That was supposed to mean president of hockey operations Bill Guerin wouldn’t be alloted any additional cap space to make much of an impact before Friday’s deadline. That, of course, was after the Wild traded for familiar face, Gustav Nyquist.

Minnesota Wild trade away Khusnutdinov, Lauko to Bruins for Justin Brazeau

Now, just a few days later, Billy has found yet another way to wheel and deal, despite Minnesota’s tight cap situation. This time, he has dealt away two forwards — Marat Khusnutdinov and Jakub Lauko — to the Boston Bruins in exchange for 27-year-old Canadian winger Justin Brazeau.

Brazeau has 10 goals, 20 points and 89 hits on the season, in rather limited ice time (12:58 TOI). He’s a big body forward who will immediately provide a presence in front of the net, until Eriksson Ek returns. The trade was first broken by Kevin Weekes (ESPN, NHL Network), who got the scoop fresh out of surgery.

**Breaking News** 🚨 📰
I’m told @mnwild are trading F Khusnutdinov and F Lauko to the @NHLBruins . #HockeyX
Side note, fresh outta surgery so I’m not that sharp LOL 😂 pic.twitter.com/Iixv4SXynn

— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) March 7, 2025

For the amount of time on ice that Justin Brazeau receives on a nightly basis, his statistics this season are really impressive. He averages 3rd line minutes, but ranks top seven on the Bruins in goals and top 10 in both assists and points. The 6’6″, 227 lb former OHL North Bay Battalion star also played 86.2 minutes on the power play for Boston this season, where he scored four of his 10 goals on the year.

Related: With Stars Expected Back, MN Wild Preparing for Underwhelming NHL Trade Deadline

Brazeau was the only skater for Boston who scored more than ten goals but averaged less than 17.5 minutes of ice time per game. Our old friend Charlie Coyle is next down that list, with 17:38 average TOI (15 goals). No doubt Justin Brazeau represents a type of NHL talent that neither Khusnutdinov nor Lauko provided at this point in their careers.

113 points in 68 games for the OHL’s North Bay Battalion in 2018-2019 btw…and wore the “C”

The Justin Brazeau Experience #NHLBruins | @BruinSomethin pic.twitter.com/829wOTib7z

— Michael Sullivan (@_MikeSullivan) May 7, 2024

Justin Brazeau converts on the power play.

1-0 Bruins. pic.twitter.com/n0MZ8Ajmya

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 24, 2024

Minnesota Wild trade 1st round pick for (D) David Jiricek

The Wild’s president of hockey operations proved as much this evening, when he traded away one of Minnesota’s most NHL-ready defense prospects, 22-year-old Daemon Hunt — along with a top 5 protected 2025 1st round pick, 2026 3rd, 2027 4th and 2027 2nd — to the Columbus Blue Jackets, in exchange for Czechian defenseman David Jiricek, a former No. 6 overall pick (2022) who turned 21-years-old on Thanksgiving.

According to Michael Russo (The Athletic), who forecasted this trade a few days ago, Jiricek will start his Minnesota Wild career in Iowa. The longtime NHL insider doesn’t think the NHL’s No. 10 ranked prospect (ESPN) will have to wait long. He predicts two to three weeks.

Draft picks in Jiricek-Hunt swap#mnwild get 2025 fifth#cbj get 2025 first (top 5 protected), 2026 third, 2027 fourth and 2027 second

Jiricek assigned to Iowa. My guess is for 2-3 weeks

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) November 30, 2024

David Jiricek has not played well so far this season, with the Blue Jackets, but he hasn’t been given opportunities a lot of opportunities either. In a limited 11 minutes of ice time per game (in just 6 games), the No. 10 ranked prospect in the NHL has 1 assist and 0 goals (-2 +/-). The biggest concern with Jiricek seems to be his skating ability.

Minnesota depending on Andy Ness to fix Jiricek’s skating deficiencies

Those inside Minnesota Wild facilities are telling Russo that renowned skating coach Andy Ness can fix whatever issues he seems to have in that department. Clearly, with the haul Guerin gave up in this trade, he is not worried about any deficiencies in David Jiricek’s game.

All teams covet right shots, and Jiricek is a two-way defenseman with a heavy shot who plays hard and will bring much-needed size to a blue line that doesn’t have a ton of it. While mobility has long been his weakness, the Wild believe their skating expert, Andy Ness, could do wonders for him. Jiricek is a decorated junior player with lots of international experience and success.

