Not to be out-done by their compadres in the basketball and baseball worlds, the Minnesota Wild swung their own (semi-)blockbuster trade yesterday.
After rumors had swirled around the dealing of Jason Zucker for literal years, the Wild finally dealt the 28-year-old winger to Pittsburgh on Monday. The former second-round pick was the franchise's all-time fourth-leading goal scorer and was notably active with local charities. As beloved as he was in Minnesota, his 5-year, $27.5 million contract, combined with his age, made him a logical trade asset for a team that is starting to rebuild.
In return, the Wild got forward Alex Galchenyuk, defenseman Calen Addison, and a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2020. In Galchenyuk, the squad got a young expiring contract. If the front office likes what they see from the struggling (yet promising) player, they can re-sign him. If they don't, he'll be off the books. The 19-year-old Addison has been performing very well in the WHL, with 43 points in 39 games. He was widely considered to be the Penguins' best prospect before the trade.
New GM Bill Guerin did a good job with his first big swing, and there could be more moves to come.
As for the Vikings, there has been some speculation lately that Stefon Diggs could possibly be on the move this off-season. This is partially due to Diggs' puzzling social media activity.
This became somewhat of a pattern for Diggs in 2019, so who knows what it really means. However, it may make sense for the Vikings to deal the emotional star this off-season.
The Vikings are in dire need of salary cap space in order to improve their offensive line and secondary. They currently have negative cap space. This may mean that some well-paid vets like Everson Griffen, Riley Reiff, and Xavier Rhodes could get cut this off-season. However, having Diggs' contract off the books could be pretty advantageous as well. As beloved as the Minneapolis Miracle worker is in Minnesota, does it really make sense to be paying two star wide receivers when the Vikings run the ball as much as they do? This is what the front office has to consider. Personally, I hope they decide to keep Diggs, but there's no telling what could happen as the front office tries to keep the championship window from closing.
Whatever the case with the Vikings, the trade winds have certainly been swirling in Minnesota the past couple of weeks. It's an exciting time to be a fan.
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