NHL Trade Scores: Wild acquires Gustav Nyquist and Marcus Johansson to tackle depth forward

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Getting wild: Forward Gustav Nyquist (50% of the salary is held by the Blue Jackets), Forward Marcus Johansson

Capitals get: 2024 third-round pick

Blue Jackets get: 2023 Fifth round selection

Dom Luszczyszyn: After spending the past week as the league’s unofficial go-between, the Wild are starting to work themselves out with a pair of deals. First, they traded a third-string player to Washington for Marcus Johansson and later followed that up with the acquisition of Gustav Nyquist in the fifth.

The two moves were made to support the team’s forward depth, which has been a big problem this year after being the hallmark of the team’s strength over the past two seasons. Johansson has been a solid midseason player for the Capitals this year while Nyquist has been the same when healthy. With these two additions, the Wild is definitely deeper than it was just a day ago.

The question is whether it is enough to be important. The Wild aren’t the team they were last year or the year before – they’re on the fringes of the Western Conference hierarchy. It looks like first-round fodder and none of these moves change that. It feels like he’s making moves just for him.

A lot hinges on what kind of player Nyquist can be when he’s healthy. He’s expected to return before the playoffs, but even when he does, he’s far from the impact player he once was. Nyquist may have scored 53 points last season, but defensively he was a shell of himself — a huge departure from before he missed the entire 2021 season due to injury. This has only continued this season, but with less of a scoring punch.

As for Johansson, he is an ideal striker in the middle – nothing less, nothing more. He will get 40 points and be a good driver. It’s the definition of A Guy. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s not that different from what Minnesota already has.

Nyquist and Johansson could help, but only marginally. On the plus side, Wild paid very little to make this happen, so it’s a move that doesn’t involve too much risk. It leaves me wondering if there wasn’t a better deal for a striker or two strikers who could have made a bigger impact.

Wild: c +
capital Cities: B
blue jackets B-

Shayna Goldman: After playing a middleman in a couple of deals, the Wild has finally made some additions of its own. First, Johansson was third. The Capitals backed off and made the most of all of their suspended unrestricted free agents. A third player for depth is a nice addition and can help in the process – whether they’ve already crafted this or use it as a trading asset.

It’s just a little underwhelming from Wild’s perspective. Sure, there is familiarity here, but Johansson had one of the worst seasons of his career in Minnesota. He totally sank the team’s offense whenever he was on the ice, no matter who skated alongside him—Zach Barris, Kevin Fiala, you name it. And he’s struggled defensively, too. While this seems like a career out of the ordinary, why hold back on it when it clearly didn’t work out the first time? The Wild really need help in the front section and that adds some depth, but it doesn’t make the team any more dynamic than before.

The same is somewhat true with Nyquist. There’s a bit of an upside when he’s at his best, but there’s a big question mark over whether he’ll be back out there after a difficult year in Columbus, especially after spending time out with injury. His defensive game is another issue, but perhaps the Wild feel they have enough structure to balance that out. The silver lining here is the cost: It only cost Minnesota five to get him, an option they added to keep the salary in another deal.

If this is just the beginning of Wild’s moves, that’s okay. But this team needs at least one impact forward, if not more, to take them to the next level—not just to stand higher in the Western Conference, but to measure nowhere near as far as the East. Minnesota has some maximum area as it is, and Keep the Nyquist deal It doesn’t really hurt management to just use it.

Wild: B-
capital Cities: b +
blue jackets c +

(Photo: Ben Jackson/NHLI via Getty Images)