The Athletic

Last season (2023-24) with the Cleveland Monsters (Blue Jackets AHL affiliate), David Jiricek played 29 games, scoring 7 goals and assisting on 12 more. But he was a -16, when on the ice. The year before (2022-23), he played 55 games in Cleveland. He scored 6 goals and collected 32 assists… and the Monsters went -11 in goal differential, with him on the ice.

Related: Kirill Kaprizov Hart Trophy Odds: Can Minnesota Wild Superstar Win NHL MVP?

The Minnesota Wild need this trade to work out. The cost was not cheap, and this is a guy that pretty much forced his way out of the Blue Jackets organization before ever establishing himself as a legitimate NHLer. And you just traded four draft picks for this dude.

Blue Jackets' defenseman prospect David Jiricek scored in OT to lift the Cleveland Monsters over the Milwaukee Admirals.

Nashville rumored to be interested in the No. 6 overall pick from 2022, who seems to be on his way out in Columbus. pic.twitter.com/zZVqSRtfAJ

— Alex Daugherty (@AlexDaugherty1) November 24, 2024

Yes, the Wild need another talented NHL defenseman on the ice ASAP, with Jonas Brodin out. But at face value, David Jiricek can’t hold Brodin’s jock. Adding to the risk, he’s clearly not happy in the AHL anymore. If the Wild don’t call Jiricek up soon, and keep him up, then he’ll probably be just as unhappy here, as he was in Columbus.

Wild trade Calen Addison for late-round draft pick

The deal was first reported by NHL insider, Kevin Weekes, before Michael Russo (The Athletic) confirmed the report and revealed the draft pick compensation. San Jose also threw in RW Adam Raska, who totaled 0 points in 7 games with the San Jose Barracudas, of the AHL.

As @KevinWeekes first reported, Calen Addison is indeed being traded to the #sjsharks. #mnwild will receive a fifth-round pick in 2026, I’m told.

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) November 8, 2023

Related: How to Stream Timberwolves and Wild Games with Bally Sports App Not Working

I’m not sure what convinced the Wild to finally deal Addison, after opting to re-sign him for a one year contract just before the start of training camp. Or, maybe it was the Sharks who came to a halfway point they weren’t willing to cross during the offseason.

But what were once rumors are now reality. The Wild and Calen Addison are splitting ways. In 92 career games wearing a Minnesota Wild sweater, Addison totaled 38 points and just 5 goals. The 23-year-old has often been lauded for his skill on the power play, yet Calen never scored a goal while on the man advantage, though he did rack up 18 PP assists.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

MIN trades Jason Zucker to PIT for Galchenyuk, 2020 first-round pick and Calen Addison.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 11, 2020

Jason Zucker has finally been traded….

And Billy Guerin got a haul, in return. The Penguins are good again this year (34-15-5) so their 2020 1st round pick will be near the bottom of the round. However, another 1st round pick is gold, when looking at draft capital and what it takes to move around or get better, quickly.

If somehow the Penguins miss the playoffs, the pick is protected and they could decide whether to let Minnesota have the lottery pick for 2020, or push the pick off to 2021.

The Wild also got, who many think, is the Penguins best future prospect, with 19-yr-old, Calen Addison. HockeyWriters.com has him as the #79 overall prospect in the NHL.

The current WHL defenseman has been dominant in 2019-20, putting up 43 total points (33 AST, 10 G) for the Lethbridge Hurricanes, again…. AS A DEFENSEMAN.

#79 Prospect in NHL (HockeyWriters)

Calen Addison could very well be a top-four defender for the Penguins in a few years. He’s a great skater and a solid playmaker. He’s a couple of years away, but the 2018 second-round pick shows a great deal of promise. There seems to be no question that the young player will be a future power play quarterback.

HockeyWriters.com

Alex Galchenyuk‘s deal is expiring after the season so he was likely just filler, to make this deal work. He’s a 25-year-old center, who was just traded to Pittsburgh, from Arizona, last season.

The Wild don’t retain any of Zucker’s salary in this deal. What a first big move by Billy….

Galchenyuk is UFA at end of season, so this is largely about the first-rounder and prospect. No salary retained. Zucker has 3 years left at 5.5M

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 11, 2020

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan