Chuck Fletcher did what he had to do to keep his most valuable commodity, the Wild defense, intact following the expansion draft process. Many of the so called experts expected him to then move one if those assets to one of the plethora of teams in dire need of defensemen.

The fact is we as fans love player movement, but when it happens, we are not always so happy with the outcome.

Chuck Fletcher made one of those deals back in February, where on the surface it looked pretty genius, not giving up a player from the current roster to add a 6'6" center (Hanzal)that is very good in the race off circle and at shutting down opponents, with the ability to score goals, throw in the character winger (White), and it is a"no brainer."

We all know how that turned out.

So now to the Wild defensemen story. They have Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, and Marco Scandella all under contract for multiple years, with the exception of Dumba who will be an RFA next year. I read how Calgary is following the "Nashville model" of winning with a strong defensive unit, after they paid a king's ransom to land Travis Hamonic.

So if that is the model to win with, and BTW the Penguins won the Cup, then why should the Wild trade one of their defensemen? Aren't Suter, Spurgeon, Brodin, Dumba, Scandella as good or better than Giordano, Brody, Hamilton, and Hamonic? They are also very comparable to Josi, Subban, Ekholm, and Ellis from Nashville for that matter as well.

The fact is the Minnesota Wild are good enough to be a top tier team in the Western Conference in the regular season as is, we know that. Their problem is winning in the playoffs. So to trade a defenseman that is highly sought after for more question marks is not advisable either. I did not hear one name of a return player coming to the Wild that would make them a better team than what they are right now.

As for Fletcher's future with the team, all GMs and coaches are hired to be fired. That is the nature of the position. Praised when you win out the door when you fall short. Chuck Fletcher is in the win or be gone phase of his tenure with the Wild, everyone knows that, but does that drive him to make moves for the sake of making a move? That answer is an emphatic NO, which is a very good thing for the Minnesota Wild.

The team needs something new for sure, and in my opinion it is a shakeup of the veteran leadership core. I feel the need is a new locker room presence that says this team is different, not Koivu, Suter, Parise's Wild, but the 2017-18 Minnesota Wild a team with swagger that is very difficult to play against. But that is an attitude, not just a collection of talent.

We will see what free agency has in store coming up on July 1st, and of course the new deals for Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, and Christian Folin (the Wild #6 defenseman)

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