Could the Wild Trade Dewar, Duhaime By Deadline?

Per The Athletic, although Khusnutdinov's season ended, his contract runs through April. It's believed the team would be open to letting him out of his contract since they missed the playoffs and his plan is to join the Wild, but that needs to get worked out before the Wild can officially sign him.

They also confirmed that Yurov has not signed a new deal yet, but has negotiated a better deal with his current team should he decide he wants to play another season in the KHL.

33 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

Per The Athletic, although Khusnutdinov's season ended, his contract runs through April. It's believed the team would be open to letting him out of his contract since they missed the playoffs and his plan is to join the Wild, but that needs to get worked out before the Wild can officially sign him.

They also confirmed that Yurov has not signed a new deal yet, but has negotiated a better deal with his current team should he decide he wants to play another season in the KHL.

Let's convince Yurov to sign with us, then just buy out the final year of MoJo's contract. It'll just be a 2-year dead-cap hit anyway and even then it'll only be like an extra $600K on the books if my math is right. 

That means, in addition to the Parise/Suter dead-caps, we'd have $2.2M total dead-cap on the books for the '26-'27 and '27-'28 season but we'd get Yurov in here a year sooner to help boost the top-6 during Kaprizov's last 2 seasons under contract. 

Duhaime should absolutely be dealt away.  3rd rounder would be a great return IMO.  But if the offer is a 4th, yes pull the trigger

 Dewar is trickier.  Watching the Italian stallions come in off nhl scrap heap and leap frog dewar in the lineup (according to this fans eye test) dewar becomes very expendable.   He’s shown promise but didn’t make the stair step improvement I would have liked to see this year.  Give him one more year with team on hopes he doesn’t skip leg days this summer.   I’d rather keep Dewar than deal him for a fourth.   I bet he gets thrown in a deal as a sweetener. 

11 minutes ago, B1GKappa97 said:

just buy out the final year of MoJo's contract.

Hynze won’t even remove NoJo from top six, let alone buy him out.  We’re stuck with the noodle thru next season.  

If teams are calling about Duhaime, I don't see much of a reason to not sell.  

I mean he has a little size and physicality and fights ok but isn't getting it done.

Winning in Edmonton and Seattle let us earn the 6 points we needed in 5 games, with one still to play, the Carolina Hurricanes. If I were in Shooter's shoes, I would be fairly confident this team can pull off a playoff run, and have an excellent March based on paper matchups. 

So, what would he do? I'd think he may be both buying and selling. He needs to tweak some things for that run, but he's also got some internal players coming and can help his offseason by trading away UFA Duhaime, please Goligoski, Merrill for depth. Dewar has had a statistically poor season but he is competitive. If you're getting a decent prospect, or a 2nd down the road, maybe that's a fair deal. 

Right now, we may need a defender to help us through this season (Goligoski and Merrill are not much help), preferably a righty also with a little size. I have not found out what is ailing Bogosian at this time, but he's been much better than I thought, and I was pleased with the acquisition. 

However, it is very important for the owner to get to the playoffs, and I'd expect Guerin to act accordingly. Then it will be up to Heinzy and the players to get them there. 

In the A, for those wondering about playoffs there, the Wild are in a tough spot. 5 teams from the Central Division get in, they are 1 pt. back from 5th and have played 2 games more than 5th and 7th. They've really got to pick up their game. The 1st series is 2/3 against the 4th place team which now has some distance on them, Rockford. 

I do not believe that McLean has had a good year. This team was young, but it had a lot of talent. Of course, Guerin had to steal a lot of that talent with our injuries. But 1 thing is clear, that young defense is not holding up in their own end. So, if Guerin was going to gain some depth for our defense, perhaps that would come in a guy who is young and can still shuffle to the A without waivers? I've got to imagine that playoff hockey in Des Moines is also important to them too. That was the whole point of obtaining Butcher!

49 minutes ago, Will D. Ness said:

If teams are calling about Duhaime, I don't see much of a reason to not sell.  

I mean he has a little size and physicality and fights ok but isn't getting it done.

The craziest part about the Duhammer is, I believe he's got like 3 assist over the last 2 seasons. 

