The Minnesota Wild have acquired forward Nick Bjugstad from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a conditional selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Pittsburgh is also retaining 50 percent of Bjugstad’s salary.
NEWS: The #mnwild has acquired center Nick Bjugstad from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a conditional selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Welcome back to Minnesota, @NBjugstad72!
🗞 » https://t.co/gDkJ6erWj4 pic.twitter.com/yZEtFYoenU
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) September 11, 2020
Nick Bjugstad Headed to the Wild
Bjugstad only appeared in 13 games for the Penguins this season after missing the majority of it due to injury. In those games, he registered one goal and one assist.
Over his career with split between the Florida Panthers and Penguins, Bjugstad has scored 97 goals and 110 assists for 207 points in 439 games.
He was originally acquired by the Penguins during the 2018-19 season along with Jared McCann in exchange for Derrick Brassard, Riley Sheahan and three draft picks.
Bjugstad was originally drafted in the first round, 19th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
Bjugstad Makes His Way Home
A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, the news getting dealt to his hometown Wild has to be exciting. The 28-year-old will bring a massive 6-foot-6, 215 lbs frame and some much-needed centre depth with the most likely departure of captain Mikko Koivu. However, Bjugstad is versatile and can play the wing if needed as well.
Bjugstad will provide some scoring depth to the Wild. He has two 40 point seasons under his belt and scored 24 goals during the 2014-15 season with the Panthers. He is a player the Wild will be able to move around the lineup as needed.
For the Penguins, they get some much cap relief by moving out Bjugstad’s contract. Despite retaining $2,050,000 million of the salary, it still clears up that same amount for the Penguins. Heading into next season, every bit matters. Especially considering it’s only for a year. They now have almost $9 million in cap space according to Capfriendly.com. The Penguins are expected to be a busy team this offseason and have already made a big move acquiring Kasperi Kapanen. With Matt Murray‘s name floating around, this is surely not the last move we will see from the Penguins.
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