Let’s review.. in the past year, the Minnesota sports teams have made the following trades (in every case, the listed trade is their most recent notable trade)
Minnesota Vikings – Added Randy Moss for a third round pick. Moss was quickly dumped, the coach fired, the team moved to Los Angeles.
Minnesota Twins – JJ Hardy sent to Baltimore exchange for Jim Hoey and someone other pitcher. JJ Hardy is the best pitcher involved in this deal.
Minnesota Timberwolves – As someone on Twitter put it, the Wolves traded Jonny Flynn and the 20th pick for Brad Miller and nothing. Or as I put it… Here!
Well, fortunately, the state has 4 chances to make good trades. Last night at the NHL draft, the Wild did just that it appears. They had one solidly tradable asset in Brent Burns, the good two way defenseman who was the Wild’s all star representative last year. He was in a contract year, and thanks to some large contracts, he may not have fit in the team’s plans going forward.
Additionally, the Wild were egregiously overmatched on the offensive end last year. The team simply didn’t score any goals, and don’t have any young scorers coming any time soon.Taking these factors into account, Brent Burns was traded to San Jose in exchange for the guy pictured above, Devin Setoguchi, a college player from Boston College and another 1st round pick. They also gave up a second rounder in next years draft. That is a solid use of resources, frankly.
Later in the draft (today) they traded up to take Mario Lucia, son of Gophers’ Coach Don and the best Minnesotan in the draft. The next pick they had was used on Eden Prarie’s Nick Seeler. They have added talent and in the deeper portion of the draft are setting out to ad local players, which is good for PR. The Wild patched a glaring hole and added prospects in the process. It’s nice to see a front offense do something that can be universally applauded for a change.
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