Minnesota Wild's Best Trade Of The Past Year

The Minnesota Wild have to be very wary of the cap for a couple of years, forcing them to take chances and make affordable deals. They have done just that as a number of their trades have turned out very well for them already. If only they could have freed up the necessary cap space to re-sign Kevin Fiala before they were forced to trade him.

There are a few trades to note here before we determine the best trade the Wild have made in the past year. First was sending Cam Talbot to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for inexperienced young goalie Filip Gustavsson. That trade couldn't have worked out any better as Gustavsson is second in the league in save percentage and has broken out as the Wild's 1b goalie. The Wild were confident in this trade as Talbot became Marc-Andre Fleury's backup last year heading into playoffs and the Wild lost in the first round. Minnesota also would not have been able to re-sign him and they saved money by acquiring Gustavsson.

In an underrated trade deadline deal, the Wild acquired Marcus Johansson from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a third round pick. Johansson has done everything they need and more from a player with a $1.1 million cap hit. He has three goals and 12 points in 15 games and has been an answer in the top-six while Kirill Kaprizov has been out.

The final trade to go over is actually moving someone out. Jordan Greenway, who is seen as a middle-six winger, was having a down year with only five goals and 10 points in 55 games. The Wild needed value from their players and weren't getting it from the 26-year-old. With two goals and seven points in 45 games, the Wild were able to trade him for a significant return, a second round pick this year and a fifth in 2024, while being able to move all of his $3 million AAV cap hit. His contract also has two more years left on it and has a modified no-trade clause in the final year.

So which of these three successful trades have been the best? By just how dominant the Wild have been in net thanks to Gustavsson while having him under team control, it has to be the deal to acquire him.