A great move for all parties involved as the Wild get a huge haul for Jason Zucker in the first round pick a top offensive defenseman prospect in Calen Addison, and Alex Galchenyuk, the 25 year former #3 overall pick in the 2012 draft.

Galchenyuk is a UFA at season's end so no guarantees he is part of the Wild future in any way even short term. He is intriguing though in the fact that he has scored 30 goals in this league albeit four seasons ago, but at 25 (turns 26 tomorrow) he is still young and with pending UFA status this opportunity may be the spark that ignites Galchenyuk.

The much bigger pieces of the Zucker deal will be felt further down the road in the Wild future. We do not know what the first round pick will look like yet, but most likely very late first round as Pittsburgh is one of the Stanley Cup favorites if not the favorite at the moment. Calen Addison, a former 2nd round pick #53 overall in the 2018 draft, is a right handed shot defenseman who skates well and moves the 0ick well. He is coming off a very strong WJC where he posted a goal and seven assists, helping Canada win Gold.

Jason Zucker will be missed of course, both on the ice and equally or more off of it as Zucker along with his wife, Carly and their #Give16 campaign which benefits the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital. Zucker is and will continue to be a big part of the community moving forward and we all wish him the very best with his new team.

Bill Guerin has done very well by waiting this out and getting a big score for possibly his most tradable asset. We had heard the failed attempts to move Zucker by Guerin's predecessor, Paul Fenton, and yesterday's deal gives the Wild a much better return than either of the previous deals that fell through last minute.

It was time to act and the page has turned as the Wild move forward in their retooling efforts.

Still a lot of Hockey to play and tonight ironically, Zucker's hometown team comes calling at the X as the Wild host Vegas in a key Western Conference showdown.

Points are at a premium as the Wild still have their sites set on making the playoffs and yesterday's trade does nothing to derail that plan. Galchenyuk is expected to play tonight taking Zucker's place in the lineup.

Now that Zucker has finally been moved where does Guerin focus his energy and does he entertain additional movement before the deadline?

It's always Hockey Day in the State of Hockey!

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