Wild Division Rival Weirdly Obsessed with Minnesota at NHL Trade Deadline

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Minnesota natives Erik Johnson and Brock Nelson: New York Islanders at Colorado Avalanche
Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The 36-22-4 Minnesota Wild return to the ice on Friday night in Vancouver vs the Canucks. But earlier in the day, they remained silent as a mouse on Christmas Eve, leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline.

Sure, president of hockey operations Bill Guerin could be found wheeling and dealing throughout the last week. First, this time last Friday, the Wild trading away future draft capital to the Nashville Predators for semi-familiar forward Gustav Nyquist.

Minnesota natives Brock Nelson and Brock Faber: New York Islanders at Minnesota Wild
Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images

Then Thursday, Minnesota traded away 22 y/o center Marat Khusnutdinov and 24 y/o wing Jakub Lauko to the Boston Bruins for 27 y/o wing Justin Brazeau. But as other top contenders in the Western Conference were getting better on Friday, Guerin watched and sat on his hands.

Colorado Avalanche leave Minnesota Wild in the dust at NHL Trade Deadline

One of the most active teams at the NHL trade deadline this afternoon was Wild division rival, the Colorado Avalanche. They spent Friday swapping out multiple forwards, while also making upgrades on the blue line. The flurry of activity in Colorado today started right as the calendar was flipping from Thursday to Friday.

Across the hockey world, NHL fans woke up to notifications that the Avs had traded away 20 y/o top prospect Calum Ritchie and 27 y/o defenseman Oliver Kylington — along with a future 1st and 3rd round draft pick — to the New York Islanders, in exchange for 33 y/o Warroad native Brock Nelson and 23 y/o forward William Dufour, a top 10 prospect in the Avs system.

The move for Nelson felt like a direct shot across the bow at their division rival, the Minnesota Wild. Remember, Michael Russo (The Athletic) and others around the league have been reporting on the Wild’s interest in bringing Nelson home ASAP, whether it happened via deadline trade or when he becomes a free agent this offseason.

Now that Nelson is on the roster of their biggest division rival, is it less likely that Brock returns to Minnesota and plays for his home state Wild next season? Only Brock Nelson and those around him can answer that question, but it certainly doesn’t make his homecoming more likely.

Avalanche brass can’t get Minnesota off their brain at trade deadline…

But the Colorado Avalanche were far from finished dealing, after they landed Nelson in the wee hours of Friday morning. This afternoon, the Avs must’ve realized they had too much Minnesota blood on their roster, after the Nelson acquisition.

Thus, the Wild’s top rival traded decided to trade 26 y/o Eden Prairie native, Casey Mittelstadt, to the Boston Bruins. Of course, the Minnesota Wild connections didn’t end there. In return for Mittelstadt, the Avalanche received 33 y/o former Wild fan favorite Charlie Coyle, who played the first 479 games of his NHL career in Minnesota.

I’m not trying to sound like the late, great Billy Mays selling you Oxyclean when you wake up with the TV on at 3 a.m. with this article… “but wait, there’s more!” No seriously, the Minnesota obsession in Colorado did not stop after the Mittelstadt for Coyle trade.

Related: MN Wild Forward Named Breakout Star to Watch at 2026 Olympics

Moments after that deal went final, the Avs must’ve felt regret for trading away one of the Minnesotans on the roster, because they immediately turned around and acquired another one from the Philadelphia Flyers, this time trading for Bloomington-born and MN raised, Erik Johnson, a 36-year-old defenseman who returns to Colorado, where he spent the best years of his career from 2010 to 2023.

Look, I understand that there are a lot of Minnesota-born players in the NHL, but there was a different level of interest from the Avalanche today, in acquiring and dealing away guys with ties to the state of hockey. Even while Bill Guerin stayed quiet at the deadline, we were all up in the brain of those running the Avs front office at the deadline.

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