Wild send Staal to Sabres for Johansson
The Wild are making moves. Are they getting any better?
The Minnesota Wild keep making moves. They made another deal for a veteran forward and, at this point, it’s hard to pin down what the objective is for these trades beyond change for its own sake.
The Sabres Get: C Eric Staal
Staal, 35, has had a long and very productive NHL career, playing more than 1,300 regular season and playoff games. He has scored 30 or more goals six times and 70 or more points eight times.
In 2019-2020, he put up 47 points, his second-lowest point total since 2011-2012, with his 39-point season for Carolina and the Rangers in 2015-2016 as the only season in that span with lower point production.
Throughout his career, Staal has been elite shot generator who could use his size and puck skills to consistently drive play. That leads to legitimate concern about his play this season, as he averaged just 1.71 shots per game, the lowest per-game rate of his career. The natural worry is that a player with a lot of miles on his tires might be losing a step (or two) in his mid-30s. It’s been known to happen…to just about everyone.
In Buffalo, Staal figures to fill a hole at second-line centre behind Jack Eichel. It also reunites Staal with former Carolina Hurricanes teammate Jeff Skinner. They weren’t typically linemates in Carolina – in most seasons that they were on the team together, four or five other forwards would spend more time with Staal during 5-on-5 play. So, Staal and Skinner won’t be complete unknowns to each other but this isn’t exactly a case of getting the band back together, either.
The hope for the Sabres is that Staal can still move play in the right direction, and that his decline in performance in 2019-2020 can be reversed. Buffalo has been desperate to find adequate complementary scoring and Staal could help address that need.
Staal is also an easy addition because he is on a bargain contract, heading into the last season of a deal that has a cap hit of $3.25 million ($3 million in salary next season).
At this stage of his career, Staal is not a long-term solution but he still ought to provide some incremental improvement.
The Wild Get: LW/C Marcus Johansson
Johansson will turn 30 in three weeks. He’s had a productive NHL career but not near Staal’s level. Johansson peaked with a 58-point season in 2016-2017, his last with the Washington Capitals, and has played for New Jersey, Boston, and Buffalo since.
Johansson has been a capable complementary player but he’s not been the one driving the results of his lines. Even during his best days in Washington, Johansson skated with Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov as his most common centres, Alex Ovechkin, Justin Williams, Troy Brouwer his frequent linemates on the wings.
Moving to Minnesota, Johansson is expected to play center. Certainly the Wild need him to play there. At the moment, their current depth chart down the middle includes recently acquired Nick Bjugstad, Luke Kunin, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Victor Rask. Adding Johansson to that group doesn’t do a whole lot to drive scoring.
There is an avenue in which Johansson’s skill and ability to carry and pass the puck could work when paired with skilled wingers. Either of Kevin Fiala or prized rookie Kirill Kaprizov could skate on his wing and that might help Johansson’s production. The question is: how much will he help theirs?
Although Johansson has played much more wing than centre, he did take 491 draws this season, his most since 2011-2012. He’s not very good in the circle, however, winning 40.1% of his faceoffs this season, 41.5% for his career.
Johansson comes with a $4.5 million cap hit and is entering the final year of a two-year contract, which pays him $4 million in 2020-2021. It’s a reasonable price to pay for a middle six forward but the need for the Wild is not in the middle six, and if the expectation is that Johansson is going to be a top line player, well, that’s the kind of optimism that seems altogether uncommon in 2020.
Verdict: The edge should go to the Sabres who fill a second-line centre spot with a proven scoring centre. Staal is declining but he costs less and has a track record of both scoring more and driving play more effectively.
This deal leaves the Wild looking like they must have another deal coming, with the name of defenseman Matt Dumba being tossed around as bait for a scoring centre. Maybe that will happen and the Wild roster might make more sense after that but, right now, they look like a team that lacks sufficient playmaking at centre.
With both players heading into the final year of their contracts, and playing for teams that could be hard-pressed to make the playoffs next season, it’s entirely possible that Staal and/or Johansson may not even finish the season with their new teams.