The middle of December is here and the Minnesota Wild remain one of the NHL's best teams. A 20-7-4 record (44 points) through 31 games has the Wild sitting second in the Central Division, just one point back of the Winnipeg Jets for the first place in the division and top spot in the league.
Even though things are going great for the Wild, anything can change between now and the playoffs.
Succeeding in the Western Conference isn't easy and the competition will only increase as the postseason nears. In other words, Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin must consider bolstering his roster as much as possible before the trade deadline.
Trade rumors around the NHL are ramping up the closer the March deadline gets, and the Wild are now being linked to a potential rental target: New York Islanders center Brock Nelson.
"It’s likely that the Wild plan to target Nelson," The Athletic's Michael Russo reported on Saturday. "(He) is somebody who can play up and down the lineup, at wing or center, kill penalties, win draws and play on the power play."
The Wild already have a decenter center group and Marco Rossi leads the way with 11 goals and 25 points in 31 games. While Joel Eriksson Ek is one of the best No. 2 centers in the NHL, the veteran two-way forward has a history of injuries and is currently out of the lineup with a lower-body ailment.
With fellow centers Frederick Gaudreau, Ryan Hartman and Marat Khusnutdinov struggling to generate offense, it's easy to see why the Wild would want to add a former NHL All-Star like Nelson to the mix.
The 33-year-old center has spent his entire career with the Islanders, amassing 285 goals and 266 assists for 551 points in 872 regular-season games. The former 2010 first-rounder might not be having his most productive campaign, however, his 10 goals and 20 points in 32 games indicate that he can still handle a middle-six forward role.
Nelson is also the type of player who can step up for the Wild later in the campaign. He has 50 points in 78 career playoff games and that experience could be useful as Minnesota guns for its first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
GM Guerin has also made it no secret that he's a fan of Nelson's work, having named him to the United States' 4 Nations Faceoff roster. It likely wouldn't take the Wild fanbase long to give the veteran center its full support considering how he was raised in Warroad, Minnesota, where he was a finalist for the 2010 Mr. Hockey Award.
As for what it could cost to land Nelson, The Athletic's James Mirtle suggests that it could cost a first-round pick to pry him away from the Islanders. The Wild already traded their 2025 first-rounder to the Columbus Blue Jackets to acquire defenseman David Jiricek last month, meaning they might have to present the Islanders with multiple trade options.
"(The Wild will) have to trade a future first-rounder or get creative with a top prospect and second-round pick," Russo wrote.
Nelson is in the final year of the six-year, $36 million contract he signed with the Islanders back in May 2019. The Wild currently have only $1.1 million in remaining cap space and an additional $2.7 million that's tied up on the long-term injured reserve, per PuckPedia, so they'll need to either free up more cash or ask the Islanders to retain some of his $6 million salary.
At the end of the day, Nelson is the perfect player to address the Wild's center depth while helping them gear up for a playoff run. Considering how he's projected to be one of the best available rental players at this year's trade deadline, Gurerin might want to pull off a deal with the Islanders sooner rather than later. a
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