NHL Rumors: Why Minnesota Wild Shouldn't Trade Before Deadline

Minnesota Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher is facing a lot of pressure from fans to shake up the roster before the trade deadline, given the Wild aren't currently in the playoff picture.

But Fletcher appears to be leaning toward not trading before Feb. 27, and it's the right move for the organization.

Fletcher told the Minneapolis Star Tribune over the weekend,

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"When you look at it historically, when you're talking about the rental type of trades, the vast majority of time, the team trading the player with the expiring contract and picking up future considerations almost always wins."

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The reality is that even the biggest names on the market won't make the Wild a Stanley Cup contender. You could argue they wouldn't even make the Wild a playoff team.

The Wild are currently four points away from the eighth-seed Phoenix Coyotes in the Western Conference. There are four teams ahead of them in the race for the final playoff spot. Do they really want to risk someone like Johan Larsson, Jonas Brodin or Charlie Coyle for a chance to make the playoffs?

As Michael Russo of the Star Tribune writes,

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In 2007, the going price for a rental was a first-round pick along with several other top assets. The Islanders acquired Ryan Smyth from Edmonton, Atlanta acquired Keith Tkachuk from St. Louis and Nashville acquired Peter Forsberg from Philadelphia.

None of those teams made it past the first round. Was it worth it?

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It's only natural for fans to want a better product on the ice each and every season. The way things have gone in Minnesota lately, I don't blame fans for being frustrated.

But you also have to look at the big picture. I've never understood why teams acquire players just to make the postseason when it's obvious they won't win the title anyway.

Fletcher told the Star Tribune,

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"We feel like we're starting to build up a pretty good group of young players. 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.

"This is the time we need to be building up our asset base, not taking away from it."

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Fletcher is going to likely receive some backlash if he decides not to trade for a big name before the deadline, but fans should actually be applauding his strategy.

Desperately throwing away young up-and-coming players for a shot at the postseason is a sure-fire way to cripple a team.