By Luke Sims -
The Justin Brazeau trade didn’t make much sense at the time, and it has made even less sense in the weeks since the trade deadline.
The Minnesota Wild gave up a 2026 sixth-round pick and two young, cost-controlled fourth-liners, Marat Khusnutdinov and Jakub Lauko, for the Boston Bruins’ 6-foot-6 forward.
Brazeau has 10 goals and 10 assists in his 57 games with the Bruins this season. By all accounts, he’s a useful NHL player in a bottom-six role. He’s a decent playmaker, decent with his hands, decent shot, and a hulking frame that he can use to be physical or make plays around the front of the net. Brazeau is also one of Minnesota’s only right-shot players. He’s also cheap, making only $775,000 for one more season.
Not a bad get for two bottom-six players Minnesota didn’t see in their future. The only issue is that he hasn’t played like he did in Boston with the Wild.
Brazeau has been practically invisible in his first seven games with the Wild. He has no goals, assists, or points in his time on the ice in a mostly fourth- and occasionally third-line role. Brazeau has a 0 goals-for percentage and a 37.62% Corsi-for percentage. Both last on the team this season.
The Wild also haven’t used Brazeau on the powerplay, where his frame would seem like a natural fit. With Joel Eriksson Ek out of the lineup, Brazeau could be Minnesota’s go-to net-front presence on the powerplay. Travis Boyd and Dermott have more power play time than Brazeau, and one of those guys is in the AHL while the other is no longer on the team. It doesn’t make sense why he’s not on the ice when they brought him in for his size and versatility around the net.
The biggest knock I've seen on Brazeau is his inability to skate well. He’s not a powerful skater and can get caught out of position or behind the play. Therefore, he can’t impact the play as it moves from one end of the ice to the other.
Minnesota already has a similar player: Yakov Trenin.
On the other hand, Khusnutdinov has two goals in five games with Boston. That’s as many goals as Khusnutdinov had in 57 games with the Wild. He’s played on a line with the talented Elias Lindholm and his buddy from Minnesota, Lauko, who also has two points in five games playing on that line.
While it’s unlikely that Khusnutdinov and Lauko continue their recent scoring tear, Boston blew up its core at the deadline and will likely miss the playoffs. So, those two will get an extended look higher in the lineup with more talented players and increased ice time.
Wild fans had clamored for Khusnutdinov to get an elevated role in Minnesota’s lineup. Now they see what it could have looked like while Brazeau struggles to adjust to the Wild’s systems.
But Wild fans are not the only witnesses. The man who made the move is watching from the rafters of the Xcel Energy Center and also sees it. Guerin traded for Brazeau for two main reasons: He’s big and cheap.
Those two factors alone will probably keep Brazeau in Minnesota for next season and beyond. He's in his first full NHL season at age 27.
Despite his poor play in Minnesota, the Wild and Guerin will likely fall into the sunk cost fallacy with Brazeau. They may extend the player for what they hope he can do despite what he’s already shown.
While Khusnutdonov looks to have a new lease on life in Boston, the Brazeau trade looks increasingly worse. Maybe it’s too early to write Brazeau off, but I doubt Guerin will want to see him walk for nothing in free agency after giving up Khusnutdinov for him.
If the Wild can find a cheap, short-term deal for the big winger, they should bring him back. Otherwise, they should have already learned their lesson on big, slow forwards and long-term contracts with Yakov Trenin.
No matter how good Khusnutdinov looks in a spoked B, Guerin and the Wild cannot let it affect how they see Brazeau.
All stats and data via Evolving Hockey, Hockey DB, and Cap Wages unless otherwise noted.
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