The biggest trade of the season happened in December, as the Minnesota Wild acquired Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks. It doesn’t look like they’re done either, as the Central Division is a dog fight between them, the Colorado Avalanche, and the Dallas Stars.

It looks like the Wild wish to add a centre, and shortly after the Hughes trade, Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco reported that the Wild have interest in Calgary Flames’ centre Nazem Kadri. Both the Stars and Avalanche have also been connected to Kadri.

So in this article, we’ll take a look at the Wild’s needs, their cap situation, and what they have to offer in a trade.

Wild’s need and cap situation

The Wild are in a strong position to add, at least in terms of their cap situation. They currently have a projected cap space of a little under $2.693 million, but have nearly $10.440 in present-day cap space, and just under $12.31 million in cap space come Mar. 6th’s trade deadline.

Adding a player like Kadri is feasible without the Flames needing to retain. The 35-year-old centre is in the fourth year of a seven-year contract and has a cap hit of $7 million, so the Wild could absorb his entire cap hit and worry about the cap ramifications for the playoffs and next season in the future.

That’s the lone centre the Flames have to trade, unless you also count Morgan Frost, but his name hasn’t come up in trade rumours much. The Wild are pretty strong on the wings, meaning they don’t have much of a need for a player like Blake Coleman. Additionally, the Wild have always been a defensively strong team, so adding a top four defenceman like MacKenzie Weegar or a third pairing defenceman like Zach Whitecloud isn’t a need.

There’s an argument that they could use a Stanley Cup winning fourth-liner like Ryan Lomberg, but their main need is a top six centre, and Kadri fits that role well.

What the Wild have to offer

Okay, but what do the Wild have to offer? Well, they moved their 2026 first round pick in the Hughes deal, while their 2026 second was traded last deadline for Gustav Nyquist. They have their 2026 third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh round picks, as well as an additional fifth. The good news is that the Wild have their first rounder for the 2027 draft and beyond, with the lone pick missing being their 2027 second-rounder.

The Wild’s best trade chip is goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, a position the Flames don’t have a need for with Dustin Wolf between the pipes. On the roster, it’s been said that they’re looking to move Ryan Hartman, which could be of interest to the Flames as that’s another player that can be flipped at a later time.

Another player on their active roster of note is Danila Yurov. Drafted 24th overall in the 2022 draft, the Russian winger has eight goals and 22 points in 51 games this season and could be a young player that the Flames target. He’s also capable of playing centre, something he’s done this season.

Riley Heidt was named as their best centre prospect according to Daily Faceoff’s pre-season ranking, but he has put up great numbers with the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild, scoring just five goals and 18 points in 49 games this season. David Jiříček was listed as their second-best prospect, and he’s split his season between the NHL and AHL, being held pointless in 25 NHL games, but scoring two goals and 10 points in 22 AHL games.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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