The Minnesota Wild shot out to a hot start to the 2015-16 NHL season, despite a handful of painful injuries. Now sitting at 10-3-3 and in second place in the Central Division, and tied for second in the Western Conference, the notion of a trade is likely far from the minds of most Wild fans. But that doesn't mean that Minnesota GM Chuck Fletcher hasn't kept his ear to the ground where possible additions - like at forward - and subtractions - from the team's deep pool of defensemen - are concerned.
In fact, according to a recent report, the Wild may actually be a team to keep your eye on as the NHL's Feb. trade deadline steadily approaches.
"One team that's pretty interesting to me is Minnesota," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said Monday, while appearing on Calgary's Sportsnet 960, via Today's Slap Shot. "The Wild have a couple of kids in the American Hockey League - defensemen, one of them Mike Reilly - who are getting pretty close to being ready. They have four defenseman - I think five defensemen, actually, 25 and younger. They've got some extra blueliners. There are teams in this league looking for D.
"Minnesota, I've been told, is a team to kind of watch - when do they pull the trigger, if they want to go and find something else to help them."
Of course, as Friedman went on to note, the Wild would likely be reticent to make any deal from their defensive group before Reilly and a player like Gustav Olofsson, expected to be a big part of the Wild's blueline of the future, but who is still struggling to return from a shoulder injury suffered earlier this season, are ready to make the leap to the big club.
That being said, if the right offer presents itself - an opportunity say, to turn one of their talented young blueliners into a talented young forward, able to help ease the loss of Zach Parise and/or to fill the fourth-line hole the team has as-of-yet been unable to fill - Fletcher and Wild coach Mike Yeo may be hard-pressed to say no.
With three forwards from the opening-night roster now sidelined, Fletcher and Yeo have struggled with a revolving door of underperforming call-ups from the franchise's AHL affiliate in Iowa. Christoph Bertschy and Kurtis Gabriel both failed to stake a claim to the job, while Brett Bulmer didn't even get an opportunity to play before being sent back down. On Saturday, they played an extra defenseman in lieu of suiting up an unprepared forward.
If the Wild are to continue notching W's, their overabundance of talented defensemen may, unfortunately, be their avenue to upgrade up front.
The question is, is it worth it to see players like Jonas Brodin, Mathew Dumba or even Marco Scandella, players seemingly on the cusp of their prime NHL years, head elsewhere? If it brings Stanley Cup, or perhaps even a deep playoff run, the answer is likely yes.
But if not, then a trade like this, weakening a position of strength to aid the roster elsewhere, will be soundly panned for years to come. Then again, if the team's forward issues continue to grow, and the fanbase becomes restless over Fletcher and Yeo's inaction, it may not be long before the media are calling for their heads.
It's a delicate situation. One that has a chance to determine the outcome of the Wild's 2015-16 season. And from the sounds of things, Fletcher and Co. aren't content to sit idle.
