Zucker to Pittsburgh for Galchenyuk, Prospect D Calen Addison & a 1st-round pick
The Minnesota Wild traded F Jason Zucker, probably the player who had the most value in a trade, to the Pittsburgh Penguins for F Alex Galchenyuk, the Penguins Top Prospect D Calen Addison and a conditional 2020 1st-round pick.
Alex Galchenyuk was the 3rd pick in the 2012 NHL Draft for the Montreal Canadiens and he produced right away, scoring 71 goals in 275 games including scoring more each of those first 4 seasons and producing more on the power play. Unfortunately, injuries and/or other issues have brought some rough years and, as he’s a free agent after the season, the last 27 or so games left in this season might be his only chance to show teams that he can still be a goal-scorer in the NHL. He’s still only 25 years old (26 tomorrow) so this is the time for him to figure out how to produce on a nightly basis. Either that or he’ll have to sign a 1-year prove-it deal this summer and go from there. GM Bill Guerin could still flip him to another team at the deadline, especially if he gets on a roll. All it takes is one GM that thinks they can get something out of a player to turn his career around.
Wild coach Bruce Boudreau compared the situation to Anthony Duclair this season. Duclair had 20 goals in his 2nd season but struggled for the next 3 seasons, traded twice since then and ending up in Ottawa. Something finally clicked and/or, as it is with a lot of young, very talented players, he realized his career was in jeopardy so he went all in and he’s having a career season with 21 goals and 34 points in 54 games and he may be a very important piece in Ottawa’s or another team’s future with 13 days before the Trade Deadline.
Calen Addison is an offensive defenseman and the stats shout stud but producing in Junior Hockey, even in the Canadian Juniors, is not even close to producing in the NHL. He’s at a point per game with the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League including 4 goals and 16 assists on the power play. He is in his last season in junior hockey so he will turn pro next season or later this season.
Add on a 1st-round pick in the next draft, even if it ends up being late in the first round because the Penguins will likely make some noise in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and this trade looks very good for the future of the Minnesota Wild. The 2020 NHL Draft is rumored to be a very deep draft as well. The conditional part of the pick is if the Penguins miss the playoffs, they can change the pick to be lottery-protected and/or have the option to push the pick to the 2021 Draft. There have been very few things said about this so we may be wrong on this. The pick may already be lottery-protected but it probably doesn’t matter because it’s highly unlikely the Penguins miss the playoffs. They are currently in 4th place in the Eastern Conference with 73 points and they are 4 points behind the Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division with 2 games in hand.
Other parts of why this is a good trade for the Wild? Someone likely had to be moved to make room for F Kirill Kaprizov and now that has happened. The Wild will also gain some cap room since Galchenyuk is a free agent at the end of the season. With 27 games left, there is a spot for either Galchenyuk, Ryan Donato or maybe even Gerry Mayhew to get some games playing in the top-6 to see if they can produce there.
Thanks for reading this Clutter!!! Have a Great Day! GO WILD and…
