Two Wild players believed to be on the trading block this summer.

It has been roughly one year since Minnesota Wild general manager Paul Fenton was appointed to his current position and I think it is safe to suggest that he has yet to truly make his mark on that team. The roster remains largely the one that was constructed by Fenton's predecessor, current Philadelphia Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher, and Fenton has yet to make a massive move of his own. 

That being said this current offseason for the Minnesota Wild may very well be the time that Fenton truly shapes the team in his image. A recent report from Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman has revealed that there are currently 2 players on the Wild roster who could very well no longer be there come the start of the 2019 -2020 NHL regular season. Surprisingly both are players who still have term on their contracts, the players being forward Jason Zucker and defenseman Jared Spurgeon.

From Friedman:

With teams beginning their scouting meetings, a few interesting situations slipped into the public domain. Let’s examine a few. First, what are Minnesota’s plans for Jared Spurgeon?He’ll be 30 in November, with one more season on a $5.2M cap hit. Ideally, the Wild re-sign him, but Spurgeon might be their most tradable asset at a time they don’t have too many. There’d be a ton of interest. There already is, but Minnesota has to make a decision. It would be a surprise if Jason Zucker returned following last season’s aborted trade to Calgary. There’s always interest in scorers.

For those of you who do not remember or may not have heard at the time, Paul Fenton reportedly already attempted to trade Jason Zucker at the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline to the Calgary Flames, but for some unknown reason that deal did not go through. It is believed that Fenton and Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving actually had agreed upon a deal at the deadline and had the trade in place, but for a reason that has never been publicly revealed it never went through. Treliving was reportedly furious and, when you consider that his team was playoff bound, it's not hard to see why he would be angry at being denied a perennial 20+ goal scorer he had reportedly made a deal for.

Furthermore you have to believe that learning of the trade impacted Zucker and the other players that would have been involved once they learned that they were only on their current teams due to bad fortune. Not to mention that I have to believe that Zucker's loyalty to the franchise was tested by the news that the Wild had attempted to trade him, and I would not be surprised if he himself would welcome a trade over the summer after the fumbled trade with the Flames.

Spurgeon only has 1 year left on his current deal and is another matter entirely. As Friedman suggests there is plenty of interest and considering the return he could fetch Fenton could very well view him as his best chance to mold the roster to his vision. Spurgeon, as part of his current contract, will also have the right to submit a 10 team no trade list which could complicate matters for Fenton however.