The Wild do not own a first- or second-round pick in the June 23 NHL Draft.
But on Wednesday, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher met with reporters, and it doesn’t sound like he’s too interested in getting back into the first round – despite reports of Boston offering a first for defenseman Jonas Brodin.
“I just don’t see a lot of value right now in flipping really good players for mid-first-round picks,” said Fletcher. “Now we’ll see how the next few days go, but we like our depth; we like our players; we’ve worked hard to put together a deep team with a lot of talent.”
Fletcher isn’t just talking about his NHL roster but his core of prospects who are knocking on the door.
And here’s the thing: Fletcher is right not to be worried.
Former first-round picks Alex Tuch and Joel Erikkson-Ek made their debuts last season for the Wild, while defensemen Mike Reilly and Gustav Olofsson are ready to contribute in a bigger role too.
If Minnesota loses a defenseman in the upcoming Expansion Draft, Reilly or Olofsson will be primed to lock down the vacant position. Plus, last year’s top draft pick Luke Kunin will be joining the Wild after two successful seasons with the University of Wisconsin.
And we haven’t even mentioned Kirill Kaprizov and Jordan Greenway, who are still a year away from coming to the organization. Kunin, Kaprizov and Greenway were arguably the three best players at this past year’s World Junior Tournament.
ONn top of it all, this year’s draft class has no quick fixes, even among the top prospects.
Sure the Wild were eliminated earlier than expected in the playoffs, but this year’s draft class won’t supply any remedy for a deep playoff run.
