players are usually looked at as depth assets and may have a hard road to cracking the NHL. With 20 picks in the third round only fourplayers (20%) have managed to play 50+ NHL games; however, Connor Dewar (2018) is well on his way with 30, Jack McBain (2018) looks like he will get his first look with Arizona this year, and Adam Beckman (2019) had a fantastic training camp earlier this year that saw him play 3 games in Minnesota.

One notable exception exists for the Wild in the form of:

Cal Clutterbuck: With 933 games, the still active 34-year-old will likely become the only Wild third rounder to break the 1,000 game mark next year as he just signed a two-year contract extension with the Islanders. Clutterbuck played six seasons with the Wild, though only saw two games in his first year.

Some other notable third rounders include:

Stephane Veilleux, Clayton Stoner, and Kurtis Gabriel

Fourth Round +

Past the third round the prospects are usually an educated guess by the scouts. These are players that are great in one or two areas of their game, but usually have large gaps or shortcomings that prevent them from moving higher up in the rankings. In some cases, these gaps may be something they can work on, may be something the team can work around, or may be something that causes the player to never make the NHL.

A fair number of goalies are taken in these rounds as goalies are usually more difficult to accurately scout and therefore teams aren’t as willing to use their higher picks on them.

Of the 95 picks the Wild have had in the fourth round or later, only 15 have broken the 50 NHL game mark (15.8%) and only one has broken the 500 game mark:

Erik Haula: Taken in the seventh round in 2009, this late round pick played four seasons with the wild before making stops in Vegas, Carolina, Florida, Nashville, and Boston so far on his 516-game career. He has amassed 223 points in those games.

There is also every Wild fan’s favorite exception:

Kirill Kaprizov: Taken in the firth round in 2015, the current Wild Star has 127 points in 115 games (1.10 ppg) and is on track to break Gaborik’s single season goal and point totals in only his second year in the NHL. Kaprizov has set up to be the Wild’s best late draft steal ever.

Other notable late round Wild Drafts include:

Derek Boogaard, Anton Khudobin, Darcy Keumper, Nick Seeler, Carson Soucy, Ryan Jones, Kaapo Kahkonen, and Brandon Duhaime.