1 hour ago, B1GKappa97 said:

Let's convince Yurov to sign with us, then just buy out the final year of MoJo's contract. It'll just be a 2-year dead-cap hit anyway and even then it'll only be like an extra $600K on the books if my math is right. 

That means, in addition to the Parise/Suter dead-caps, we'd have $2.2M total dead-cap on the books for the '26-'27 and '27-'28 season but we'd get Yurov in here a year sooner to help boost the top-6 during Kaprizov's last 2 seasons under contract. 

I am probably out to lunch on this but is there not a limit on number of buyouts a team can have at any one time? I am sure I read it somewhere but can't remember where or the specifics.

Agreed that trading Duhaime can be done with minimal risk. His role as "the next Foligno" hasn't worked out, and we have more skilled options coming (maybe in the next week if Khusnutdinov's contract can be worked out).

For Dewar, I'd really like to see him rekindle his PK prowess with Shaw, but that would require Hynes not keep Shaw locked in the pressbox in favor of MoJo / Freddy G...

Checking in with the prospects:

1. Riley Heidt hit 100 points
2. Danila Yurov is 1 point away from 50
3. Petrovsky scored 
4. Beckman is putting the puck in the net suddenly
5. Dino ended his season with 3 points
6. Bankier, Johansson, Lambos all picked up points 
7. Stramel gets an apple, this is another sad season for him
8. Milne picks up assists

Could Milne be the Duhaime replacement we've been looking for? He needs a little bulking up first.

2 hours ago, B1GKappa97 said:

Let's convince Yurov to sign with us, then just buy out the final year of MoJo's contract. It'll just be a 2-year dead-cap hit anyway and even then it'll only be like an extra $600K on the books if my math is right. 

I still don't see a reason to rush Yurov. He'll be very good when he comes over, whether that is next year or the following season. He's developing well in the KHL, but likely still needs to add strength and work on faceoffs to be elite in the NHL.

I think I'd rather put Johansson in the press box than buy him out and extend his contract impact for additional seasons.

53 minutes ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I still don't see a reason to rush Yurov. He'll be very good when he comes over, whether that is next year or the following season. He's developing well in the KHL, but likely still needs to add strength and work on faceoffs to be elite in the NHL.

I think I'd rather put Johansson in the press box than buy him out and extend his contract impact for additional seasons.

To get him with Kaprizov for more than just one season, mostly. I think it'll be easier to sell him on sticking around if we're upgrading our top-6 next season instead of waiting until the final year of his deal to make significant changes. 

Two years of data into whether we've done enough to convince him he could win a cup in MN is better than just the single season, by which point he may already have made up his mind. 

It sort of fits with the rest of the core coming in; Khusnutdinov will be over and Wallstedt will likely be replacing MAF.

An extra $600K on the books for a couple extra years isn't a huge deal imo when you balance it out with convincing Kaprizov to stay. Supposedly one of the things he's looking for is a C1 to play with and while Ek is having a career year, I think Yurov is likely closer to the kind of center he was envisioning playing beside.

1 hour ago, B1GKappa97 said:

An extra $600K on the books for a couple extra years isn't a huge deal imo when you balance it out with convincing Kaprizov to stay. Supposedly one of the things he's looking for is a C1 to play with and while Ek is having a career year, I think Yurov is likely closer to the kind of center he was envisioning playing beside.

I don't think that year will make a difference. The Wild players are aware of the cap hits caused by the buy outs. They are aware more money is available in 25-26, and that is the year they will judge their future. It's the reason Guerin had to make sure Kaprizov's contract didn't end before that season.

If they need more cap space or roster spots, they can trade Gaudreau. Duhaime will be gone. I just don't think they'll want to add more cap hits for the years they plan to be contending, even if relatively small. Half a million dollars could make a difference somewhere in the roster when it matters.

2 hours ago, Imyourhuckleberry said:

I don't think that year will make a difference. The Wild players are aware of the cap hits caused by the buy outs. They are aware more money is available in 25-26, and that is the year they will judge their future. It's the reason Guerin had to make sure Kaprizov's contract didn't end before that season.

If they need more cap space or roster spots, they can trade Gaudreau. Duhaime will be gone. I just don't think they'll want to add more cap hits for the years they plan to be contending, even if relatively small. Half a million dollars could make a difference somewhere in the roster when it matters.

