Following the Minnesota Wild‘s 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, the two teams completed a trade. The Wild picked up defenceman Brad Hunt and a 2019 sixth-round draft pick in exchange for a conditional fifth-round pick. Minnesota owns two fifth-round picks (their own and the Washington Capitals). The condition on the pick means that the Golden Knights acquire the better of those picks.
NEWS: #mnwild has acquired defenseman Brad Hunt & a sixth-round selection in the 2019 #NHLDraft from the @GoldenKnights in exchange for Minnesota’s 2019 conditional fifth-round pick.
? More → https://t.co/CWV93x0T7P pic.twitter.com/shtzmaEvO3
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) January 22, 2019
Minnesota Wild Acquire Brad Hunt
Hunt, 30, is a veteran of six NHL seasons, playing for the Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, and Vancouver Canucks. Undrafted out of Bemidji State University, Hunt signed with the Oilers in 2013. In 91 career NHL games, Hunt has scored seven goals and 27 assists for 34 career points. He has yet to play in his first career Stanley Cup Playoff game.
In 13 games this year, Hunt has scored two goals and five assists for seven points. He has also added two minutes in penalties. Hunt’s possession stats include a 56.5 percent Corsi-For and a +4.2 relative Corsi-For.
He is signed until the end of this season with a cap hit of $650,000 per year. Hunt is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. Hunt signed a two-year deal with the Golden Knights on July 1st, 2017.
What this Means For the Future
Hunt is a good skater and can add some offensive punch and puck-moving ability to the Wild blueline. However, he is on the smallish side at just 5-foot-9 and can be overpowered in his own zone. As such, his minutes need to be managed with careful attention placed on zone starts and quality of opposition. Hunt can provide some depth for the Wild, especially if they have any injuries down the stretch. Expect him to spend plenty of nights in the press box if the team is healthy though.
The Wild assigned defenceman Louie Belpedio to Iowa of the AHL in order to make room for Hunt on their roster.
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