The Minnesota Wild have not yet landed their No. 1 center this offseason, but that's not through effort. They swung and missed on Brady Tkachuk and have yet to convince the Detroit Red Wings to send over ideal candidate Dylan Larkin. But the Wild did make a prominent trade this offseason, acquiring winger Blake Coleman from the Calgary Flames.
Coleman had been on the trade block lately, considering the Flames were sitting near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Coleman easily slots into their top six as of this writing, giving them a gritty forward who has shown during his career that he can put up as many as 30 goals in a season. As it turns out, the Wild weren't the only ones in their division in the running for Coleman.
During an appearance on Hello Hockey, The Fourth Period NHL insider David Pagnotta revealed that the Dallas Stars were in the running for Coleman, but didn't have the financials to get it done.
Stars lost out in Blake Coleman sweepstakes
"Dallas was a key destination, but with their financials, it just didn't make sense to be able to pull that off," said Pagnotta. "So, he goes to [Minnesota] and has a good opportunity there to chase a cup."
It's no secret that the Stars are in a bind, cap space wise. This is a team that had to trade away young forward Mavrik Bourque since he was a restricted free agent and due for a new contract. That, and they still have to find a way to keep star winger Jason Robertson, who could command a gigantic contract, but the Stars don't have enough space to currently fit him under the threshold.
So far, the Stars traded away Bourque to the Nashville Predators, who signed him to a six-year, $33 million contract extension. The Stars received a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 third-round pick in exchange. As for Robertson, they are set to have an arbitration hearing on July 25. From there, they should get some clarity whether Robertson will stay another year on a cheap deal, or demand a trade elsewhere. Let's not forget that Robertson already vetoed a trade to the Seattle Kraken, who offered him an eight-year contract with an annual salary of $15 million.
As for the Wild, they had the sufficient cap space to add Coleman, especially since the Flames are retaining 50 percent of his $4.9 million salary. Since the Wild don't have much cap space either, getting them to retain some salary was a win for general manager Bill Guerin.
This past season with Calgary, Coleman recorded 20 goals, 15 assists, and a plus-12 plus/minus rating through 69 games played.
The Wild may not have the center they were hoping for just yet, but they didn't wait to make other moves that could be beneficial for them. With Coleman on the market, the Wild ensured they were able to get him to fill out their depth in the top six. It's a good thing they did, because it looks as though the Stars were lurking for Coleman.
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