Why trade Gaudreau? He fits as a bottom-6 winger who can moonlight in the top-6 if needed. His cap hit isn't terrible. He's not keeping a Yurov from being able to play in the NHL. It would cost you more to pay somebody in picks to take Gaudreau's contract off our hands than it would to pay the buyout penalty on the final year of MoJo's contract. 

I don't think the $600K will be too much of a hinderance once the $13M dead-cap is gone, personally. 

It likely won't happen, but I think it would make sense to give Kap, and Yurov, at least the two seasons together rather than just the one. We would have a better idea of his floor at that point, when we suddenly have an influx of cap-space, and could make more educated moves to really push the team toward cup-contention instead of just relying on extrapolation and having to make in-season adustments as necessary to supplement the roster.

Not to mention having an extra year together should make it feel more like they are building toward their Stanley Cup goal rather than it just being a potential one-year push. 

Its just an avenue I think the team should certainly consider. Its relatively cheap and it buys us an extra $2M next year in cap space which could be big now that we've unexpectedly added Chisholm (who we should absolutely keep) into the mathematics. 

12 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Duhaime should absolutely be dealt away.  3rd rounder would be a great return IMO.  But if the offer is a 4th, yes pull the trigger

 Dewar is trickier.  Watching the Italian stallions come in off nhl scrap heap and leap frog dewar in the lineup (according to this fans eye test) dewar becomes very expendable.   He’s shown promise but didn’t make the stair step improvement I would have liked to see this year.  Give him one more year with team on hopes he doesn’t skip leg days this summer.   I’d rather keep Dewar than deal him for a fourth.   I bet he gets thrown in a deal as a sweetener. 

Related/Unrelated, Russo mentioned in the article that Tampa Bay has had people scouting in person a lot of the recent Wild games and Duhaime is the style player Tampa has been keen on adding. 

On one hand, TB gave up a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th round picks for Tanner Jeannot, on the other hand I feel like Guerin would feel bad about picking up Bogosian for a 7th and sell lower than he should on Duhaime to TB because 'if you fleece other GM's they stop picking up the phone'

I mean, if Tampa buys big on Duhaime (i.e. over a 3rd or 4th round pick), that's on them.

8 hours ago, MrCheatachu said:

Guerin would feel bad about picking up Bogosian for a 7th and sell lower than he should on Duhaime to TB because 'if you fleece other GM's they stop picking up the phone'

That's not what he said. I'm pretty sure his point was that if you're only looking to 'win the trade' and not caring about making it mutually beneficial, teams won't bother trying to trade with you. 

Which makes sense. 

And honestly, has he really made a bad trade yet? They've all been fairly low-risk, high-reward and in the case of Fiala's trade a possible home-run. 

I mean, getting a second for Greenway seemed like a miracle.

10 hours ago, MrCheatachu said:

on the other hand I feel like Guerin would feel bad about picking up Bogosian for a 7th and sell lower than he should on Duhaime to TB because 'if you fleece other GM's they stop picking up the phone'

Fleecing comes in the negotiation process. If TBL came to Guerin and said, I'll give you a 2026 1st for Duhaime, is that really fleecing? According to general thinking, a 2026 1st is the equivalent of a 2024 3rd. 

I would consider fleecing in this scenario coming back with Duhaime for a 2026 1st and 2025 2nd. That's like doubling his price and way overvalued. It would be different if you had a deal similar to this already set up with another GM, in that case, it's not really fleecing, but market value. 

There's always going to be disagreements in value of a player, but it shouldn't be way off. When we got to hear Guerin negotiate to move up for The Wall, that was a quick, easy transaction. Both GMs seemed easy to work with.

I think Lou Lamourillo has more of a reputation of being a fleecer. And he'd be a guy who'd do a bait and switch on someone. The deal made between Guerin and Blake for Fiala also seemed to be pretty fair. I wanted a little more, another C prospect and not a rostered player, but Guerin really couldn't take on a rostered player. Turns out those C prospects weren't really good either.

It would be an interesting article idea to see who had the reputation of being the top fleecers, GMs nobody wants to deal with. I have a feeling, McPhee would be on that list with how Vegas fleeced several teams in the expansion draft.

2 hours ago, B1GKappa97 said:

And honestly, has he really made a bad trade yet? They've all been fairly low-risk, high-reward and in the case of Fiala's trade a possible home-run. 

