No thanks. We need to rebuild and trading for a rental in Hayes isn't going to magically make us a contender, especially with Hunt - Bitetto as your 2nd pairing. I'm fine with trading Brodin and Coyle, but not for a guy who might walk after 20 games.

I honestly don't think this trade improves Minnesota as a team. Too much off the roster.

We can't afford to trade any picks unless we find a way to trade up (ex trading our 3rd and a player for a 2nd), our prospect pool is garbage relative to the rest of the league especially when you consider the fact we hit the lottery with Kaprizov.

I'm not super concerned about improving our current roster. As I said, we need a rebuild, so having a worse roster now only helps with that. But we need future pieces instead of a rental. If Hayes walks then we just traded Coyle, Brodin, a 3rd, and a 4th for a first round exit and a 2nd round pick. No bueno.

Exactly, I don't see Minnesota making it out of the first round but who knows.. maybe Dubnyk will go off. The main core is super old, the young core that was highly touted for so many years is in their mid 20s. No incredibly talented young players right now. The roster reminds me of Detroit when they made the playoffs the last few years, good enough to make the playoffs not good enough to contend. I don't really see them bringing in anything more than some depth guys out of respect for the players, maybe a cheap Koivu replacement. Not doing anything at the deadline when your team is playoff bound just shows management has no faith in the team which isn't great for morale. It's a weird position to be in

That's been the MO of the Wild for 6 years, good but not good enough. Without Koivu and possibly without Dumba, I don't see any way we make it past the first round. Even with those two we flopped against the Jets last year (although we were without Suter). I think we need to tear it down, add picks and prospects, and build for when Kaprizov can come over. I sure hope we don't add at the deadline or do nothing, we need to sell Staal at the very least. Granlund has also been in trade talks and he could bring back a nice return.

I agree, we are in a very odd situation.

They had some insane teams though. Just couldn't beat Chicago back in the day. I picked them to win the cup a couple times but Chicago always was the thorn in their side.

Personally, I think the whole connection between deadline deals and team morale is BS!! If anything, acquiring someone at the deadline is telling your team you don’t believe in them - not the other way around!

We are not rebuilding, Hayes might actually stay since Koivu might retire

What makes you say that? Russo has stated many times on his podcast, on KFAN, and in his articles that Fenton is not happy with this roster and he has hinted that he wants to tear it down. Russo also said there's no way Koivu is retiring. The Wild are not good enough to make a cup run. We've won 4 of our last 10 games, and are 1-4-2 since the break. Do you really want to watch us go to the playoffs when you already know the outcome? I'll spoil it for you: we'll lose in the 1st round. Teams like Winnipeg, Nashville, even Dallas and St Louis have far superior rosters to ours and we've shown for the past 6 years that even with better players surrounding our core we can't get it done. It's time for change, it's time to sell off pieces like Staal, Granlund, Spurgeon, Coyle, and Zucker.

I would rather be in the playoffs for seven straight years then miss the playoffs for 50 straight besides he's not rebuilding but tweaking

Let's come back to reality here. 50 straight is an extreme exaggeration, the longest current drought is the Carolina Hurricanes with 9, and look how stacked that team is for the future. Aho, Teuvo, Svechnikov, Necas, Nino, Slavin, Hamilton, Pesce, and Fox are some huge pieces to build a team around. So you're saying you're happy with this team's core? Because tweaking doesn't involve moving core pieces. You're happy with the way Zucker, Granlund, Staal, and Coyle are playing? I'm certainly not. I wouldn't be surprised if we do rebuild is all I'm saying, even if it's just a partial rebuild. Fenton knows this team isn't good enough to win a cup, and so does Leipold. While I may not agree with everything Leipold does, he's stuck by his statement of wanting to bring a cup here and he has given Fenton the green light to move anybody on this team which absolutely signals more than a tweak.

So let's play a little would you rather: would you rather this team spins it's tires in the mud and constantly loses in the first two rounds like they've proven they'll do? Or would you rather have a legitimate shot at a cup by tearing some core pieces down. Because that's what we're facing right now and I'll take a shot at the cup with a different core every single time over the ceiling of this core (which is good enough to make it but not good enough to get it done).

I will agree with u that building around a certain player makes a difference, but if that player is young and inexperienced it makes the team look like the buffalo sabres the last five years. I’m curious to what the plans are before Monday’s deadline. Winning teams know how to win; are we a winning team? Let’s find out what we are made of. I’m reminded of an Alter Bridge song that goes, “sometimes u fall, before u rise”