According to the Athletic's Michael Russo, the Wild were involved in talks with Arizona for Max Domi before he was eventually shipped to Montreal for Alex Galchenyuk. The details involved the Wild sending Jason Zucker and Nino Niederreiter heading to the Coyotes for Domi and presumably Christian Dvorak. A stipulation on the deal was the Coyotes taking on Tyler Ennis and his $4.6 million contract that has one year remaining.

That move would have cleared tremendous cap space for the Wild, but at the end of the day the return is not great for the assets that would be moving.

So Fenton has come close but according to Russo, the return was not very strong.

Fenton is experienced in personnel movement, but this is his first go round where his name is attached to the transactions. That is a factor for sure as he looks to make his mark on the team. Fenton does not want to make a move just for the sake of making a deal.

There are players available, but creative GMs are the ones that have transformed their teams with the quickest results. The names that are being mentioned often are not necessarily the players that Fenton should be looking at.

The dialogue has been started with many teams and a deal could present itself at any time. Fenton has done his due diligence in working the phones. Now let's see how that speak transforms in roster transition.

The draft is going to produce a solid player with the 24th pick. We know that Fenton would like to add a forward that can score. But will there be one of those guys left at 24?

A defenseman may be a better route to go with the number of quality blueliners that could be available when the Wild pick.

As you saw in the Hockeybuzz Mock Draft, I selected Mattias Samuelsson with both Dominic Bokk and Martin Kaut off the board. I see Samuelsson as the type of defenseman the Wild need at 6'4" 217 lbs with a strong physical game, and offensive upside.

Ryan Merkley is the skill guy on defense and has top end talent, but to me Samuelsson fits what the Wild need is moving forward.

Should be a fun day as we draw closer to the draft tonight.

Follow me on Twitter @dwallace17

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