Wild reluctant to trade youngsters
Playoff contenders don't lose to the Columbus Blue Jackets twice in five nights.
That's why the Wild is 12th in the Western Conference after Saturday's 3-1 loss at home to Columbus. Yes, the Wild outshot the Blue Jackets 35-19, but as usual, it had no offensive punch.
General manager Chuck Fletcher is weighing what to do before the Feb. 27 trade deadline.
"We feel like we're starting to build up a pretty good group of young players," Fletcher said. "You just want to be careful you don't start backtracking on some of the accomplishments our scouting staff has made. You never want to close off any option, but we're highly reluctant to give up our top prospects for short-term fixes.
"I mean this is the time we need to be building up our asset base, not taking away from it."
Plus, does it make sense giving up a ton of assets just for the prayer of eking into the playoffs and facing Detroit or Vancouver in the first round?
Look for the Wild to sell off a couple of its free agents. That probably won't solve its goal-scoring woes. It ranks 29th in the NHL and has scored six times in five games heading into Tuesday's matchup with Anaheim.
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