Ritchie and Valimaki are the last things the Wild need. From the Coyotes, they could use Hayton and that's probably about it.

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Why what?

Pens would have interest in both if Coyotes would take salary like Kapenan and a pick.

I agree that we don't need Ritchie nor Valimaki since we need offense. I'd argue that we don't need/want Hayton for that same reason. Pre-draft Hayton was earmarked as a player that was more known for his two-way abilities but lacked the offensive upside to warrant top line upside. I haven't seen anything since the draft to suggest otherwise so I'd err against grabbing him. Minnesota's best bet is to let Judd cook and open up enough roster spots to give our current prospects valuable ice time.

Wild need quality NHL centers, especially if they're young and cheap, which Hayton is. He's been steadily improving every year, and he's still only 22. He's very much following the Eriksson Ek development path. The Wild would be very interested in him if he was made available.

Vali is an offensive dmen, why wouldn't the wild want him? What do you think he's worth by his metrics this year? He's nota rental and cheap next year

The Wild need a star center that can drive the offense, play with speed, create plays, and score goals. We need a Brayden Point, MacKinnon, Stützle, Hintz, Aho, Eichel, etc. Which is obviously easier said than done. But this is needed so that they can turn our 2nd line into a legitimate scoring line. Another Eriksson Ek won't accomplish that. JEEK can only score on the PP or occasionally on the 3rd line. We tried to pair him with Kap & Zucc on the 1st line and it failed. Then we tried pairing him with Fiala & Boldy on the 2nd line and that too failed.

Another JEEK is the last the Wild need. We are one of the worst 5v5 offensive teams, Hayton isn't going to help us (as much I'd love adding a 5th ovr 6'1" center). Trust me, I've looked into it and have really tried to picture Hayton as a viable solution to an issue that has plagued this franchise since it's inception; however, I've had to come to grips that Hayton just doesn't have the offensive ceiling that the Wild need. We also don't need more JEEKs as that is what has doomed us the past 2 decades. We really need to stand firm in our mission to acquire an elite center -- regardless of how difficult it may be.




Fair point. tbh I didn't really look too much into his stats. Now that I have, Vali would be an excellent addition from an offensive dmen perspective. We have Addison, Goli, Dumba and Spurgeon that all can contribute to our lackluster offense. That being said, we all know Dumba won't be with the team come next season and Spurgeon is of course going nowhere. That leaves us with Addison and Goli. Given the latter signed an extension for less money so that he may retire in his home state, I doubt he gets traded. He's still effective and the playing time issue will be resolved once Dumba is out of the picture (as much as that hurts me to say those words). I think Addison would be a more appropriate trade asset to acquire Vali.

IMO, the Wild need to focus on 2 things:
1. Acquire an elite, goal scoring, playmaking, fast, strong center.
2. Open up roster spots to allow our young prospects valuable playing time in the big leagues. Such that by next season,
- Rossi is playing on the top line,
- Walker on the 2nd line or any line that gives him adequate minutes,
- Beckman on the 2nd line,
- Faber is a consistent starter

Everyone needs a Point, MacKinnon, Hintz or Aho. That doesn't mean the Wild wouldn't be interested in Hayton. They would be. To suggest that the Wild couldn't find a use for another guy like Eriksson Ek is crazy. The guy is a Selke caliber center on pace for 70 points.

Because they're organizationally deep at LD and it's not worth the cost to acquire another one when their focus should be on getting more NHL centers. Right now they've got Eriksson Ek and... hopefully Rossi next year, as guys who should be playing top 9 C in the league.

Apologies if I wasn't clear enough but my argument was that the Wild wouldn't be interested in another JEEK as you can't play him on your top line (as he'd block Rossi) nor your second line (as he the lacks game breaking qualities needed to turn the line into a legit, cup worthy scoring line) nor your 4th line (as that'd be an overpayment for a player of his skillset). Like I said, I like Hayton because he reminds me so much of JEEK. HOWEVER, imho one of the worst things this team could do is commit to multiple JEEKs like we did during the Mikko Koivu era as we were exposed time-and-again that you can't win the cup with mediocre centers on all 4 lines.



The vast majority of those points come from the PP or being in the right place at the right time. Or being gritty. Which, again, are all qualities you look for in a 2C. However, I'm of the opinion that 2Cs should only play on the third line. Your first and second lines should be driven by 1A and 1B centers.