Staal hands in 10-team list of teams and the Wild is in trouble!

The Minnesota Wild fans are keeping a close eye on what is going on with their team, not only because head coach Bruce Boudreau guaranteed that the club would make the postseason, but also because GM Paul Fenton is ready to make a trade even if it costs them a playoff spot. 

While the one player they are really trying to move Eric Staal remains widely discussed around the NHL, it seems like his contract clause could come back and haunt the Wild in the next 10 days. 

According to Pierre LeBrun, who revealed some more about the situation in Minnesota during last night’s Insider Trading on TSN, it seems like the pending unrestricted free agent has handed in his 10-team list from his no-trade clause, and it could cause a lot of trouble for the Wild. 

“Interesting 24 hours in Minnesota. My colleague Mike Russo of the Athletic revealing that owner Craig Leipold had a sit down meeting with GM Paul Fenton and in which he said do what you got to do to retool this team if that’s what you wish to do, despite the fact the Minnesota Wild are in a playoff race. Reminds [me] of St. Louis a year ago that traded Stastny when they were in a playoff spot. So here we go. Core players such as Coyle, Granlund, Zucker, Brodin all potentially in play, either before the deadline or in the off-season. But the guy to really keep an eye on is Eric Staal, of course because he’s a pending UFA. He doesn’t want to go anywhere, he has a 10-team modified no-trade clause, but it’s a good one. It’s a 10-team list that we’re told is vastly populated with all the obvious contenders and I’m not convinced that he’d want to waive, we’ll see.”

With just 10 days left, Staal might decide he wants to listen to his head coach and remain in Minnesota to make a push for the playoff spot. It remains to be seen if Fenton will take away more player, in Coyle, Granlund, Zucker, Brodin, as the trade deadline nears… 

Stay tuned...