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.

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.

Brock Nelson is off to Denver!! 🏔️ #NHLTradeDeadline pic.twitter.com/GOQifR6gYd

— NHL (@NHL) March 7, 2025

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.

We have acquired Charlie Coyle and a 2026 pick from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Casey Mittelstadt, William Zellers, and a 2025 pick. pic.twitter.com/yNozSyN2SS

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 7, 2025

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.

We have acquired Erik Johnson from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Givani Smith. pic.twitter.com/eLpTLJforp

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 7, 2025

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.

Alright… you read the headline. I’m not in this business for click-bait. This made me double-take when I watched it.

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Niederreiter and Coyle are no longer teammates, go at it pretty good pic.twitter.com/bKcVvkfa43

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) May 15, 2019

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First, when I started thinking about what was happening in this video, and where the blog post was going end up as I reached for my laptop, I almost hesitated. It ends with two of our most promising young players needing to be traded, due to our lack developmental ability as an NHL organization, over the last 10 years. That’s fucking depressing for a Wednesday morning.

But hey, at least it’s out of the way. Wripping off the band-aid is the best way for removal. Now, let me break down this hockey scuffle because I have absolutely zero experience playing hockey and I definitely lost the only fight I’ve ever been in personally. Play that fucking tape back:

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via GIPHY

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Niederreiter and Coyle are no longer teammates, go at it pretty good pic.twitter.com/bKcVvkfa43

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) May 15, 2019

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It all starts with Nino. He goes in for some extra action on the puck when the Carolina goalie has it covered up. I don’t know when the whistle blew and I don’t care. I do the same thing in NHL on PS4 which clearly means something so.. no problems yet.

But things get frisky quickly when #47 (don’t care to look up his name) of Boston takes offense with Nino’s extracurriculars involving his goalie and slashes at Nino once in the shin-guards, to pose his displeasure. I had to roll the tape back in slow motion a few times because it looks like #47 takes a face shot with his stick immediately after his initial warning slash, but after further review, he did not have his stick in his left hand when he made the motion. Moving on.

Now is where Charlie comes in and things get interesting. There is no doubt that Charlie has gotten over his time in Minnesota. He doesn’t even give Nino a moment of chatting with his new teammate, #47, before laying 4-5 crosschecks to Niederreiter’s neck/chest area, with no regard to human life.

Then, Coyle goes to the always-embarrassing facepalm, as the ref is trying to breakup the scrum. It’s a devastating moment for Nino’s pride. To have another man fend you off with a one-handed face palm is not the way you want to go out.

Coyle was clearly the aggressor in this situation and Nino looks about as shocked as anyone when it’s all over, staring down Coyle with two death-rays that Charlie can’t even stand to peer back into. Notice that he knew he did Niederreiter dirty. He wouldn’t even look back at him afterward.

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via GIPHY

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And to think that ESPN is pushing European Kickball instead of this sport… sad.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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EPISODE 42 SUMMARY

Jerry Kill made a fool of himself on Tuesday evening when he went on national radio with an agenda to slander PJ Fleck. Unfortunately for him, everyone listening has a brain and knows what he said was false. We discuss why Jerry is so salty and jealous of PJ Fleck.

Then, we move on to the other coach on campus, Richard Pitino. The Gophers are on the NCAA bubble and Richard Pitino’s job should be on the line. We discuss why it’d be the perfect time to fire him if he isn’t dancing in March.

With so much negativity around town, it’s nice to have some hope in the Twins and Rocco Baldelli is a big reason for that hope. With sweeping changes around Fort Myers for Spring Training, the Twins seem to be on the cutting edge of the MLB instead of being last to the party like we’ve been used to. Now….. can he win?

Lastly, who is to blame for the Kirk Cousins Twitter controversies? Should we feel bad for Kirk Cousins? Are his mentions getting out of hand? 

Also, Charlie Coyle got traded right before the show and we know nothing about who the Wild got back for him. GREAT hockey minds!