4 Minnesota Wild Trade Candidates

The Minnesota Wild once again failed to make it out of the first round, bringing the count up to seven consecutive postseason appearances without a series win. They are still in cap hell for two more years and have to find ways to remain competitive while staying under the cap. They have some great pieces and don't want to waste any more years.

That being said, there are four names listed as trade candidates by Michael Russo, and three of them definitely make sense. The Wild's defense is stocked, so it's understandable that three defensemen appear as trade candidates - Alex Goligoski, John Merrill, and Calen Addison. The other name, Marcus Foligno.

While Addison seems like the least likely to be traded among these potential candidates because of his age and potential, he could be used as a trade chip to acquire someone more established for the right side of their defense. Brock Faber just might have passed Addison on the depth chart this season with his performance.

Goligoski and Merrill are seventh defensemen at this point, but are eating up more cap space than they're worth. While Merrill got into 73 games, he played the least amount of minutes and his $1.2 million AAV contract can be swapped out for someone making under $1 million. As for Goligoski, he had one impressive season in Minnesota, but fell off hard, only dressing for 46 games last season. He has a $2 million AAV cap hit for one more year that is the biggest concern to move.

Foligno, the final trade candidate, was far less impactful than he has been for the past few seasons. He had a drop-off of 16 goals and 21 points from the season prior, but the numbers suggest that this season was more in line with his career numbers and what he should contribute. He is very strong in his own end, but the veteran scored just seven goals this season and has a cap hit of $3.1 million for one final year. He won't cost an asset to move, but might have to be traded.

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