Gustav Nyquist trade grades for Wild, Predators

Nyquist is in the final year of his two-year contract. Nashville hoped Nyquist would be a good depth piece on a team that added Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei in the offseason. Unfortunately for Barry Trotz, the trio hasn’t lived up to the hype, Juuse Saros is in a down year, and the rest of the roster hasn’t meshed as well as he hoped.

The Predators don’t have many expiring contracts, and the ones they do have aren’t necessarily valuable for playoff contenders. Kieffer Bellows might fetch a small return as a depth piece, but that is the extent of the expiring contracts. Ryan O’Reilly and Luke Schenn are two players who seem to be in plenty of trade talks, and we know the former Stanley Cup winners can be part of a contender. The only question is how much they have left in the tank, an estimate the Predators seemed to have gotten wrong this year.

It’s a slight win for the Predators that they got a second-round pick for Nyquist. The production hasn’t been there, but the Wild were desperate for some forward depth, and acquiring the player a week before the deadline likely helped Nashville get the suitable pick. The Predators did retain some of the salary, but for a team that is going to the basement of the league this season, using $1.5 million of their salary cap isn’t a massive issue. Getting a second-round pick for the early trade and salary retainment is a victory for Trotz.

Wild’s Gustav Nyquist addition is due to limited options

Minnesota has been in salary cap purgatory, limited by their buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, taking up 16% of their cap. The percentage lowers significantly starting next season, so with the rising cap and additional space, the Wild have the green light to make some massive moves in the offseason. However, for this season, they are stuck trying to find a bargain option.

Minnesota is also in a holding pattern regarding the injury to their star winger, Kirill Kaprizov. Before the Four Nations Faceoff break, Kaprizov had surgery for a lower-body injury, which the team hoped would put him on a four-week return path. Bill Guerin has been keeping his cards close to the chest with any updates, as he was very vague with the media toward the end of February.

“He’s just recovering right now, and we’ll see how it turns out, but he’s going to be a little longer than we expected,” Guerin told KFAN radio. “And what that does with our (salary) cap situation? I don’t know because when he’s healthy, we’ll put him back in. If he’s not, then we won’t.”

The Wild have $7.5 million in cap space with Kaprizov out of the lineup, which they can use at the trade deadline if they expect Kaprizov to be out until the playoffs. In this case, the only issue in trying to pull some cap circumvention is that the team needs Kaprizov in the lineup to further their chances of making the postseason.

Minnesota has fallen off recently, going from first in the Central Division to third and getting dangerously close to relinquishing that spot to the Colorado Avalanche, who are two points behind.

Grades and final thoughts

Gustav Nyquist is a serviceable bottom-six option at this point in his career. He had 75 points in 81 games last season, which is part of the reason Nashville believed they should be buyers in free agency and make a playoff push this season. Nyquist has fallen off significantly this year with 21 points in 57 games, and a fresh start might be the thing he needs. Is a second-round pick worth $1.5 million of salary retention and a chance of a 35-year-old re-igniting his game? Guerin better hope the results are positive because it doesn’t look like a shrewd move from where we stand now.

Nashville Predators grade: A-

Minnesota Wild grade: C+