Could Tyson Jost Trade Set Table for More Wild Moves
While Minnesota sports fans waited on pins and needles for the Twins and Vikings to shake up their rosters, it was the Minnesota Wild who struck a deal on Tuesday, trading away (C) Nico Sturm to the Colorado Avalanche, receiving 24-year-old (RW/C) Tyson Jost in return.
Sturm is due to become a free agent after the season and the Wild were unlikely to re-sign him, so trading Nico away before the upcoming trade deadline wasn’t a surprise. GM Bill Guerin’s interest in Jost, however, has some hockey experts scratching their heads.
Jost Deal a Table-Setter?
Including Michael Russo (The Athletic) and Wild broadcaster, Anthony LaPanta (BSN), who racked their brains in a recent episode of their “Worst Seats In The House” Podcast. Both agree the Jost trade could be setting the table for more Wild moves that are yet to come.
Russo: “The interesting part of this trade that’s still, to me, is a little perplexing is that he’s still got a year left [on his contract] at $2 million. So now you tighten things up even more. Unless you’re planning on trading [Jost] this offseason, or somebody else. If the math was hard before to resign Fiala, they’re either saying ‘we’re not doing it’ or they’re planning on moving other guys like Kulikov or even somebody else in the near future.”
Russo: “They’re either acting impulsively to try and fix this season. Or, they’ve got other plans, right now, that we just haven’t figured out exactly what’s going on here.”
LaPanta: “I would guess the latter, rather than the former there.”
Wild Need to Fix Problems Quickly
Tyson Jost is a UND alum who, as the 10th overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft, never lived up to his expectations with the Avalanche. He was relegated to a bottom-six role in Colorado, which is where he’ll start in Minnesota. Still, it’s possible that new scenery will spark better play for Jost. Guerin also hopes some new blood will add some energy on the ice and in the locker room.
An eastern conference playoff team in the Boston Bruins come to Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday night with the Wild’s own playoff aspirations feeling less guaranteed as each game passes. They’ve now lost 10 of their last 14, a stretch that has pushed them down the western conference standings and into the first of two Wildcard playoff spots. Only five points now separates the Wild from falling out of the playoffs completely. Fall one more spot and they’d have to face the Av’s in a first round matchup that’d be nearly impossible to win.
Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan
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