The thing about the Fiala trade is it may be a huge win-win for both teams! 

20/20 hindsight says the Zucker/Addison trade may have been poor, but at the time it was made, Addison looked like a future star. Now we hang our hat on Lambos for that deal.

The Burns trade could be considered a bad one. Setoguchi was kind of damaged goods that we didn't know about, but I think the Sharks did. But, was he the important part of the deal? Coyle was the prospect, and had we not messed around with him, he could have provided very good 3rd line Center play. And then, completely whiffing on the draft pick hurt, so in this case, it may have been self inflicted wounds. How does that trade look if we take Rickard Rakell instead of Zack Phillips? Or, even Brandon Saad? 

Like it or not, Guerin is still trying to build relationships with other, probably more established GMs. Sometimes it's just a slow process.

2 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

I mean, getting a second for Greenway seemed like a miracle.

Greenway was a young power forward on a very affordable contract going to a team who could use some size. He was Tage's WJC teammate. He seemed like a guy who needed a change of scenery, and in Buffalo's mind, they had pretty much completed their rebuild (just had to wait for everyone to develop).

It was a real good add for them.....potentially. Greenway is on pace to rebound back to his '21-22 year this season. I still think there's more improvement in him, if he'll put in the effort (his turns are still too wide, and his acceleration is pretty slow). I wonder if he still has inconsistency taking the body? 

Guys that size do not come on the market all that often.

16 hours ago, MrCheatachu said:

Related/Unrelated, Russo mentioned in the article that Tampa Bay has had people scouting in person a lot of the recent Wild games and Duhaime is the style player Tampa has been keen on adding. 

On one hand, TB gave up a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th round picks for Tanner Jeannot, on the other hand I feel like Guerin would feel bad about picking up Bogosian for a 7th and sell lower than he should on Duhaime to TB because 'if you fleece other GM's they stop picking up the phone'

Fleecing other GM's is what it's all about...😇

8 hours ago, B1GKappa97 said:

That's not what he said. I'm pretty sure his point was that if you're only looking to 'win the trade' and not caring about making it mutually beneficial, teams won't bother trying to trade with you. 

Which makes sense. 

And honestly, has he really made a bad trade yet? They've all been fairly low-risk, high-reward and in the case of Fiala's trade a possible home-run. 

I think it's more how he goes about making the trades. It won't work long term. I've said often he's stumbled onto success so far and I'm not backing down from that any time soon, and I know many won't like this but I credit DE for making things work far more than BG.

I highly doubt there are many/any GM's besides BG that aren't trying to do the very best deals they can for their teams. Do you think the Jets and the Front Office weren't ecstatic about the Pierre Luc Dubois trade? You won't convince me they didn't know the return far outweighed the departure.

On 2/27/2024 at 2:53 PM, Willy the poor boy said:

I think it's more how he goes about making the trades. It won't work long term. I've said often he's stumbled onto success so far and I'm not backing down from that any time soon, and I know many won't like this but I credit DE for making things work far more than BG.

I highly doubt there are many/any GM's besides BG that aren't trying to do the very best deals they can for their teams. Do you think the Jets and the Front Office weren't ecstatic about the Pierre Luc Dubois trade? You won't convince me they didn't know the return far outweighed the departure.

Sure but name me the bad trade that's cost us. I mean at a certain point it can't all be luck, right? I think he's a pretty shrewd trader who knows how to leverage teams while not completely taking them to the cleaners, which keeps interest in us as trade partners high. Which is what we will need when we're ready to make a move. 

Sometimes you catch a team in a bad leverage situation and can take advantage, yes. That happens in the NHL all the time. You can argue we 'fleeced' the Blackhawks for MAF, getting a multi-year starting goalie for just a 2nd when he had a NTC. We 'fleeced' the Sharks for Middsy while all they got was Kahkonen. Greenway for Riley Heidt? Fleeced! We nearly had that happen to us with Fiala, but Geurin found a way to come out ahead still.

Its been nothing Earth shattering of yet, but I think Guerin has at least shown he's capable when it comes to getting value for his deals (no Rask for Nino trades here) and isn't a complete hard-ass about it, which should keep the sucker franchises on the line in the future.