The majority of media and fans in the Twin Cities felt the Minnesota Wild would need help at the Trade Deadline. But the market was tricky to navigate. Very few teams were truly out of playoff races by late February. And with even a first-round exit being able to generate a couple million in revenue, teams are incentivized to go for a playoff spot rather than rebuild.
So there were few sellers on the market. Basically, just Colorado and Arizona. The problem? They were out of a playoff spot for a reason, so they didn’t have many attractive assets to sell off.