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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
After trading away defenseman Calen Addison earlier in the day, the Minnesota Wild made another move Wednesday by acquiring defenseman Zach Bogosian to help address their defensive issues.
The Wild sent Addison to the San Jose Sharks for prospect forward Adam Raska and a 2026 fifth-round draft pick. Hours later, they acquired Bogosian from the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2025 seventh-rounder.
The Wild (5-5-2) are fifth in the league in goals scored but have allowed the second-most goals. With the trades, the Wild now appear to have more options when it comes to how they want to configure their bottom pairing along with a penalty kill that ranks last in the NHL with a 66.7% success rate.
Part of the challenge for the Wild has been managing without captain Jared Spurgeon and veteran Alex Goligoski. Spurgeon started the season on long-term injured reserve and has yet to play. Goligoski played twice before he was moved to LTIR.
Spurgeon traveled with the Wild on their current road trip as he continues to recover from an upper-body injury. Goligoski was hurt in mid-October after taking a puck off his lower leg in practice.
It left the Wild with a defensive unit that in the team’s last game — a 4-2 win against the New York Islanders on Tuesday — had four defenseman who have played in a combined 147 NHL games.
Adding Bogosian gives the Wild another veteran they could use in addition to Jon Merrill, who’s been part of the their bottom-pairing rotation, to add experience to a unit seeking consistency.
The Addison deal came a day after the Sharks picked up their first victory, 2-1 over the Philadelphia Flyers. That broke an 11-game losing streak, which was tied for the longest to start a season in NHL history.
Addison’s arrival gives the Sharks a puck-moving defenseman who could be used as a top-four option to help facilitate an attack that has struggled to score goals. He had five points — all assists — in 12 games with the Wild this season. That point total alone already would have him tied for second on the Sharks in points.
San Jose entered Wednesday with 14 goals, the fewest of any NHL team and one more than Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews has by himself this season.
As for Raska, he was a seventh-round pick by the Sharks in 2020, who has spent the majority of his professional career in the AHL. He has 25 points in 110 AHL games and zero points in eight NHL games.
The fifth-round pick the Wild received from the Sharks now gives them eight draft picks for 2026.
Source: www.espn.com