The Minnesota Wild want a Quinn Hughes extension and the need for a center
Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period was on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Power Play segment with Steve Kouleas and Anthony Stewart, and was asked about the priorities for the Minnesota Wild this offseason. As Pagnotta noted, it is about extending Quinn Hughes and finding a number-one or number-two center.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Priority One for the Minnesota Wild This Offseason: Get a Center
Steve Kouleas: “Bill Guerin, priority one is resigning Quinn Hughes. It’s very, very early. I don’t know if you have anything on that, but I know you have something on a possibility of an upgrade in Minnesota at center. What can you tell us, Dave?”
Dave Pagnotta: “Quinn Hughes is priority number one for the Minnesota Wild this offseason, and he can’t sign officially until July 1st. That doesn’t mean they can’t negotiate between now and then. So they’re going to try to firm that up and try to get him locked in to his extension, and by all indications, barring some dramatic sequence of events, it will happen just a matter of when, at this stage, not if, and priority number two is probably by all indications upgrading themselves up the middle.
They tried doing that in the regular season. They looked at Vinny Trocheck, and they weren’t able to cut the terms on a deal there with the New York Rangers. I’m sure they’re going to circle back to see if anything has changed on that front. They’re looking at other options up the middle as well. We know from Michael Russo’s report that they tried to get Robert Thomas out of St. Louis. We know they’ve kicked around on other players throughout the season before.
They poked on Brock Nelson last year, and they poked on Nazem Kadri this year; both of them are on the Avs right now. They looked at Jesperi Kotkaniemi as a possible fit. We know he hasn’t been playing much of the playoffs with Carolina right now as they get ready for their Eastern battle against Montreal.
Quinn Hughes is Open to Extending with the Minnesota Wild
But Minnesota is certainly looking to see where they’re at at the center position, and how they can upgrade it now. One of the chips they potentially had, in terms of making a trade, would have been one of their goalies.
Jesper Wallstedt was in the package that was offered for Robert Thomas this season, which was rejected by St. Louis. But Filip Gustavsson, as Bill Guerin mentioned, is going to have to have hip surgery, and he’s going to be out for an extended period of time. They hope he’s ready for the start of the regular season. One of those goalies could have been a chip to use in the trade market. Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen right now.
So, you’re going to have to look at other resources, and they do have a solid prospect base and some solid assets they can dangle as well. But, in addition to getting Quinn Hughes locked up, I’d say number two priority for this team will be trying to see if they can get themselves a legit first or second line center to amplify their chances of going after a Stanley Cup next year.”
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