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Aberg Wild Debut and Niederreiter dealt

January 17, 2019, 2:29 PM ET [34 Comments]
Dan Wallace
Minnesota Wild Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Paul Fenton made his first trade to acquire an NHL player and he didn't need to travel far to join his new mates. Pontus Aberg the former Anaheim Duck will place them up with his new Wild mates against his former team tonight in St. Paul.

Aberg 25, a former 2nd round pick(2012) of Nashville and Paul Fenton, has scored 11 goals this season and added 8 assists in 37 games with Anaheim. He is 5'11" and just under 200 lbs, he is not a physical player, but is a right shot and can score.

Fenton sent former Gopher and Lakeville native, Justin Kloos to Anaheim in exchange for Aberg.

It is ironic after writing my blog yesterday that on the very day Fenton pulls the trigger on his first significant move to date.

The point of my blog yesterday was to say this kind of deal is where he could have been working and not necessarily did a move have to involve the names most mentioned in the media. This is not to say that a bigger move isn't coming but sometimes these lesser publicized player transactions have a way of delivering quality results in return.

There is also the fact that fresh blood gets the team motivated by the change along with a different perspective.

I believe that Fenton has a plan to make the roster better and he took his first step yesterday.

It will be an interesting month and a half leading up to the trade deadline.

Aberg is being given an opportunity to show what he has offensively, slotting in with Charlie Coyle and Zach Parise for tonight's game.

Alex Stalock will once again be in net for the Wild, coming off his strong performance Tuesday night in the 3-2 shootout win over the Kings.

The Ducks have literally not won in a month and come in riding a 12 game winless streak, going 0-8-4 over that span. That should have the Wild on their toes, especially since they have lost to Detroit and Philadelphia in the last week. Both of those opponents had entered the contests having won just once in their previous 10 heading into their respective games against the Wild.

Despite the bad losses against the Red Wings and Flyers the Wild still sit in the final playoff position in the Western Conference. They have the ability to make a move, but they must play a more consistent game and get better goaltending in general if that is going to materialize.

Got to get the 2 points tonight.

UPDATE: Nino Niederreiter has been dealt to the Hurricanes for 25 year Swedish Center Victor Rask. Rask is 6'2" and 201lbs and is a left hand shot. Rask has just one goal to go along with five assists through 26 games this season. Rask has scored 62 goals in 332 NHL contests and had a career high 21 back in 2015-16. A change of scenery for both Rask and Niederreiter may be just the spark each player and their respective teams are seeking.


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