You trade a good offensive piece for an aging, injury-plagued depth forward who is way overpaid? Not seeing that... Even with some prospects coming back, and Cal Foote is NOT in play for any trade, not even Erik Karlsson.

The Minnesota Wild have made the playoffs 6 years in a row...that's great...but, they have been mostly non-competitive in the post season those 6 years too. Basically, they are a franchise stuck in the mud because of loooong contracts to aging players. While taking on Callahan's contract is not ideal, if it ultimately gets two young, very good/great prospects for Zucker...I think it's worth it in the long haul. The Wild have enough forward depth to stay competitive without Zucker, so this is a trade designed for the long-term health of the Wild. The big picture here is the arrival of stud Wild prospect Kirill Kaprizov. By all accounts, he is going to be an absolute offensive juggernaut, but cannot cross the ocean for two more seasons because of his KHL contract. Both Callahan and Koivu will be off the books by then and the Wild will be a new look team because their other old players (Parise and Suter) will have smaller roles and the current 20-something players (Granlund, Dumba, Niederrieter, et al) will take over the roles they should already have. Also by then, Eriksson Ek, Greenway, Kunin, et al will be ready for larger roles and the prospects in this trade, along with others in the system will be NHL ready. They will then be a very talented, balanced team...ready to be legitimate Cup contenders.

That was a long-winded answer for: This is a step backwards for the Wild so they can ultimately take 2 steps forward in the near future.

Okay, I agree with you, and I think that approach might happen soon for the Wild. And it would be better to begin that process sooner rather than later so they kids you talked about can be a part of the process. The Kunin's and the Eriksson Ek's.

But if you're going to go that route, why aren't you going to tear the whole thing down? Why hang on to Devan Dubnyk, who will probably not be an elite goaltender by that point? Why trade Zucker, who could be your veteran leader at that point, when you should really trade guys like Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter, etc. who are they players who can't get the Wild over the hump in the playoffs?

I get that Zucker would get you a big return, but it's not like you couldn't trade Coyle for a decent return. Same with some other players.

You're 100% right they are caught in limbo, but you can't do what the Canadiens did and think you can just make one large move to fix the problem. Trading P.K. Subban didn't solve the problem. And it's gone downhill from there.

If you want to rebuild for the future, you need to do what the Sharks did. Or what the Blackhawks are trying to do. Shed off a lot of dead weight, and bring in younger players who fit the modern game, or bring in some veterans on modest deals.

The point is, trading Zucker isn't going to fix anything today, and the return you get for Zucker probably won't fix anything tomorrow either. If you're going to go down that route, it's time to trade away more than just Zucker.

Awesome points and I agree with almost everything you said. The main reason for doing what I did is Wild owner Craig Leipold. He has stated vehemently that he will not allow a rebuild, but only a "tweak" or two. The other reason is Zach Parise and Ryan Suter...or their contracts to be more specific. It would be very difficult to do a true rebuild without trading both of them...but they have NMC/NTCs. Both chose to come to MN to be closer to home and family, so I don't see them allowing the Wild to move them. Besides, who is dumb enough to take on their contracts anyway?

I don't like the idea of trading either Coyle or Niederreiter, as you suggest. Both are coming off injury-plagued, down seasons and the Wild would be selling low. I'm not a fan of that. Zucker is the one to trade because he is going to get (IMO) more money and more term than he is worth coming off a career year. Zucker is a very good player and adds a lot...but, (again IMO) he is the type of piece a true contender adds, not a player to build around. This is why I think he would make a ton of sense in Tampa. They get a real player for Callahan's money and the Wild get 2 very nice prospects to build around for the future. It makes so much sense in my pea-sized brain that I can't believe it hasn't already happened...

Agreed, but you can rebuild around those contracts. You can trade everyone else from the team. You have to hit the salary floor somehow, right?

I know the owner doesn't want a rebuild, but if you are in the middle of the pack, you options are to stay the course and continue to be mediocre, or tweak a lot more than one or two pieces and get significantly better.

That’s exactly what should be done...