CarterHud

 

       The Minnesota Wild have acquired forward Nick Bonino, a 2020 2nd round pick (37th overall, used to select Marat Khusnutdinov) and a 2020 3rd round pick (70th overall) from the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Luke Kunin and a 2020 4th round pick (101st overall). 

       The Predators need some major upgrades, and they\’ve been clearing cap space today, buying-out Kyle Turris and Steven Santini, and making this trade. They could afford to keep Bonino\’s $4.1 million salary for one more year, and not give up two quality picks. Bonino has shown that he can be an effective third line center, and Wild GM Bill Guerin knows that, as he was Pittsburgh\’s assistant GM when Bonino helped them win a pair of Stanley Cups. Coming back, they move down about a round, and trade an extra 2nd for Kunin. While he is still young, the 2016 1st rounder has not shown that he can be much more than the third line center that Bonino is now. Kunin is an RFA, so Nashville will get to negotiate their own deal. The two things that really set the two players apart is defense, with the veteran Bonino crushing Kunin, although the latter still has some time to develop. On the Predators roster, Kunin could take Bonino\’s spot, but the Predators will very likely shake things up when free agency starts, so his exact spot isn\’t guaranteed. 

       Kunin, 22, scored 15 goals with 16 assists for 31 points in 63 games for the Wild this past season. In his NHL career, all in Minnesota, Kunin has 23 goals with 29 assists for 52 points in 131 games. 

       While the Wild seem far from being competitive in 2020-21, Bonino is a good addition. He can be on the penalty kill, play well at 5-on-5 and even participate on the power play if they want him to. Their cap situation needs to get straightened out, but Bonino only has one year left. An extension could easily have an AAV under the $4.1 million he currently has. The Wild could only hope that Kunin would develop into a Bonino-type, and value of the picks is great, especially since the 37th overall slot can sometimes be a borderline first rounder. 

       Bonino, 32, scored 18 goals with 17 assists for 35 points in 67 games for the Predators this past season. In his NHL career for the Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks, Bonino has scored 122 goals with 160 assists for 282 points in 626 games. 

 

       The Ottawa Senators have acquired goalie Matt Murray from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forward Jon Gruden and a 2020 2nd round pick (52nd overall). 

       After the best GAA for a Senators goalie was 3.12 last year, the Senators were in the market for a new starter. While Murray had a rough 2019-20, he had a .919 save percentage in 2018-19, so he can still recover. The Senators will be the team signing Murray\’s new deal, as he is an RFA. The two-time Cup winner will become Ottawa\’s starter immediately, and is primed for a comeback season, although being traded to a bottom-five team in the league won\’t help. Giving up the second round pick (originally from Columbus, acquired in the Ryan Dzingel deal of 2019) plus Gruden is a high price, but with the Senators\’ insane amount of picks in this year\’s draft, it is worth it. 

        Murray, 26, had an .899 save percentage with a 2.87 GAA in 38 games for the Penguins in 2019-20. In his NHL career, all in Pittsburgh, Murray has a .914 save percentage with a 2.67 GAA in 199 games.

       With the Penguins\’ cap issues and Tristan Jarry\’s emergence, one of either Jarry and Murray, both RFAs, were going to go. It was confirmed to be Murray when Jarry signed a three year extension on October 3rd. Murray has won Pittsburgh a pair of Stanley Cups, but it was time to move on. They get a really good deal for a 26 year old RFA coming off of career worsts. A 2018 4th round pick, Gruden put up impressive numbers in the OHL this past season. Their prospect pool is thin, so adding Gruden and whoever they draft later today (UPDATE: Pittsburgh selected G Joel Blomqvist) is a big bonus.

       Gruden, 20, scored 30 goals with 36 assists for 66 points in 59 games for the London Knights of the OHL in 2019-20. The season before for the University of Miami (Ohio), Gruden scored three goals with 12 assists for 15 points in 38 games. 

 

       The Columbus Blue Jackets have acquired forward Max Domi and a 2020 3rd round pick (78th overall) from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for forward Josh Anderson.

