The Minnesota Wild are all-in this season. After acquiring former Norris trophy winner Quinn Hughes, it sounds like GM Bill Guerin isn’t finished.
The Wild are a Stanley Cup contender this season and now with Hughes in the mix, they could turn their blueline depth into some help for their middle-six. The Wild are off to a hot start this season, entering the week with a 19-9-5 record, sitting third in the Central Division.
Daily Faceoff’s Tyler Yaremchuk spoke about the Wild on a recent episode of Daily Faceoff Live, and mentioned one defenceman in Minnesota who could be flipped:
If I’m Bill Guerin, this can’t be it. For me, you have a year and a half to prove to Quinn Hughes and really prove to everybody that no, we are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. We are capable of going on deep, long runs… If you make the third round, if you make the Stanley Cup Final once in these next two years, it probably does get easier to keep Hughes in the mix. If you’re Bill Guerin… you have a lot of blueliners. If you need to free up some cap space, looking to move a guy like Jacob Middleton… they have pieces they can move for some help up front. And that’s where they’ve got to zero in. I wouldn’t be holding on to any future assets, any prospect, any draft pick, whatever it is, this team now needs to add an impact forward and really push all their chips into the middle.
Middleton, 29, is currently on the IR, and is signed for $4.35 million AAV through the 2028-29 season. Middleton is averaging 18:08 of ice-time per game, and has chipped in with six seconds in 28 games.
Middleton does hold a full no-movement clause this season, which turns into a 15-team no-trade clause in July. With the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets in need of a defenceman, they could be a market there for the Alberta product. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and Carolina Hurricanes are in the market for a defenceman, so are worth watching as potential trade destinations.
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