Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Is Fenton Pushing To Include Ennis Too Hard?

June 28, 2018, 10:38 AM ET [10 Comments]
Dan Wallace
Minnesota Wild Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
As we get closer to the weekend, we wait for the inevitable trade involving the Minnesota Wild.

But the waiting creates several questions. The first being is Paul Fenton to attached to a deal that must include Tyler Ennis? If Fenton is set on making "hockey trades" why does Ennis have to be included? Doesn't that nullify the term "hockey trade?"

If Fenton is dead set on including Ennis, he is then devaluing the assets he is including in any trade.

We have all heard the names, Zucker, Niederreiter, Dumba, Coyle, Brodin, etc. All of the aforementioned players have significant value in their own regard and individually the return for each player individually must be determined prior to making any transaction involving either of these or any player for that matter.

Yes, the salary cap must be taken into account, and freeing up the full $4.6 million of Tyler Ennis's contract would most certainly help the Wild as they look to tweak the roster. But at what point does that hinder the forward movement of the franchise?

I have said this and written this many times over the past couple of seasons, probably most often leading up to the trade deadline last year, well before the expansion draft. Jared Spurgeon is the chip the Wild should be and should have looked to cash in.

Yes, Spurgeon is the guy that Bruce Boudreau refers to as "the barometer" of the team. He is a very valuable player for sure. Spurgeon is a right shot defenseman that plays in every situation and is valued highly around the league. All qualities that allow Fenton to be dealing from a position of strength. Spurgeon fits all the criteria of a "hockey trade."

The Chuck Fletcher regime, took it's share of heat for player trades and personnel moves in general. But Jared Spurgeon has to be if not the greatest Fletcher acquisition, he is certainly in the discussion.

Spurgeon was drafted in the sixth round in the 2008 entry draft, by the New York Islanders. After playing five seasons with the WHLs Spokane Chiefs, Spurgeon the Islanders failed to sign him. Fletcher invited Jared to the Wild training camp in 2010, and subsequently signed him to a three year entry level contract, and was assigned to then Wild AHL affiliate, Houston.

Spurgeon played just 23 games with the Aeros before being receiving his call up to the NHL. What has occurred since that day has been nothing short of amazing for a player that was drafted 156th overall, and not signed by his original draft team.

Spurgeon, capitalized on the opportunity and has played his way into being a top defenseman in the NHL. In the final year of Spurgeon's entry level deal he was signed to a new four year deal for better than $5 million per year.

Spurgeon has two years left on that deal which is a cap friendly deal for a top pair defenseman, which adds to his value.

Trading a defenseman carries a certain degree of risk no matter what, and especially a defenseman that plays the key minutes that Spurgeon does. But in order to transform the Wild, a move that may not be popular in the locker room, can also have a positive affect on how the team moves forward.

I know that Ryan Murphy is no Jared Spurgeon, but he did fill in admirably this past season, and at $650,000 he provides the Wild with at least an immediate option to take some of Spurgeon's minutes if he were moved.

Murphy presents an interesting option in the fact that he believes he is an NHL defenseman, but the window of opportunity is closing quickly on that dream. That motivation could be just the trigger he needs to tap into his true potential.

This is a new Wild team, or at least it needs to be if the team is going to take that next step. The days of complacency, where the inmates run the asylum, are over.

There is a new sheriff in town, and he has a job to do. No more of the same old Wild, good is not good enough. There needs to be a new compete level infused into the Wild lineup and locker room.

So we wait to see which chips are cashed in and who will be heading to the State of Hockey, as the page is slowly turning to Paul Fenton's Wild.

Follow me on Twitter @dwallace17
Join the Discussion: » 10 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Dan Wallace
» Walker Up, Goligoski On LTIR
» Wild Look To Tighten Up The D Zone
» New Season Of Hope For Wild
» Kirill Gets The "A"
» Zuccarello Extended For 2 Years