Wilderness Walk: Transactions, baby

That’s Wild

-The first order of business after the phenominal draft the Wild had this week, was locking up a couple of pending UFAs for Iowa, signing Matt Bartkowski and Kyle Rau to one-year deals. [Hockey Wilderness]

-Speaking of the draft, Bill Guerin and Judd Brackett teamed up to really deliver something that we’re not used to and it shows promise. [Hockey Wilderness]

-Before everything gets insane with free agency opening up at noon on Friday, The Athletic’s Michael Russo looked at the depth chart and what to expect for next season (if they don’t sign anyone). [The Athletic]

Off the trail...

-The Montreal Canadiens and GM Marc Bergevin can’t help themselves. Grabbing all the attention before free agency opens, the Habs signed winger Josh Anderson to a gigantic seven-year, $38.5-million ($5.5-million AAV) deal. [Eyes On The Prize]

-Erik Gudbranson is not done his tour of terrible teams, heading to the Ottawa Senators from the Anaheim Ducks for a fifth-round pick. [silver Seven Sens]

-More trades! The Columbus Blue Jackets are sending former second-overall pick Ryan Murray to the New Jersey Devils for a 2021 fifth-round pick. Murray is a capable top-four defenseman, and the Devils just got him for essentially a throwaway. They’ve now cleared more than $11-million in cap space after buying out Alexander Wennberg, trading Murray and Markus Nutivaara earlier on Thursday. [Jackets Cannon]

-Stanley Cup finalists aren’t without their bruises, but the Dallas Stars took it to another level. Apparently they were all a second away from croaking right there on the ice.

-Three-time Stanley Cup champion and genuinely nice dude, Justin Williams, announced his retirement on Thursday. 19 years and several Game 7 goals, he’s hanging up the skates. [The Athletic]