       The Blue Jackets needed a center, and the Canadiens needed a winger, so it makes sense why these teams would have interest in the players that they got. However, their values don\’t line up. Domi is more valuable than Anderson, and throwing in the third rounder is the icing on the cake. While Pierre-Luc Dubois has become a top line center for Columbus, Domi can slot in on the second line, and he can also play the wing. The only problem is that both are RFAs, and with limited cap space, the Blue Jackets offseason will get more interesting. They can create cap space by putting Brandon Dubinsky on LTIR, and buying out Alexander Wennberg, a move that they were rumored to be considering. In his two years with the Habs, Domi has succeeded, especially in 2018-19, when he scored a career high 28 goals with 72 points. Anderson is a decent middle-six scorer, and had a very good 2018-19 as well, but he has had disputes with the Blue Jackets. In 2017 he requested a trade before signing a three year deal, and there were rumors that he did not want to be in Columbus this time around. If that is true, then the Blue Jackets did very well with not much leverage, getting a big need in a center, and adding a pick for tomorrow\’s portion of the draft.

       Domi, 25, scored 17 goals with 27 assists for 44 points in 71 games for the Canadiens in 2019-20, with three assists in 10 playoff games. In his NHL career for Montreal and the Arizona Coyotes, Domi has 81 goals with 170 assists for 251 points in 375 games. 

       No one is surprised that the Canadiens would have interest in Anderson, even after his rough year. His 27 goal 2018-19 campaign was a breakout season, and we didn\’t get to see if he could rebound the next year because of injuries. He missed a lot of time thanks to knee surgery, and did not play in the playoffs because of his shoulder. When healthy, Anderson can be a second line winger, and play on the penalty kill and power play, and is a big body, standing six feet and three inches tall. The Habs will try to sign the RFA long-term.

       Anderson, 26, scored one goal with three assists for four points in 26 games for the Blue Jackets in 2019-20. In his NHL career, all for Columbus, the former 4th rounder has 65 goals with 50 assists for 115 points in 267 games. 

 

       The San Jose Sharks have acquired goalie Devan Dubnyk and a 2022 7th rounder from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a 2022 5th round pick. The Wild also retained 50% of Dubnyk\’s contract.

       Once a Vezina finalist, Dubnyk completely crashed in 2019-20. It was arguably the worst year of his career, or at the very least the worst since before he came to Minnesota in his awful 2013-14 season. The 2004 first rounder has had a weird career, and he is currently a top three goalie in Wild history. Only Nicklas Backstrom has played in more games, and Dwayne Roloson is the only guy with a better save percentage and GAA in a Wild uniform. In the play-in round, Alex Stalock started instead of Dubnyk, who has one year left on his contract. Retaining half of it means that the Wild will face a $2.16 million cap hit. For Minnesota, Stalock, a former Shark, has two more years left on his deal, and top goaltending prospect Kaapo Kahkonen debuted last year after a strong AHL season. He is currently an RFA. While they only move up a few rounds in a future draft, shedding salary and looking to the future is always a good thing. This is a better trade for the Wild than the previous deal between these two teams today, when Ryan Donato went to San Jose.

       For the Sharks, goaltending was a big issue for them last year, as Martin Jones and Aaron Dell both had a GAA of at least 3.00. While Dubnyk\’s was worse, he has the experience and he could turn things around if guided correctly. He will start the season likely as a 1B to Jones as Dell leaves as a UFA, but I wouldn\’t be surprised if Dubnyk becomes the 1A by the season\’s end. Thanks to the salary retainment, this is a very manageable deal for San Jose.

       Dubnyk, 34, had a .890 SV% and a 3.35 GAA in 30 games for the Wild in 2019-20. In his NHL career for the Wild, Edmonton Oilers, Nashville Predators and Arizona Coyotes, Dubnyk has a .915 SV% and a GAA of 2.58 in 520 games. 

 

       The San Jose Sharks have acquired forward Ryan Donato from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a 2021 3rd round pick (via Pittsburgh, acquired in the Patrick Marleau trade).

       Donato is still young, and his contract situation is fine with one year left with an AAV of $1.9 million, and he will be an RFA afterwards. While he isn\’t going to be a top-six winger, he has shown that he can score at the NHL level, and he has seen limited ice time. Even though he has 18 goals in 84 games with the Wild, Donato has averaged just 11 minutes and 55 seconds per game with Minnesota. The Sharks lack scoring depth, and Donato will give them that, especially if he sees more ice time than he did with the Wild. The former second round pick has showed promise at times, but he should be treated more like a 3rd liner, and less like a 4th liner. The Wild are giving up on him way too early, especially after he had 16 points in 22 games for them in 2018-19. If Donato can show production somewhat close to that, this has the makings of a robbery. 

       Donato, 24, scored 14 goals with nine assists for 23 points in 62 games for the Wild this past season. In his NHL career for Minnesota and the Boston Bruins, Donato has 29 goals with 28 assists for 57 points in 130 games.