TRADE: Minnesota Wild Acquire Justin Brazeau From Boston Bruins

The NHL's trade deadline may be on Friday, but teams are trying to get a head start on the action, as it's been a very busy Thursday across the league. The latest pre-deadline deal sees the Minnesota Wild acquire towering winger Justin Brazeau from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Jakob Lauko and Marat Khusnutdinov.

Sources say #mnwild are acquiring Justin Brazeau from #NHLBruins in a deal involving Marat Khustnidinov and Jakub Lauko.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 7, 2025

Justin Brazeau's trade was expected but pic.twitter.com/HNP94MhKi5
— Benchrates (@benchrates) March 7, 2025

Brazeau, 27, is a pending unrestricted free agent who earns $775,000 against the cap this season. The 6-foot-6 New Liskeard, ON native has appeared in 57 games this season for Boston, scoring a career-high 10 goals and 20 points. He's averaged 12:58 of ice-time per game, while seeing some time on the Bruins' second power-play unit.

The Wild needed some size up front and they've found that and more in acquiring Brazeau. Lauko, 24, is a former third-round pick of the Bruins and heads back to Boston. In 38 games this season in Minnesota, Lauko has scored three goals and six points.

Khusnutdinov is a 22-year-old center who has seven points in 57 games this season. The Bruins are in sell mode and while this is a minor deal between these two clubs, there's something major brewing with a Brad Marchand trade likely before the 3pm deadline on Friday.